A Prayer for My Husband

Protection and success are the two things wives ask for most often, and they belong together: that he come home safe, and that what he spends his days on come to something good. The Catechism says of the angels that “from infancy to death human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession” (CCC 336). That care does not stop at the wedding. Ask for it for him by name.

A prayer short enough to say while the coffee is still brewing, or silently as he goes out of the door. The psalmist prays in the morning and then waits for the answer: “LORD, in the morning you will hear my voice. In the morning I will lay my requests before you, and will watch expectantly” (Psalm 5:3).

Work is where many husbands spend most of their waking hours, and where much of their stress lives: a difficult boss, a job that is not secure, a business that might not make it, work that is physically dangerous, or no work at all. Scripture takes work seriously: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” (Colossians 3:23), and “Establish the work of our hands for us. Yes, establish the work of our hands” (Psalm 90:17).

For a husband who is ill, injured, waiting for results, recovering from surgery, or simply not taking care of himself. The letter of James tells the sick what to do: “Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the assembly, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord” (James 5:14). That is the root of the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, whose grace the Catechism describes as “strengthening, peace and courage” (CCC 1520).

Some wives pray for a husband whose faith is strong, that it stay so; many pray for one who has drifted, never believed, or goes to Mass only for the children. St. Paul prays for his readers “that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” (Ephesians 3:16–17). St. Peter says a husband who does not believe may be “won by the behavior” of his wife “without a word” (1 Peter 3:1). Pressure rarely works; a faith that is lived at home often does.

The Church’s example is St. Monica. Her husband Patricius was not a Christian for most of their marriage, and her son Augustine wrote of her: “Finally, her own husband, now towards the end of his earthly existence, did she gain over unto You” (Confessions IX.9). Her patience is a model for praying for a husband who does not share your faith. It is not a model for staying with a husband who hurts you; that is a different question, and it has its own section below.

For a husband going through something hard: a job lost, a parent dying, a business failing, depression, a season when he has gone quiet and you do not know how to reach him. Jesus’ invitation is for him too: “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). If it is your marriage itself that is in trouble — distance, hurt, broken trust — the prayers for healing the bond between you are on a prayer for my marriage.

If your husband hits you, threatens you, forces you, or controls you through fear, your safety and your children’s safety come first, before any prayer on this page. Prayer does not replace getting to safety, and no prayer asks you to stay in danger. The U.S. Catholic bishops say it without qualification: “no person is expected to stay in an abusive marriage,” and a woman being assaulted “needs to know that acting to end the abuse does not violate the marriage promises” (When I Call for Help, 1992, revised 2002). If you are in the U.S., the National Domestic Violence Hotline, 1-800-799-7233 or thehotline.org, is open around the clock and can help you make a safety plan.

For a husband on the road for work, working away for months, or deployed with the military. God’s promise to Jacob as he left home is one wives pray back to God for their husbands: “Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land” (Genesis 28:15). And the psalm for anyone far away: “If I take the wings of the dawn, and settle in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me” (Psalm 139:9–10).

A wife can bless her husband. The Catechism says every baptized person is called “to be a ‘blessing,’ and to bless” (CCC 1669), and that the Church blesses “by invoking the name of Jesus, usually while making the holy sign of the cross” (CCC 1671). Many wives trace a small cross on their husband’s forehead as he leaves, or as he sleeps, with the priestly blessing God gave to Aaron: “The LORD bless you, and keep you. The LORD make his face to shine on you, and be gracious to you. The LORD lift up his face toward you, and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24–26).

Verses to pray with his name in them, in the World English Bible, Catholic Edition.

For a woman who hopes to marry and prays for a man she has not met, or has met and is not sure about. Scripture’s most detailed prayer for a future spouse is the prayer of Abraham’s servant, sent to find a wife for Isaac: “LORD, the God of my master Abraham, please give me success today” (Genesis 24:12). The Church asks those preparing for marriage to see their engagement as “an apprenticeship in fidelity, and the hope of receiving one another from God” (CCC 2350).