If you are reading this article, there is a high probability that you have found yourself entangled in a relationship with someone from whom you now wish to be free. Unfortunately, there remains this unexplainable connection between you and this other person that you cannot seem to escape. You need them out of your life, but you still have strong feelings for them, or you can’t stop thinking about them.
Some people refer to these relationships as “Soul Ties” – an unexplainable and intense union of heart, mind, body, and spirit with another person. Although the phrase “soul ties” is not used in the Bible, there are indications of an emotional and physical union that can occur in certain relationships.
While the intermingling of two lives can be positive, as in a marriage, there are other sinful or toxic relationships in which two people become tethered to one another. These unwanted relational bonds can cause your emotions to be conflicted, and you feel like you are unable to break the attachment without some type of divine intervention. So, Is it possible to untangle these bonds? How can someone pray to be released from these emotional “Soul Ties”?
Don’t worry, keep reading for 5 soul ties prayers that can help you emotionally and physically detach from an unhealthy or unholy relationship.
Prayer #1 – Help Me Break Free from this Emotional Prison –
If you are drawn into a relationship with someone who is bringing you down rather than building you up, then be careful that you do not allow your feelings for them to cloud your judgment. Consider praying this prayer:
Dear Lord, listen to my cry,
for I am in desperate need;
rescue me from this unhealthy relationship,
for my feelings are too strong to break free on my own.
Set me free from my emotional prison,
that I may praise Your name.
(Adapted from Psalm 142:6-7)
Prayer #2 – Clear My Mind of Thoughts and Emotions That Are Wrong –
Even though you may no longer desire to be in a relationship with this person, or in some cases, you know that it is wrong or bad, but because of your emotional connection, you still think about them frequently. You may have deep feelings for them, even though your relationship may be toxic or even immoral.
Here are just a few examples of these unwanted or unhealthy relationships:
1) You are trying to break free from an abusive partner or family member, but you deeply desire their love, causing you to stay when you should leave;
2) Your former lover has moved on, but leaving you emotionally vulnerable;
3) You’re in a toxic friendship and you need out, but you can’t seem to end it and walk away;
4) You’re having an illicit or immoral relationship, and even though you know it is wrong and you feel the guilt, you keep going back for more;
5) Perhaps you had a sexual relationship with someone before you were married, and even though you now love your spouse, you still find yourself thinking about that other person; or
6) You have been divorced and you are now remarried to someone else, and yet you still have feelings for your former spouse.
There are other scenarios, but these are some of the most common relationship soul ties that people are praying will end. If you are in one of those situations, pray this prayer:
Dear God, may Your peace, which transcends all understanding,
guard my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus.
Clear my mind of negative thoughts and my heart of negative emotions.
Lord, concerning my relationships with other people,
fill my mind with those things which are true,
noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, and gracious.
May I only be drawn to the best, and not the worst;
the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.
(Adapted from Philippians 4:7-8)
Prayer #3 – Search My Heart, Cleanse My Spirit –
We were created to be intimately relational creatures with God and one another. However, sin often complicates those intimate connections, and we need to break away from those toxic situations.
As you think about ending one of these conflicted relationships, you should pray this prayer as you consider if some sin is connected to your relationship; and pray for God to forgive and release you from sin’s grip on your heart and mind.
Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
(Psalm 149:23-24)
Prayer #4 – Help Me Resist the Wrong Thoughts –
The Bible says that we are tempted by our own evil desires and thoughts. Yet, God always makes a way for us to resist. If you are struggling with having the wrong thoughts about someone, pray this prayer.
Dear God, I submit my life to You.
Help me to resist the wrong thoughts and feelings I have for this person.
Drive the evil from me.
I wash my hands of this relationship.
Purify my heart and my mind.
(Adapted from James 4:7-8)
Prayer #5 – Lead Me Away from Evil
It should be noted that the Bible never claims that two people are bound to each other’s souls. Instead, most often we are dealing with the residual thoughts and feelings associated with sin that are connected to an unhealthy or unholy relationship. Therefore, you can break free from these unwanted relationships.
With that in mind, consider praying this final prayer based upon the Lord’s model prayer given to us to help us as we interact with the spiritual and physical worlds. Along with this prayer, you must willfully choose to change your own thoughts and behaviors to align them with the guidance of the Bible as God’s best plan for your life (see Romans 12:2).
I will also be praying that you find fulfilling God-honoring relationships that will bring you joy.
Dear God, I first acknowledge that you are the creator and sustainer of all things in heaven and on earth including my relationships with You and with other people. My desire in all things is to honor You, whether that be in my thoughts, my words, or my actions. So, give me a pure heart and a pure mind. May only Your perfect heavenly will be fulfilled in my life here on earth. May I only desire what You desire, and please give me only what I truly need including in my relationships with other people. Forgive me for all my sinful attitudes and actions. Forgive me for choosing to unite myself with toxic people and give me the grace to forgive them and let go of those relationships. Lead me away from temptation. Deliver me from evil people. I believe You only want the best for me, so I give you control of my life, for Yours is the authority, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
(Adapted from the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13).
What Scripture Reveals About Soul Ties?
As already said, “soul ties” is not particularly mentioned in the Bible, however, there are indications of an emotional and physical union that can occur in certain relationships. Consider the words of Jesus in Matthew 19 – “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So, they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate” (Matthew 19:4-6).
While some people claim the oneness described in Genesis and repeated by Jesus is merely the physical creation of a child, the context and the real-life experiences of countless married couples is that God fuses their lives together in an inseparable bond.
In fact, sexual intimacy becomes the means by which this union is most often felt and consummated. Therefore, if you have had sex with someone, whether you are married or not, then you are not only physically united, but also emotionally connected to them. For example, the Apostle Paul warns us in 1 Corinthians 6:16 – “Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”
Again, we see the Bible teaching that there are unifying bonds that connect two people with one another and we should be careful about who we unite with in body and in spirit. If you are engaged in an unhealthy or unholy sexual relationship with someone, then you should abstain from engaging in that act and pray for forgiveness. Proverbs 5:21-22 says – “For your ways are in full view of the Lord, and He examines all your paths. The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them; the cords of their sins hold them fast.”
Lastly, remember that not all toxic relationships are centred around sex. For example, consider the words of Proverbs 22:24-25 which warns us, “Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person, do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn their ways and get yourself ensnared.”
Dr. Richard Sams is a top Biblical and Religious educator, who holds a Doctor of Ministry degree (Evangelism and Church Growth emphasis) from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. He has two masters’ degrees (Master of Divinity and Master of the Arts of Religion) from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary in Lynchburg and also serves on the Pastoral Leadership Advisory Board of Liberty University. Moreover, Richard Sams has been serving as a pastor (Pastoral Ministry) at Calhoun Baptist Church in Calhoun, KY, from the past Nineteen years. He loves practically imparting biblical truths to the next generation, while occasionally conduct spiritual challenges on his facebook page facebook.com/MakeItCountChallenge