The Bible tells us that “The prayer of a righteous man [or woman] is powerful and effective” (James 5:16). So what are you praying for? Most, if not all of us pray for our husbands. But do you know exactly how to pray for your military man’s unique needs? I asked Chaplain (Capt.) Scott Koeman, currently in Afghanistan, for some specific things we can be praying for. Here is the insightful list he shared with me:
- Pray that he would have the Peace of Christ with him — especially if he travels outside of his Forward Operating Base (FOB)
- Pray that he will depend on the Love of God to keep him from bitterness at others (who needlessly make life difficult on their subordinates especially when they aren’t the most competent leader).
- Pray for Protection. Psalm I25:2 “As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore.”
- Pray for that he will be vigilant if he is called upon to fire upon the enemy. Psalm 144:1-2 “Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. He is my loving God and my fortress my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.”
- Pray that the enemy will be turned back. Psalm 40:14 “May all who seek to take my life be put to shame and confusion: may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace.”
- Pray that our Soldiers will be fulfilled in their jobs. Without purpose time out here is extremely long and difficult.
- Pray that Soldiers/their husbands will resist lowering themselves to low levels of conversations and instead seek to be examples of goodness and righteousness.
- Pray that Soldiers/husbands find “good and solid” Christian brothers to have fellowship with.
- Pray for the leadership in Platoons, Companies, Battalions, Brigades ….depending on what level the Soldier/husband works. Leadership can make or break a man. They have the biggest impact.
Chaplain Koeman is married to Benita Koeman, founder of OperationWeAreHere.com, a clearinghouse of resources for the military community.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you so much for things to pray for for your military man! Even though I pray for his safety and protection as well as those of his other soldiers, I do sometimes forget to pray for specifics and some of these things, I had not thought of. These are great prayer pointers. I am not a new Christian, but I am new to really studying deeper into God’s word and applying it in the manner that God wants me to and glorify him in everything. I would ask the prayers of your readers to pray that I would grow stronger and a more effective prayer warrior for our soldiers!
This is wonderful instruction on how to pray. I will be using these myself!
I prayed everyday for my son when he was deployed. I know prayer is a powerful thing. His return safely proved that. God is awsome and I know he listened to me.
My son is being deployed to Afghanistan. He leaves in June and God has promised that He will protect him and that he has a plan and a purpose for sending him. I Believe in God’s Promise and I am leaving my son in His Hands. God also gave me the story of David and Goliath for my son as he prepares for what he is facing as my son is “David” and the war is “Goliath.” God prepared David and took care of him and gave him the tools and I believe He will do the same for my son. Thank you so much for sharing these prayer points as I will take them to heart and pray them for my son.
Thank you for this…I following a FB page that has a prayer for (HUSBAND) everyday of the month (30 days), but these prayers are more military spouse specific. Praying for my husband (and his Battalion) always.
Jessica, I would be interested in learning more about that FB page you mentioned. Could you tell me what the name of it is? ~ Bev Eagen