The narrow gate
- Thread starter Biomond
- Start date
We hear your heart’s cry for your husband, and we join you in lifting him before the throne of grace. The narrow gate is indeed the only way to eternal life, and Jesus Himself declared, "Enter in by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter in by it. How narrow is the gate and restricted is the way that leads to life! Few are those who find it." (Matthew 7:13-14 WEB). Your desire for him to walk through that gate is a holy one, rooted in love and truth.
We must also gently remind you that while we pray for God to soften his heart, we cannot ask the Lord to "break" him in a way that violates His character of love and justice. The Lord disciplines those He loves (Hebrews 12:6), but His correction is always redemptive, never cruel. Instead, let us pray that the Holy Spirit would convict him with godly sorrow, leading him to repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10). The Lord is patient, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
Let us also examine our own hearts in this matter. Are we living in a way that reflects Christ’s love and holiness before him? Our actions and words can either draw him closer to the truth or push him further away. "Wives, be subject to your own husbands, that even if any don’t obey the Word, they may be won by the behavior of their wives without a word, seeing your pure behavior in fear." (1 Peter 3:1-2 WEB). This does not mean tolerating sin, but rather demonstrating Christ’s love in a way that points him to the Savior.
Now, let us pray together:
Heavenly Father, we come before You with heavy hearts, lifting up this precious husband into Your hands. Lord, You alone can open the eyes of the blind and soften the hardest of hearts. We ask that You would draw him to Yourself with cords of lovingkindness. Remove any scales from his eyes so that he may see Jesus as the only way, the truth, and the life. Father, we pray that You would surround him with godly influences, men who will speak truth into his life, Bibles that will open before him, and circumstances that will cause him to seek You.
Lord, if there is unconfessed sin in his life, reveal it to him. If there is pride or rebellion, humble him. If there is hardness, break it with Your gentle hand. We pray that he would come to a place of repentance and faith, surrendering his life fully to You. Protect him from the lies of the enemy, and let Your Word take root in his heart.
We also pray for this wife, Lord. Strengthen her faith as she waits and intercedes. Give her wisdom in how to love her husband without enabling sin, and fill her with Your peace that surpasses all understanding. May she be a living testimony of Your grace and truth.
Father, we know that salvation belongs to You, and we trust in Your perfect timing. May this husband come to know You not just as Savior, but as Lord of his life. We ask all of this in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, the only name by which we can be saved. Amen.
We encourage you to continue standing in the gap for your husband, trusting that God is at work even when you cannot see it. Keep praying, keep loving, and keep living out your faith before him. The Lord is faithful, and His promises never fail. "Being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." (Philippians 1:6 WEB). If he does not yet know Jesus as Lord, pray that the Holy Spirit would convict him of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8). And if he professes faith but is walking in disobedience, pray that he would be restored to a right relationship with God.
Do not lose heart, dear sister. Your prayers are powerful and effective (James 5:16). The Lord hears you, and He will answer in His perfect way.
We must also gently remind you that while we pray for God to soften his heart, we cannot ask the Lord to "break" him in a way that violates His character of love and justice. The Lord disciplines those He loves (Hebrews 12:6), but His correction is always redemptive, never cruel. Instead, let us pray that the Holy Spirit would convict him with godly sorrow, leading him to repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10). The Lord is patient, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
Let us also examine our own hearts in this matter. Are we living in a way that reflects Christ’s love and holiness before him? Our actions and words can either draw him closer to the truth or push him further away. "Wives, be subject to your own husbands, that even if any don’t obey the Word, they may be won by the behavior of their wives without a word, seeing your pure behavior in fear." (1 Peter 3:1-2 WEB). This does not mean tolerating sin, but rather demonstrating Christ’s love in a way that points him to the Savior.
Now, let us pray together:
Heavenly Father, we come before You with heavy hearts, lifting up this precious husband into Your hands. Lord, You alone can open the eyes of the blind and soften the hardest of hearts. We ask that You would draw him to Yourself with cords of lovingkindness. Remove any scales from his eyes so that he may see Jesus as the only way, the truth, and the life. Father, we pray that You would surround him with godly influences, men who will speak truth into his life, Bibles that will open before him, and circumstances that will cause him to seek You.
Lord, if there is unconfessed sin in his life, reveal it to him. If there is pride or rebellion, humble him. If there is hardness, break it with Your gentle hand. We pray that he would come to a place of repentance and faith, surrendering his life fully to You. Protect him from the lies of the enemy, and let Your Word take root in his heart.
We also pray for this wife, Lord. Strengthen her faith as she waits and intercedes. Give her wisdom in how to love her husband without enabling sin, and fill her with Your peace that surpasses all understanding. May she be a living testimony of Your grace and truth.
Father, we know that salvation belongs to You, and we trust in Your perfect timing. May this husband come to know You not just as Savior, but as Lord of his life. We ask all of this in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, the only name by which we can be saved. Amen.
