by Marilynn Chadwick

"A hot-tempered person stirs up strife, but one who is slow to anger calms a quarrel." Proverbs 15:18 TLV

Faith in Jesus is serious business. But God's Word also calls us to a type of "faith" in each other as members of the body of Christ. Scripture warns us that to "break faith" with one another can greatly impede our prayers.

Ancient Israel had broken faith with each other and then cried out to God, wondering why he was displeased with them. The prophet Malachi accuses them of covering God's altar with "tears, with weeping and with sighing, because he no longer looks at the offering or receives your gift with favor" (Malachi 2:13 CJB). "Don't we all have the same father?" he continues. "Didn't one God create us all? Then why do we break faith with each other, profaning the covenant of our ancestors?" (Malachi 2:10).

Next, Malachi addresses their marriages: "The Lord is witness between you and the wife of your youth that you have broken faith with her, though she is your companion, your wife by covenant" (Malachi 2:13, 14 CJB). Breaking faith is serious business in God's eyes. "I hate divorce," says the Lord God of Israel..." (Malachi 2:16 NIV 1984).

Peter seizes upon this connection between marital harmony and answered prayer, exhorting believing husbands and wives to treat each other in a godly way as "heirs together of the gracious gift of life" (1 Peter 3:7 NIV). "Husbands, in the same way, be considerate as you live with your wives so that nothing will hinder your prayers" (1 Peter 3:7). Enkopt, translated "hinder," comes from the idea of cutting or striking. It conveys a strong interruption or stoppage. Marital strife can literally derail answered prayer.

Malachi gives us a practical prescription to protect both our marriages and our relationships with fellow believers: "So guard yourself in your spirit and do not break faith with the wife of your youth" (Malachi 2:15b NIV 1984).

And again, regarding fellow believers, he says, "So guard yourself and do not break faith" (v. 16b). The word translated "guard" means "to keep, preserve, protect; to keep watch." Let's be mindful and prayerful, therefore, to guard against strife in our marriages, our families, and our church family. I wonder if we'd keep a closer watch on ourselves if we truly believed that strife hinders prayer.

Our Favorite Proverbs: Proverbs 15:18, This Hinders Prayer