I might as well admit it up front: I have been terrible when it comes to leading my wife through a study of the Scriptures and equally bad when it comes to praying and studying Scripture with her during the twenty plus years we have been married. Call it laziness. Call it stupidity. Call it a sheer lack of effort on my part to engage her in this routine. Maybe it should be called "sinful pride" on my part. I don't know. What I do know is that I have been simply negligent in this area.

With that said let me ask you how you are doing, husbands, in this area. I know the struggle all too well. You work all day and spend a great deal of energy providing for your family. It seems you have enough on your plate to begin with let alone another activity of this nature. Little children are clamoring for your attention 24/7. I understand it completely. Have you ever asked your wife if she would be interested in a short time of prayer and study during the week? You probably already know what the answer would be if you were to ask so you have probably not asked because then your conscience would be bugged by the explicit knowledge that she would love to do this with you. Yep, I know that feeling all too well.

What can you do to engage your wife in this activity? Well, first of all you might want to ask her what she would like to do and then set a plan to accomplish it. It does not have to be anything grand and it certainly doesn't need to take a long time each day. It doesn't even need to be every day. However, it sure does need to be a regular time commitment when you and your wife, alone and without distractions, sit down and read and pray together or do some sort of study in the Scriptures.

As I said, I have been lousy at this (yes, I am airing my faults as a husband. Email me and I can provide a more lengthy list that will really cause you to think I am a bum! ). So what have I done about it? Well, I thought that a good place to start would be to take the daily programs from R.C. Sproul's Renewing Your Mind broadcasts and listen to them with my wife. She really enjoys R.C's teaching and I do too, most of the time. Of course there are other things that can be done as a couple and what really matters is that you do it, faithfully and consistently. Face it men, we are called to lead our wives not just be a means to bring financial stability into the home. It is a high calling to be a husband and it is a tough calling to be sure. The profit of such a time with our wives is immeasurable.

Food for thought!