Praying for Marriages (PfM)

Please join us this week in praying for marriages in which couples have offset work schedules.  In a very large number of marriages today, both spouses work.  This situation has its own challenges, but, when the spouses’ work schedules off-set, that is, one works days and the other works evenings or midnights, the challenges become even greater.  Just carving out time to see each other can be difficult.  Sleep schedules can create conflict, and intimacy can be negatively affected because both are not rested at the same time.  The social life of the couple can be affected.  Events both would enjoy attending are often scheduled at times which will keep one or the other away.  When the events are for couples, even the spouse who could attend will often opt out because he/she doesn’t want to feel like a fifth wheel.  The snowballing of this situation can cause the couple to become isolated from others who could contribute an added level of joy to the...

Please join us this week in praying for newly married couples.   Though the issues faced by newly married couples are common and well known, they can be troublesome and cause a marriage not to get off to the best start.   Just the adjustment of living with another human being everyday has its own strains.   If the individuals in this new marriage have been independent adults for a number of years prior to the marriage, these adjustments can be even more difficult.   Every person brings his or her own personal baggage into marriage.   Often, not all this baggage has been unloaded on the new spouse during the dating and engagement period, so surprises, and not always pleasant surprises, are frequent.   A spouse’s reactions to these unknown tidbits can lead to disappointment and disagreement.   A negative reaction can cause other revelations to be driven underground for fear that more revelations will just bring more negative response and hurt. ...

Please join us this week in praying for couples going through the hospitalization of a spouse.  This life situation can create numerous stresses on a marriage.  Just dealing with the anxiety of the medical situation itself is trying on a marriage, but there are other stressors as well.  With one spouse is in the hospital, daily tasks do not decrease by half; in fact, they increase for the other spouse, and, if children are involved, they increase a lot.  Time get compressed as one spouse tries to be at the hospital to support and comfort the other while still needing to meet the demands of work, home and family.  It is not unusual at all for both spouses to become sleep-deprived.  Hospitalization does not equate to quality rest for the patient or for the spouse who is splitting time between an empty bed at home and a not-so-comfortable chair in a hospital room.  And the longer the hospital stay the more the stresses increase.  Finally, a sense of...

Join us this week in praying for marriages experiencing the “empty nest.”   Couples who have children know that one day their children will leave the nest and establish families and homes of their own.   Even so, the change sometimes takes couples by surprise and leaves a hole they are not ready to deal with.   This situation can be particular difficult if the couple has not maintained a balance between their role as parents and their role as husband and wife.   All of a sudden it is just the two of them.   Sometimes there is a period of re-acquaintance as couples orient their time and attention toward each other.   Some couples can experience a real sense of loss, particularly if the empty nest comes quickly or unexpectedly and the separation from children involves great distance or time.   Also, couples are faced with making wise decisions about the use of time and resources no longer consumed by their children. Please join us in prayin...

Please join us this week as we pray for couples who are the primary caregivers for an aging parent.   This life-situation can turn life on its head as roles are reversed and the children become the parents and the parent the child.   At best this situation can be awkward; at worst is can lead to serious conflicts.   A parent, who has had a life- time of making decisions, now has children making decisions for him/her.   These can be small decisions (“Dad you should not climb that ladder”), to life-style-altering decisions (“Mom, you can’t drive anymore).    Caring for an aging parent can also limit the freedom of the couple.   It can mean giving up travel plans, changing long-established schedules and learning that the “spur-of-the-moment” now requires planning.   All the decisions that come with caring for an aging parent can also put the couple at odds with siblings who have different ideas about what is best.   Additionally, if th...

Join us this week in praying for marriages dealing with the issue of infertility.  Couples in these marriages experience drastic ups and downs, hopes and disappointments, month after month.  Hormonal issues can create mental and physical weariness.   Medical testing and treatments and their side affects can add to this weariness and also strain couples' financial resources.  The marriage relationship can also be tested, particularly when the husband and wife cope with disappointment differently and grieve differently.  The spirits of couples in this life situation can be wounded by insensitive questions and statements made by others, both knowingly and unknowingly.  Finally, despite their best efforts to rejoice with others, these couples can struggle emotionally as they see their friends becoming pregnant and have children with apparent ease. As you lift these couples up, pray that they will have one or two close friends who understand and rem...

Please join us this week in praying for the marriages of those in pastoral ministry.  Because of the various demands of the pastoral role, it is easy for the pastor to become wedded to his ministry, fully believing he is doing good when in fact he is a workaholic, neglecting the needs of his spouse and children and unintentionally undercutting the very ministry to which he has been called.  Also, in the process of being "all things to all men" and pastor and spouse can fail to build personal friendships and miss out on the joy and support these friendships can supply.  Finally, marriages of those in the pastoral ministry are lived out in a fishbowl.  The business of the pastor and spouse is everybody's business.  This fact can cause those in the pastoral ministry to put up a false front and fail to live authentically before their congregation. As you pray for these couples, pray that they will be able to set priorities, reserving family time and couple t...