Your wife is like an automobile. She may be high maintenance like an Italian sports car. She might be as refined and expensive as a German luxury sedan. She may be solid and sturdy like an SUV, or delicate like a Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance show car. She could be an efficient six-cylinder type, or be a faster but costlier V-8 model. She may be dependable in all kinds of weather like a four-wheel drive, or she may have no downhill traction control at all, even on a good day.

Whatever she is, whether she is tiny like a compact car or full-size and beyond, she needs fuel to make her run smoothly.

Your wife’s spirit is the gas in her car. She may have the greatest chassis, a fine interior, fabulous sleek lines, a roomy trunk, a beautiful nose and all the standard accessories, but if she doesn’t have fuel then she’s not going to run. Her exterior will still look good, but her power supply will be diminished. And not only must her tank be full, but her brake fluid replenished, and yes, she must have a good supply of antifreeze for those cold nights.

Without the daily infilling of the Holy Spirit, we all run on empty. Your wife may be running on empty right now and not even realize it. Some women don’t ever take time to check their gauges, so they’re completely surprised when they suddenly run out of fuel. If a woman doesn’t spend enough time every day with the Lord in prayer, worship and the Word of God, she will lose ground and the enemy of her soul will run her down.

Your wife may be too solid in the Word of God to doubt her salvation, or his promise of eternal life, or his grace and goodness. But Satan may be able to get her to doubt that God created her with valuable gifts and a calling of her own. Or there may be times when she questions whether all things really do work together for good. When she experiences these kinds of attacks, and all women do at one time or another, it will deplete her. Many women can get eroded physically, emotionally, and mentally by unrelenting attacks of the enemy and not even be aware that it’s happening. And the effects of it will carry over into your marriage. Your wife’s relationship with God will affect her relationship with you more than anything else.

Because you have been given authority over “all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19), you can inform him that he cannot lie to your wife or twist the truth of God in her mind. You can pray that your wife will be so solid in the truth that she can immediately identify a lie of the enemy, cast it aside, and listen only to the voice of God.

In my survey of women, the number-one area in which women most want their husbands to pray for them is their spiritual walk. Your wife wants to be a strong woman of God. She desires a relationship with God that is solid, and a faith that is unshakable. And because women feel pulled in so many directions, they need prayer for patience, love, peace and all the other aspects of the fruit of the spirit to be manifested in their lives.

When your wife’s tank is empty, her sound system will still work, and she may appear to be in good shape, but her wheels won’t turn because she can’t accelerate, let alone get up to full speed. Her steering will go out, so she can’t navigate. Her brakes won’t function, so she can’t stop when she needs to. She must be filled afresh with the fuel of the Holy Spirit each day. She must be charged with the power of God. When her tank is full, she’ll have automatic climate control, she’ll be able to go the distance, and the ride will be smooth.

Does your wife have enough of what she needs for the distance she has to go today? Has she filled up with the finest? Ask God about this, and he will show you.

Taken from: The Power of a Praying Husband Copyright © 2001 by Stormie Omartian. Published by Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR. Used with permission.

Photo Credit: Aaron Ang