Before he died, Stephen said, "Lord, I pray that You won't lay this charge against these people." Stephen prayed for his murderers, including Saul.
Later, Saul was on his way to Damascus, with papers granting him authority to persecute more Christians and put them in jail. Now, I believe the Church, the Body of Christ, was praying for Saul at that time.
No doubt, in the natural, they'd have been happy to see him dead. They'd have been relieved to see this persecutor out of the scene. Someone may have even said, "How could somebody like Saul ever come to know Jesus? It could never happen! God is just going to have to remove him from this earth in order to free us from his wickedness."
But I believe those early Christians, like Stephen, were praying for Saul.
God knew what it would take to get Saul's attention. On the way to Damascus, suddenly a bright light shined on Saul and the Bible says he fell off of his horse. He found himself blinded - and he couldn't see for three days. Then Saul was ready to listen!
He had changed his mind. God brought him to the place where he had a change of heart. If we will trust in God and His ways, He will bring your mate to the place where his heart can be changed, too.
Are You or Your Mate a Jonah?
Think about Jonah. God spoke to this prophet to go to Nineveh and preach repentance. Jonah didn't want to go, so he got on a ship sailing in the opposite direction.
The Bible tells us he caused havoc in that boat because he was running from God. The sailors were fearful and anxious to know why they were having such awful problems - they were about to sink!
They were in such a terrible storm; they had to throw their cargo overboard to lighten the ship. Then they realized that someone on board was the source of their problem. They cast lots to determine who it was and found out that Jonah was the culprit.
They said, "Jonah, you've got to get away from us or we're all going to die." So they threw him overboard.
You know the story, how God had a fish swallow him up. And inside the belly of that fish Jonah decided to listen to God. He changed his mind. He repented and began to sing praises unto God. God knows exactly what to do to bring people around - we just need to trust in Him.
God knows how to get your mate's attention. As you pray, God will draw them by His Spirit. He knows how to change a person's mind. So don't ever let the devil tell you that your spouse is too far away from God to ever change because nothing is too difficult for Him.
Excerpt permission granted by Lakewood Church