The first duty is to sacrifice to the gods and pray them to grant you the thoughts, words, and deeds likely to render your command most pleasing to the gods and to bring yourself, your friends, and your city the fullest measure of affection and glory and advantage. —Xenophon, The Cavalry Commander

A wife's prayers for her husband have a far greater effect on him than anyone else's, even his mother's. (Sorry, Mom.)

Talking to God should be part of every aspect of life, in times of peace as well as in every battle.

Accept your husband the way he is and pray for him to grow. Then when change happens, it will be because God has worked it in him and it will be lasting. "My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him" (Psalm 62:5). Your greatest expectations must be from God, not your husband.

When we pray, we bring that power to bear upon everything we are praying about, and we allow the power of God to work through our powerlessness. When we pray, we are humbling ourselves before God and saying, "I need Your presence and Your power, Lord. I can't do this without You." When we don't pray, it's like saying we have no need of anything outside of ourselves.

Cast your burden on the LORD, and He shall sustain you;

Prayer is not telling God what to do. Prayer is partnering with God to see that His will is done. You don't have to fully understand what God's will is in order to pray that His will be done.

God doesn't want us carrying anything that is unnecessary because it will weigh us down and hinder what He has called us to do.

There's so much to be grateful for, and praising God for giving you His Spirit is a great place to begin. Even if you don't think you have much to be grateful for right now, know that you can always praise God for the Holy Spirit's presence in your life!

You may be asking yourself at this very moment, Why isn't Stormie's husband writing this book? The answer is simple. He's just like you. He is a busy man, with places to go, people to see, work to do, a family to support, food to eat, a life to live, golf to play, ball games to watch, channels to flip, and a chronic lack of patience when it comes to writing. It's not that he doesn't pray.

Prayer is much more than just giving a list of desires to God, as if He were the great Sugar Daddy/Santa Claus in the sky. Prayer is acknowledging and experiencing the presence of God and inviting His presence into our lives and circumstances. It's seeking the presence of God and releasing the power of God which gives us the means to overcome any problem.

Lord, I thank You for being close to me when I pray. Thank You that You hear and will answer me. Thank You that in Your presence there is transformation for my soul and my life. I draw close to You now and ask for an ever-increasing sense of Your presence. I ask that You would help me to pray more and more every day and give me increasing faith to believe for the answers.