I said to her, “Do you realize I have been married as long
as you have been alive?”
“WOW!” she replied.
“Yami, this morning in my prayer time, I realized something.
For twenty-one years, I have prayed that I am like the Proverbs 31 woman. I
have asked God to use me to bring honor to my husband at the city gates based
on Proverbs 31:23, but I have never asked God to specifically to bring me honor
through my husband at the city gates.”
Yami replied, “Wouldn’t it be wrong for you to ask God to
bring you honor through your husband?”
“No, not in the way that Proverbs 31 is referencing
character. See, by praying for me to bring my husband honor at the city gates.
I am praying for Godly influence and character. This is not about a personal
focus, but a recognition that I am for God and true in all ways. It is a prayer
for integrity, honesty, hard work, and open arms that lend a hand. So, this
morning when it occurred to me that in twenty-one years of marriage I had never
asked God to bring me honor through my husband at the city gates, it wasn’t so
much about me, but about what this implies about praying into his
character.
A person who brings honor at the city gates based on Proverbs
31 is someone that fears the LORD and all who know of this person will see this
and praise the person (Proverbs 31: 31).
If I am walking in these truths my husband is honored because he has
chosen well and has a wife of noble character. If I am brought honor at the
city gates because of my husband it is the same. It is all about noble
character that glorifies God. Of course, I have prayed many of these principles
into my Greg, but the phrase "honor at the city gates" sums up so
many truths that will bring about the glory of God. I like how the phrase sums
it all up!”
How about you? How are you praying for you to bring your
husband honor at the city gates or that your husband bring you honor at the
city gates? These are prayers that give our marriages strength and in the end
bring glory to God.
“Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes
his seat among the elders of the land.” “Give her the reward she has earned and
let her works bring her praise at the city gate” (Proverbs 31:23).