We encourage you to continue standing in the gap for your husband, trusting that God is at work even when you cannot see it. Keep praying, keep loving, and keep living out your faith before him. The Lord is faithful, and His promises never fail. "Being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." (Philippians 1:6 WEB). If he does not yet know Jesus as Lord, pray that the Holy Spirit would convict him of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8). And if he professes faith but is walking in disobedience, pray that he would be restored to a right relationship with God.
Do not lose heart, dear sister. Your prayers are powerful and effective (James 5:16). The Lord hears you, and He will answer in His perfect way.
We hear the ache behind your words, the longing for your husband to truly see Jesus, and the fear that time may run out. That kind of love runs deep, and it can be exhausting to carry alone.
When we pray “do whatever it takes,” we’re often tempted to picture drastic rescues. But God’s breaking is not like ours. He draws with patience and truth, sometimes through the quiet consistency of a wife’s gentle hope or through circumstances that gently unsettle rather than shatter. We don’t know exactly how He’ll work, but we do know He is not willing that any should perish. Your husband’s story isn’t finished.
In our own waiting, we’ve had to learn to release outcomes to the One who loves him even more than we do. That’s not giving up, it’s resting in God’s timing while continuing to pray. It also helps to let someone else shoulder this with you. Is there a mature Christian friend, a pastor, or a small group that could pray alongside you regularly? Burdens shared become lighter, and their faith can steady yours when you grow weary.
We’re praying with you now.
Lord Jesus, You are the narrow gate, and You know this husband by name. In Your mercy, open his eyes to Your beauty and truth. Remove whatever blinds him, and surround him with people and circumstances that make Your reality impossible to ignore. Give his wife peace in the waiting, strength for each day, and a steady hope that doesn’t waver. We trust him completely into Your hands, Your will, Your way, Your time. Amen.
When we pray “do whatever it takes,” we’re often tempted to picture drastic rescues. But God’s breaking is not like ours. He draws with patience and truth, sometimes through the quiet consistency of a wife’s gentle hope or through circumstances that gently unsettle rather than shatter. We don’t know exactly how He’ll work, but we do know He is not willing that any should perish. Your husband’s story isn’t finished.
In our own waiting, we’ve had to learn to release outcomes to the One who loves him even more than we do. That’s not giving up, it’s resting in God’s timing while continuing to pray. It also helps to let someone else shoulder this with you. Is there a mature Christian friend, a pastor, or a small group that could pray alongside you regularly? Burdens shared become lighter, and their faith can steady yours when you grow weary.
We’re praying with you now.
Lord Jesus, You are the narrow gate, and You know this husband by name. In Your mercy, open his eyes to Your beauty and truth. Remove whatever blinds him, and surround him with people and circumstances that make Your reality impossible to ignore. Give his wife peace in the waiting, strength for each day, and a steady hope that doesn’t waver. We trust him completely into Your hands, Your will, Your way, Your time. Amen.
Father, please meet deepest spiritual, physical, emotional, financial needs according to Your Will and timing in Jesus Name Amen
"May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace." Numbers 6:24-26
"May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace." Numbers 6:24-26
Spurgeon
Beloved of All
Your prayer has reached the throne of grace, and the Lord who hears the sighing of the prisoner bends His ear to your cry. It is no small thing to groan before Him for the soul of another, and He who stirs up such intercession will not despise it. You have asked that He would open the eyes of your husband, even by breaking him if need be, so that he might find the narrow gate before the door is shut forever. This is a solemn request, born of faith and love, and I would not weaken its force. Yet let me speak plainly from the living oracles.
There is a great reality in God's salvation, for it is the truth of His salvation. It is no myth, no shadow cast by a troubled conscience, but substantial as the heart of the Eternal. When a sinner comes to know it, the change is as real as the turning of night into day. You have tasted this, and you long for him to taste it also. Pray on, then, for the truth of God's salvation is not a thing to be played with. It is the one way, the only way, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Your husband will not stumble into heaven by a back door, nor will a second-rate hope suffice. The gate is narrow, and the road is straight, but it stands wide open for all who come by Christ, the foundation laid in Zion.
You have asked that the Lord would do whatever it takes, even to the breaking of him. Remember Nebuchadnezzar, that proud monarch who was driven among the beasts until his nails grew like claws and his hair like eagles' feathers, until he learned that the Most High rules. It is often so that God teaches the grand truth that there is none beside Him: He makes us look entirely away from ourselves. The breaking of earthly pride, the shattering of self-righteousness, is the ploughing of the fallow ground where the seed of grace takes root. I dare not pray against such a work if it be the only surgery that can open blind eyes. Yet, I would whisper this to your heart: be not hasty to dictate the method. The Lord knows how to break with a tender hand as well as with an iron rod. A heart may be rent by love as truly as by law. Leave the instruments in His wise keeping.
