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The Power Of A Praying Wife (2014)

by Stormie Omartian(Favorite Author)

4.28 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0736957499 (ISBN13: 9780736957496)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Harvest House Publishers

review 1: I picked this book up at a women's retreat. It helped me to realize that I have a wonderful husband who loves the Lord, myself, and our children. However, there are times when I focus on the negative rather than the positive. When I pray for my husband, my focus changes. I can respect and love my husband, and trust God for whatever difficulties arise. I do not have to be in control of the situation. Nagging does not work, and it tears down your relationship. Doing it all yourself because you think if you don't do it, no one else will leaves you tired and resentful. This book gave me peace to give those issues to God.
review 2: I find this book to be quite sexist, and feel that it tries to resurrect some old and trite stereotypes about men and women. It ... moreis also very hard on women. There seems to be an unhealthy tradition to place the blame on the woman and the entire burden and responsibility upon her for the success of her marriage.Not only that, this book only applies to a very narrow sector of married women in the world. It may be applicable if you are young, healthy and not disabled, and affluent.What about the majority of women in poor countries, who don’t have the money or even the access to stores to buy sexy lingerie, or a special perfume to be worn for him alone, or skin care products that make my skin look dewy and fresh?I have a disability called autistic spectrum disorder, which is a real disability. It gives me continuous and multiple daily challenges. It is literally impossible for me to meet the extremely high expectations that this book puts forth. All I wanted was some prayers to read and pray for my husband, but unfortunately, if came packaged with this sexist advice to be the perfect wife at all times, and to pander to my husbands whims, no matter how ludicrous and unreasonable.I’m to be sexy, a good cook, keep a clean house at all times, be a great mother, and make sure we are never out of ligh bulbs or batteries? REALLY??? Where in the bible does it say a woman is to be an unpaid slave to her husband? That is totally alien to the gospel. And if my husband calls me one day and demands a specific chicken dish, I’m to scramble to buy the ingredients, fix it for him, and then when he comes home and says I don’t want chicken I want lamb chops, I’m to just grin and bear it? Really????? That is utterly dysfunctional. I think what the authors husband really needed was a good swift kick in the back side. He sounds like a narcissistic jerk. And for a wife to allow this behavior only enables his selfish attitude. Wow!!What about the middle aged and elderly couples who no longer desire or are able to be at the ready for sex on demand at all times? What about marriages where one person is disabled? I am disabled and so could not be the perfect wife (shame on me!). However, God has used this challenge to make my husband into a more gentle, patient, and less selfish person. And his patience with me has helped me to be grateful to him, and makes me love him more.The most tragic thing is, what about the many women in abusive marriage? Unfortunately this book has a strong flavor that the problems in a marriage are up to the woman to fix, and that she is to totally sacrifice herself to met her husbands every whim. That is just plain unbiblical. Ephesians 5 says that the husband and wife are to mutually submit to each other. The husband is also to love and protect and sacrifice himself for the wife, just as Christ did for the church. This book is very unbalanced in placing all the responsibility for the marriage on the wife. There is a sick perverted view of wifely submission in certain Christian fundamentalist subcultures that this book seems to perpetuate. The gospel message is so simple. Believe on and trust in the atoning death of Jesus on the cross and you will be saved. Also make Jesus and His kingdom first and all these things shall be added to you. If we walk in the Spirit and truly submit to Jesus, then being a good spouse will naturally flow out of us, and the spirit will enable us to love and serve our spouse. And what this means on a practical level is unique to each couple, as no two marriage relationships are alike. I actually read the chapter on sex to my husband and he found it offensive. I feel this book promotes a lot of stereotypes of men and women. He was offended at the idea that sex is the biggest need for men.The bottom line is, this book is man centered and not God centered. It caters to the world's idea of a good marriage. It seems like a primarily humanistic book cloaked in religion and scriptures. A lot of the advice feels like a legalistic burden being placed upon me. Jesus said "come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest". This book does the opposite. I find it to be very legalistic and works oriented. We are saved by grace. And our marriages should be grace based, not works based. less

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