Tidbits from My World: Praying for Him: What Can Haunt Us All

I'm a little afraid to even start this post. Truthfully because I believe in being honest, and I didn't really have the greatest start when I first glanced at the title of the chapter this week: "His Past". My immediate thought was, "Yep! I certainly need to pray about his past."

*G.U.L.P.*

Prideful in this area much? (Ouch! That realization hurt.)

Thankfully, that wasn't where my heart stayed. God quickly opened my eyes to the bigger picture: praying over my husband's past is of utmost importance for our relationship. But praying over my own past is just as important. I believe everyone should be praying in their own lives that their past does not hinder but help them move forward. And when the prompting is there, they should be willing to pray for someone else's past as well.

I am very familiar with the past haunting me. I don't think I'm alone in this either, realized or not. And the past doesn't have to be chalk full of abuse, horrible parenting, alcholics and/or druggies, all the situations people typically think "Oh, that poor child is scarred for life." You can come from a great home, but your home is still full of fallen people. As such, there is likely something from your childhood that seems to hang over your head, if you let it.

The reason I say childhood is because I agree with Stormie, though she says it this way: "The events of your husband's past that most affect his life today probably occurred in his childhood." (p. 144) Of course, she's specifically talking about husbands in her book, but I think if we were to ask her, she would say that for everyone. And even if she doesn't, I'm going to go ahead and say that the events of anyone's childhood are the most likely to be what affects their life today.

Staring the past square in the face is scary. It brings up so many different emotions, unwelcomed emotions nonetheless. (Who really wants to stir up anger, fear, lack of trust, sorrow, etc.? I'm pretty sure Donkey wouldn't be yelling "Pick me!" on this one, you guys.) And sometimes, when you do choose to wade through the past to help better your future, you can feel like you're never going to make it out alive.

Yet, if you are a follower of Christ, you have the power of the Holy Spirit residing inside of you, who goes before the throne of God and intercedes for us, even when we have no words! (see Romans 8:26, 27) You guys, the implications of this verse should give us the courage to face our past, no matter how difficult or dark it may be. And if you need courage to face because it seems there is no hope, remember the words of Paul in Philippians 3: 13b, 14: "...forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (I'd recommend reading Philippians 3:12-14.)

May I ask why any of us would allow our fear of facing the past hold us back from reaching towards the ultimate gift: Christ? I even see my cowardly, curled-in-a-corner old self as stinkin' crazy to choose to stay in a place which, honestly, was quite miserable. Living with the past hanging over my head was one of the worst times in my life. I hope to never allow my past control like that again.

So I encourage you, pray over your past. Work through it. Walk alongside someone who is willing to encourage you, be a listening ear, share their past with you so you can do the same for them. And if you don't have anyone now, ask that God would give you the courage to go ahead with working through your past all the while asking for the blessing of such a comrade who will jump right in where you are in your journey. (I can't help but think of Christian and Faithful in The Pilgrim's Progess.)

And since this entire series has been spurned by praying for my husband, if you are married, I dare to ask you: who better to walk through your past with you than the man you have committed the rest of your living days to? Maybe if you're husband isn't willing to go there with you yet, you will open doors by doing so with him first or continuing to do so if you have already begun the journey. Pray that God would allow your husband's past to not hinder him, but to help launch him forward as her learns from it. Ask that God would open your husband's heart to delve into his past with you so you might be an encourager through it all. And ask that your heart would trust your husband to do the same for you.

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Here are the rest of my posts from this 30 week series I've done on praying for my husband:

Week 1: Intro Week 2: Starting with Me Week 3: His Identity Week 4: His Treasure