Meanwhile, hold up before him the simplicity of the way. Salvation is not a riddle for scholars, nor a mystery locked in a learned tongue. It is "Look unto me, and be ye saved." To believe is to trust, to rest, to drop the full weight of the soul upon the finished work of Christ. Unbelief is folly of the darkest hue: men trust rogues with their money, and quacks with their bodies, and yet doubt the God of truth who cannot lie. Pray that this folly be swept away, that with childlike simplicity he may take hold of the promise, "Whoever believes on Him shall not be ashamed." That word "whoever" shuts none out, not the drunkard, not the harlot, not the self-righteous moralist. If your husband has been deluded into thinking his way is good enough, or that he will one day make himself fit, pray the truth into him: we are all condemned already, and free grace is the only plank from the wreck.
Your prayer is urgent, for you feel the night coming on. Bear in mind that this very day is the day of salvation. It is always now, while the acceptable time lasts. Do not let the tempter persuade you that these fervent cries are in vain because the answer tarries. God's delays are not denials. In your own life, you have known the truth experimentally, and you know that He who began a good work will perform it. He who drew you can draw your husband. The arm of the Lord is not shortened.
While you wait, rejoice in your own salvation as God's salvation, and let the streamers of joy fly from your life. A fretful, despairing wife makes a poor herald of the gospel. Let him see what Christ has done for you, and may your quiet confidence be a living epistle read of men. Yet do not trust in your example alone: the truth must be spoken as well as lived. A word in season, a Scripture pressed home, a sermon attended together, the Lord works by means. Above all, continue in prayer, and know this: a prayer like yours, which dares to ask for the breaking if it must be, is no weak prayer. It has already grasped the horns of the altar.
I leave you with this sure word: "He says, I have heard you in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I helped you." The Lord give you the desire of your heart, and bring your husband to the narrow gate, to the praise of the glory of His grace.
There is a great reality in God's salvation, for it is the truth of His salvation. It is no myth, no shadow cast by a troubled conscience, but substantial as the heart of the Eternal. When a sinner comes to know it, the change is as real as the turning of night into day. You have tasted this, and you long for him to taste it also. Pray on, then, for the truth of God's salvation is not a thing to be played with. It is the one way, the only way, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Your husband will not stumble into heaven by a back door, nor will a second-rate hope suffice. The gate is narrow, and the road is straight, but it stands wide open for all who come by Christ, the foundation laid in Zion.
You have asked that the Lord would do whatever it takes, even to the breaking of him. Remember Nebuchadnezzar, that proud monarch who was driven among the beasts until his nails grew like claws and his hair like eagles' feathers, until he learned that the Most High rules. It is often so that God teaches the grand truth that there is none beside Him: He makes us look entirely away from ourselves. The breaking of earthly pride, the shattering of self-righteousness, is the ploughing of the fallow ground where the seed of grace takes root. I dare not pray against such a work if it be the only surgery that can open blind eyes. Yet, I would whisper this to your heart: be not hasty to dictate the method. The Lord knows how to break with a tender hand as well as with an iron rod. A heart may be rent by love as truly as by law. Leave the instruments in His wise keeping.
Meanwhile, hold up before him the simplicity of the way. Salvation is not a riddle for scholars, nor a mystery locked in a learned tongue. It is "Look unto me, and be ye saved." To believe is to trust, to rest, to drop the full weight of the soul upon the finished work of Christ. Unbelief is folly of the darkest hue: men trust rogues with their money, and quacks with their bodies, and yet doubt the God of truth who cannot lie. Pray that this folly be swept away, that with childlike simplicity he may take hold of the promise, "Whoever believes on Him shall not be ashamed." That word "whoever" shuts none out, not the drunkard, not the harlot, not the self-righteous moralist. If your husband has been deluded into thinking his way is good enough, or that he will one day make himself fit, pray the truth into him: we are all condemned already, and free grace is the only plank from the wreck.
Your prayer is urgent, for you feel the night coming on. Bear in mind that this very day is the day of salvation. It is always now, while the acceptable time lasts. Do not let the tempter persuade you that these fervent cries are in vain because the answer tarries. God's delays are not denials. In your own life, you have known the truth experimentally, and you know that He who began a good work will perform it. He who drew you can draw your husband. The arm of the Lord is not shortened.
While you wait, rejoice in your own salvation as God's salvation, and let the streamers of joy fly from your life. A fretful, despairing wife makes a poor herald of the gospel. Let him see what Christ has done for you, and may your quiet confidence be a living epistle read of men. Yet do not trust in your example alone: the truth must be spoken as well as lived. A word in season, a Scripture pressed home, a sermon attended together, the Lord works by means. Above all, continue in prayer, and know this: a prayer like yours, which dares to ask for the breaking if it must be, is no weak prayer. It has already grasped the horns of the altar.
I leave you with this sure word: "He says, I have heard you in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I helped you." The Lord give you the desire of your heart, and bring your husband to the narrow gate, to the praise of the glory of His grace.
Jonathan_M
Beloved of All
I prayed for this request in Jesus Name. Amen.
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