If your husband is not a Christian, then your first and foremost assignment is to pray daily for God to draw your beloved to Himself. It is entirely possible that you are the only person on the face of the earth praying for him. That means if you don’t pray for him, then probably no one is! The Bible says, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” ( James 5:16). And the same is true of the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous wife. It avails and accomplishes much! Your assignment from God is to pray, to keep on praying no matter what, and to trust God.
And while you are praying for your husband, pray for God to send people to share their faith with him. Pray for someone to give him a book that shows him the way to Christ. That’s how my husband Jim and I became a Christian couple. One of the doctors Jim called on each month was a vibrant Christian, and he gave Jim a copy of a Christian book. (And, by the way, this doctor purchased this one book title by the hundreds and gave one to every person who entered his offices!) Well, Jim read the book for all the wrong reasons—he read it so if the doctor asked him about the book on his next visit, Jim could smile and say yes, he had read it and then politely and knowledgeably discuss it.
Who knew that book would turn Jim’s world upside down?! Like the apostle Paul in Philippians 3, God “apprehended” or laid hold upon Jim through the scriptures and truths presented in that book.
Well, as with all good things, Jim wanted to share it with his spouse—that’s me! Immediately he asked me to read the book. In all honesty I told him, “Of course I’ll read it.” After all, reading books for my studies and papers was about all I did (and my messy house was proof of that!). Unfortunately that book ended up getting lost in my bookcase for the next two years. And, like Jim, the day I picked it up and began reading it was the day my life changed forever. Suddenly God turned my life upside-down too—and we became a couple after God’s own heart. That’s when we wholeheartedly and in perfect unity jumped into the race that is set before us (Hebrews 12:1).
I cannot encourage you enough to pray for your unbelieving husband. God can turn your husband upside-down and inside-out. God is able to break through the hardest of hearts. He delights in showing people the way to know Him and experience His love and forgiveness. And prayer is your direct avenue to God. Each prayer you utter is from your heart to His. Praying for your husband is your supreme act of love. As a famous theologian noted, “There is nothing that makes us love a man so much as praying for him.”
From 15 Verses to Pray for Your Husband by Elizabeth George
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