For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock.  ~Psalm 27:5

The week after Gregg and I were married, his unit – a Special Forces unit – went to do a joint something something within the United States.  He was gone for about 2 months.  When they returned, almost immediately, they shipped off to Afghanistan.

Right now, where he is, is where they were — only, back in 2002, instead of buildings, they lived in tents.  Instead of a dining facility preparing 3 meals a day with fresh food, they ate either MRE’s (meals ready to eat – a high calorie packaged meal that the military provides in the absence of a mess hall) and canned food – canned meat served with canned vegetables served with canned pudding on the side.  I remember when Outback Steakhouse flew to Bagram and served them a meal: steak, baked potatoes, salad, tea, dessert, I remember how excited Gregg was to get real butter and real sour cream.

They only flew in and out of Bagram at night in those days, because the enemy would fire on planes on their arrival and departure.  Land mines were everywhere.  The populace didn’t trust them, because the distaste of the USSR’s occupation was still very fresh in some of their minds.

It’s a miserable, lonely place to be right now.  It was ten times worse eight years ago.

I used to wake up in the middle of the night and do internet news searches with key words.  Days would go by without contact, and I’d tell myself, “No news is good news.”  I’d drop anything and run to the phone.  My cell phone was never away from my side.

I learned very early in my marriage that I needed to pray for my husband’s protection. It was something that just came with our life, with our marriage, and we accepted the dangers of his service to our country as part of the package.  But before Gregg came home, a friend’s husband died in a car crash, and another friend’s husband died after a long illness.  I remember remarking to a friend whose husband is a firefighter that part of a soldier’s wife, a firefighter’s wife, a p0lice officer’s wife, and on and on, is just this background acceptance that what they do may kill them.  However, more people died on the highways of the United States in 2002 than did in Afghanistan in 2002, and I wonder how many wives hit their knees in the mornings when their husbands leave for work and pray that God will protect them in their travels.

When Gregg came home, he picked up his regular civilian job of consulting, which had him traveling 40 to 50 weeks a year.  Coupled with multiple military schools and now his contract work in Afghanistan, we have spent more time apart than we have spent together.  Praying for his protection is in the forefront of my mind. It is even in the prayers of our children every night before they go to sleep, “Please protect Daddy.  Place a shield of protection over him.”  But even if your husband doesn’t have to put on body armor to go to church on Sunday mornings, praying for your husband’s protection should be a priority to you as well.

From praying for protection while traveling on the highways and byways of his day to praying for protection from temptation and attacks of the enemy, it should constantly be on our hearts and on our lips as we bow our heads and come before our Heavenly Father.  David authored many Psalms that speak to the awesomeness of the power of God’s protection, even under the most strenuous circumstances.

Read chapter 12 of The Power of a Praying Wife and consider the following discussion questions.  Comments are turned off on this post, and the discussion has been created in Hallee’s Daily Brew by following this link:

1.  Have you heard of or experienced incidents where you or a person you know was saved from disaster because someone had prayed?  Give an example.

2.  Do you believe that God will answer your prayers for protection on your husband?  Why do you believe that?

3.  Do you see any possible dangers in your husband’s life that need to be covered in prayer (travel in cars or airplanes, dangers and work, and so on)?  List them and be specific.

4.  Does your husband ever do anything that you consider unnecessarily dangerous?  Do you feel he needs to be more careful or stop taking risks?  Do you sense dangers he is not concerned about?  How do you feel God is leading you to pray about that?

5.  Psalm 18:3 says: I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised;So shall I be saved from my enemies.  Do you believe that when you call upon the Lord He will hear your prayers and save you and your husband from your enemies?  Why or why not?

6.  Read the prayer out loud on page 109 in The Power of a Praying Wife.  Include specifics about the protection of your husband.

Hallee

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