Unequally Yoked?

Yoked? Unequally

“For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.” 1 Corinthians 7:14 NIV If you’re about to get married or perhaps you’re already married, praying for your unsaved spouse or spouse-to-be is one of the most important tasks you will be charged with. Since God created marriage as a loyal partnership between a man and a woman, the fact is, for your marriage to work, God HAS to be at the centre of your union. The enemy comes only to ‘steal, kill and destroy’, so without prayers, your marriage will always be under attack AND that includes your husband! But thank goodness we serve a God who is more than able to bind you and your husband together with cords that cannot be broken. When my husband and I got married, although we both grew up in the church, we were in the secular world. Although we still went to church, you can say we had ‘one foot in and one foot out.’ As the years passed by and my walk deepened with the Lord, I started to wonder if we were now ‘unequally yoked’. This begged

“F me to ask God if my relationship was really that uneven. In other words, could darkness really exist with light, and if not, what would happen next? That’s when the Lord prompted me to pray for my unsaved husband, so that one day, he too would be able to experience the joy of the Lord. I will admit, it wasn’t easy at first, but as I continued to ask the Lord to guard his heart and his mind, I realized that God started to do what He does best…transform! I was now able to be confident in the fact that ‘he who began a good work in him will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus’ Phillipians 1:6. However, I had to understand that this transformation was not going to happen when I wanted it to, but all in God’s timing. There were many times when I realized my marriage was under attack. To a regular person, these disagreements were just the daily struggles of two persons coming together under one roof. However, when you walk in faith you learn to know when the enemy is coming at you. That’s when you put on the ‘Armor of God’ (Ephesians 6:14-17), not just for yourself but on your husband, every day before he

Living with, praying for and serving an unsaved husband/wife How to Cope

leaves the house. I soon realized that covering my husband in prayer meant I needed to support, honour and help him on his journey. So, while I raised him up, there I was down on my knees, crying out to God.

Do you know what was challenging though? Learning to accept my husband exactly where he was on his faith journey. I desperately wanted him to put more ‘pep in his step’. In fact, I was willing to give him some of my ‘fire’, since my flame was burning brightly for God. However, I soon realized that that was not a solution and God did NOT need my help!

I had to let go and let God do His thing. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I can be a little ‘fire-cracker’, but I like to say that I’m full of passion - LOL. However, I am constantly reminded by God’s grace ‘To be always humble, gentle and patient and show love by being tolerant with one another’ Ephesians 4:2 Oh yes, I had to learn how to be more patient indeed!

So, as I celebrate my 19th year of marriage, my duty as a wife was and still is to pray for my husband, asking the Lord to guard his heart and mind every day. As long as you fix your eyes on Jesus, He will help you to finish strong! Even if the two of you are not at the same place on your faith journey, just continue to seek the Lord with all your heart, with all your mind and with all your soul and allow Him to bless your union.

Blessings, Trudy Oh yes, how could I forget...When you get the chance you should read “The Power of a Praying Wife” Devotional by Stormie Omartian and if you haven’t watched the “War Room” or “Fireproof, take a break and watch these two inspirational movies that will definitely help you pray more for your partner. p

By Trudy Francis, Marketing exec., praise and worship leader, wife and mother of two.