Praying for Marriages (PfM)

This week we are taking a slight turn for the holidays.   Of course we want you to pray for marriages this coming week, but we would like you to pray particularly for the marriages of those people you were with during Christmas or and will be with as 2012 draws to a close.   In many cases those will be the marriages of family and friends, marriages into which you have more intimate insight and for which you can pray with more specificity than normal.  On the other hand, you may have had or will yet still have occasion to spend time with new acquaintances whose marriages you know little about.  Regardless, all these marriages will benefit from your intercession.  So even in this busy season, take time to lift up these marriages to our Lord who is actively about the work of renewing all things. We hope you have had a blessed Christmas and that you will experience the full goodness of God as you seek to live obediently before Him in 2013.

We are asking this week that you pray for marriages dealing with the issue of pornography.  Most frequently husbands have a more difficult time with pornography addiction than wives.  They often see it as a personal issue that does not affect their marriage partner.  But this attitude is far from the truth.  Pornography easily creates unrealistic expectations no wife can meet.  The husband will come to the marriage bed looking to re-experience something he has seen, giving little thought to the needs and desires of his spouse.  Sex can become a cold, performance-driven encounter instead of the warm, intimate relational union it should be.  One too-frequent result of this impersonal sex is infidelity. If the wife becomes aware of her husband’s addiction, it can create in her a feeling of inferiority and of being just another of his sexual playthings.  She can feel she is no longer the one, unique and special person in his life ...

Please join us this week in praying for marriages that must deal with chronic pain.  Couples in these marriages can struggle sometimes because they incorrectly identify the suffering spouse as the problem instead of situation that is causing the constant pain.   Financial pressures can often assail these marriages as couples seek any and all possible solutions to the debilitating situation.  Just the day-to-day grind of managing pain is physically and emotionally exhausting.  And finally, chronic pain can steal a couple’s hope, and, where hope is absent, depression can rush in to take its place.  Please pray with us that these couples will have faithful prayer warriors to lift them up consistently                rightly identify the situation as the burden, not the suffering spouse not be crushed by financial pressures not lose hope but rejoice in the hope they have in Christ Jesus receive t...

Join with us this week in praying for marriages in which law enforcement is the career of one or both partners.   Marriages in this life situation can face a number of difficult problems.  The spouse in law enforcement is prone to deal frequently with the darkest side of life and, consequently, can become quite jaded, finding it difficult to count on or fully believe in anyone.  This attitude can easily transfer to the marriage relationship, making intimacy and trust a struggle.  The spouse not in law enforcement often experiences the stress of knowing the other may face a life-threatening situation at any time.  These couples also live under the cloud of a profession's reputation as one that suffers extremely high rates of alcoholism, divorce and suicide. This week pray for the safety of those in the law enforcement profession that the Lord will grant these protectors of the peace the ability to see the good in life and ...

Please pray this week for married couples with a special-needs child.  These couples are often strained by a lack of physical and mental rest. Many times finances are stretched as couples seek to finance services and therapies for their child. They can often face hurtful acts of discrimination and exclusion.  These couples can also become anxious and even depressed as they look into the future of their child who may never reach a level of independent living, wondering who will provide for their child’s care once they are unable to.   Those couples whose first child is a special-needs child may agonize over the decision to have other children. Pray that God would  grant these couples an extra measure of rest and strength great patience in the face of trying circumstances the resources they need to provide for their child oneness in their decision making peace that protects them from an unknown future ready support from the community of faith  ...

This week we are calling you to give thanks throughout the week for marriages that have played or are still playing an important role in your life.  That special set of marriages will be unique for each of us, so we may not suggest some that are important to you.  Nevertheless, here are some to consider just for starters.  Give thanks for the marriage of your parents, the marriage that most often sets the example for our own marriages.  Give thanks for the marriages of your grandparents, those marriages that have remained strong and vibrant for decades.  Give thanks for the marriages of friends, for those who have walked along side you and encouraged you through good and bad times.  Give thanks for the marriages for your spiritual mentors, your pastors, Bible study teachers, youth leaders, all those who have exampled for you how to be a couple faithful to the call of Christ.  And don't forget to give thanks for your own marriage and for the one who ...

Pray this week for couples dealing with significant issues with in-laws.   Parents can fail to release their married child emotionally and demand time and allegiance that rightly belongs to the spouse.  Sometimes in-laws step into situations too soon, not allowing their children to work out issues in their own way.  This can cause the couple to feel inadequate or resentful.   On the other hand a couple can damage their relationship with their in-laws by demanding unquestioned independent, except when they need a free babysitter or a little extra cash.  In the effort to shape their own marriage, they can also thoughtlessly disregard or run roughshod over the traditions and beliefs of their parents, creating tension, frustration and deep disappointment. This week pray that married couples and their in-laws will Respect the marriage relationship Refrain from providing unsolicited advice but be willing to provide wise counsel when a...