Men, the message is clear. You must never criticize your spouse for being without form or void; just reshape what she contains by using words as seeds. This is not to say that something is wrong with her, but rather, as her husband you are putting things in their rightful place by returning the relationship to its original state and purpose. The question is, is there any parallel to this in the New Testament. Since God is the same yesterday, today and forever, there must be examples of this in the New Testament or the point is not valid.

There is the parallel to this adversive-continuative in the New Testament. It is the word “now.”

Hebrews 11 tells us, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.” Your faith acts for you the same way God's Spirit did for him in the book of Genesis. It hovers over your darkness and chaos waiting a command. The command is the adversive-continuative “now.” When God spoke the word “let,” everything that followed that word came into existence. Likewise when you speak the word “now,” everything that follows that word must manifest, because your faith has been released into the darkness to produce light, form and accomplishments. In the creation story, God's word produced three things—light, form and accomplishments. You want to bring light to your relationship, because the devil can only work in the darkness. You want to bring form to it also, because form represents organization and organization is God's way of simplifying your life. You want to bring accomplishments because they take the place of voids, or empty places in your relationship. If your relationship no longer has empty places, it is now full. Jesus said he came that our joy may be full (John 15: 11). This is fulfillment. Full and filled with accomplishment. Fulfillment. Can you see it? Accomplishment is nothing more than doing something you hadn't done, which is sowing into your spouse and reaping your desired harvest. So, men, go forth. Fulfill and accomplish using the principle of seed time and harvest.

If God, being our perfect example, must sow in order to reap, likewise man, made in his image and likeness, must do the exact same thing. He should not look at his wife and complain about what he sees. He should never criticize or tear her down. Instead he should begin planting seeds for the harvest he desires to see. The words he uses are the seeds. He plants these seeds by confessing over his wife the way he sees her by faith. His confession will never exceed his level of faith. He will only confess over his wife as much as his faith allows. This is why he must stay in the Word of God, because faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word (Romans 10:17). When should he confess or affirm that these things are done? “Now,” of course. For example, he should begin confessing over her that she is “now” a virtuous woman, “now” she has the beauty of Sarah, the grace of Ruth, the wisdom of Naomi, the courage of Esther, the business sense of Lydia, the favor of Mary, the gentle spirit of Rebekah and the skills of Rahab, just to name a few. Yes, you read correctly. I said she has the skills of Rahab. We'll talk about that later in the book. You should never speak the chaos that you see, only the harvest that you desire. The things you confess over her should be said aloud and in her presence, so that she can hear you pray to God the things that are in your heart.

It is a scriptural concept that a man confess over and pray for his spouse. We need look no further than Isaac for this example. Isaac was the son that God promised Sarah and Abraham. We know that Isaac is also a type of Christ. This simply means that he possessed a lot of the same characteristics as Christ and many of the events in his life can be paralleled to events in Christ's life. For example, like Christ, Isaac was the promised child, he was the firstborn son, he was in total submission to his father and he was a willing sacrifice. Christ went to God on behalf of his bride, the church and Isaac was the first man we read about in Scripture who goes to God on his bride's behalf. He, like Christ, was not only the covering for his bride, but he was also her mediator. He didn't wait for her to pray for her heart's desires. He loved her so much that he

wanted her to be fulfilled. His desire was that she want for nothing. He saw her heaviness and was moved with compassion to do something about it (Genesis 25:21). This is where the New Testament Scripture comes into play that states, my God shall supply all of my need according to his riches in glory (Philippians 4:19). Knowing that we are translated into the kingdom of God, we have access to all that is God's through the name of Jesus. Just as Christ and Isaac met their brides’ needs, a man has the privilege of meeting his wife's needs, according to God's riches in glory. Is this a tall order? Not really, for we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13). It is not the man who does it, but it is Christ, who does it through him. Not only that, 1 Corinthians 13 tells us that love never fails. If we love our wives unconditionally, she has no need we will not want to meet.

The husband is not only the covering and protector of his bride, but he is also her mediator. We should be so sensitive to her needs that we should know what she desires before she asks. According to Scripture, God hears us before we call and answers us while we yet speak (Isaiah 65:24). It is true intimacy when desires are communicated without spoken words. They are communicated on a spiritual level. You can tell by her spirit that something is not right. You immediately go to God on her behalf. You become her mediator. Again, pray this prayer in her presence so she will hear you pray to God those things that are on your heart. This gives her a clearer understanding of the things that are close to your heart and the place in your heart that she occupies. Use your own words, but pray something like this. God, I thank you for my wife. I thank you for the blessing and favor I “now” enjoy because she is in my life. I “now” thank you in advance that you allow me to bless her life as she has blessed mine. I thank you that she has the joy of the Lord. I thank you that she is fulfilled in every area. I thank you that you have given me the honor of carrying her burdens as you carry mine. I thank you that you have given me the grace to minister to her needs, but I bring her to you “now” that you might minister to her in any area I've missed. Anoint my eyes that I might see where I have fallen short in meeting her needs. Give me grace, Father, to always display unconditional love. Help me to show her every day that she is loved, respected and desired, in Jesus' name, Amen. Remember to hold her in a close embrace while you pray this prayer. She will hear the sincerity of your prayer and feel the warmth of your love. We are using Jesus as our example for this one. He prayed for the church aloud and in the presence of the disciples. This is an important display of love, mediation and compassion. It worked for Christ and it will work for you.

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