I have led a believing life and prayed but my husband is still persecuting me. Then, what should I do?
Firstly, you should check if you yourself have shortcomings.
Husbands—especially unbelieving husbands—want to be loved by their wives. But if one's wife says to him, "I love God more than you," or if she says, "Do not ask me to give you fleshly love," how would he feel?
This is not what God wants and not the Holy Spirit's work. It is just from her self-centeredness and from her lack of consideration of her husband's heart. If you truly love God, you naturally love others. If you have faith, you cannot neglect others. Rather you may harbor anybody with heart, love, and generosity. You may not give hard time to others in misunderstanding. Thus, you must be able to receive God's wisdom from above and move your husband's hearts.
In addition, you need to check if you are faithful in all aspects. Suppose you do not manage your tasks in your workplace and you make private phone calls or often leave your place as an excuse for counseling other church members. If you show this kind of untrustworthy attitude, you cannot glorify God. Children should follow their duty toward parents and students should follow their duty as students. Housewives should do their duty as wife and mother and work faithfully for God's kingdom with joy.
If they say they are busy doing God's work and neglect house chores, even believing husbands are likely to be discomforted. Unbelieving husbands may persecute their wives even more. They might not like the church and resent God due to the attitude of their wives. They must not look down on husbands and not talk bluntly. They should follow husband's will if it is not of untruth. When they serve husbands in the way that they serve the Lord, God is pleased with them. If you give out the fragrance of Christ this way, then few husbands and family members would persecute you.
Secondly, you should check if you rejoice and give thanks.
When you are faced with trouble, you pray and fast. You may think you commit everything to God, but if you do not endure it by faith with joy and just force yourself to endure it, it cannot be true faith. Then, it cannot move God's heart. If you cry in prayer due to your sorrow, it is not faith.
Only when we offer up fiery prayer with the heart, can it move God's heart and then we can receive the Holy Spirit's fullness. Philippians 4:4-7 reads, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! ... Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." If you pray with faith, you believe you have received the answer to your prayer so you are naturally filled with joy and thanks.
When Apostle Paul and Silas were thrown into the inner prison and their feet were fastened in the stocks, they were praying and singing hymns of praise to God. When Daniel was thrown into lions' den, he gave prayer of thanksgiving. If we pray with faith like they did, God gives us the Holy Spirit's fullness. Then faith comes upon us and the Scripture "It shall be done to you according to your faith" (Matthew 9:29) is fulfilled. This is the way to receiving answers and blessings.
Thirdly, you should use a wise way.
We first have to rely on God with faith so that He can work for us. However, we still need to build a support of spiritual faith through deeds. Genesis Chapters 32 and 33 records what Jacob did in detail to calm down the temper of his brother, Esau.
Jacob did not just pray, fast, and wait for the situation to be resolved without doing anything. But he did following things; first, he prayed earnestly with heart so that he could move God's heart. He gave thanks for blessings he had received from God, reminded himself of God's promise, and professed faith in God to resolve his problem. While praying, Jacob received wisdom from above about what he should do in the situation.
It is the process of building a foundation of spiritual faith where God can work. Although Esau was not appropriate in God's sight, Jacob did not ignore Esau and his actions and words towards Esau were not pretension. Because he had become humble through trials and came before Esau, God's work could happen that Esau was moved by his brother.
When you have trouble with others, you should try to receive God's wisdom. Then God moves the hearts of even evil men and allows you to have peace with your enemy. Suppose a wife was forced by her husband to get divorced. She should deal with this in goodness but she must not sign an agreement he wants without any way to live. She should try to receive wisdom from above and find a way to receive legal help to protect her minimum right in a way of goodness.
If we receive the Holy Spirit's works through fervent prayer, God gives us wisdom and the way to deal with every matter in every situation. If we use a wrong way, God gives us realization and stops us from going the wrong way. Here, what we have to do is to build a foundation of faith through prayer so that God can work and the Holy Spirit can guide us. But if you think God will do it all with vague expectations and just let the situation lead you, it cannot be said that you have true faith.
Therefore, to receive an answer to your prayer, you should pray specifically and clearly in detail, and you should offer up prayer with your heart just as Jacob prayed to the extent that his socket of his hip was dislocated. Then you can enjoy peace coming down from above and become full of joy and thanks. In other words, when you receive the Holy Spirit's guidance, you will receive a method that is wise concerning what kind of deeds of faith you have to show to receive answers.
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