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 will be with during Christmas and/or as 2014 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 about whose marriages you know little.  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 a blessed Christmas and that you will experience the full goodness of God as you seek to live obediently before Him in 2015.

This week we are calling on 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 con-sider 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 of 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...

Please take this week to pray for marriages you personally know to be struggling for one reason or another.   We all know marriages going through rough times, some because of pressures from outside the marriage, some because of issues internal to the marriage.   Regardless of the situation, these troubled marriages will benefit from your prayers.   And as you pray, consider that you may be the one or the couple that God uses to answer the very prayers you raise in behalf of these struggling marriages.

Please join us this week in praying for marriages that have settled.  First let me explain what I mean by “settled” for I admit “settled” can be both a positive and a negative term.  Positively it can mean “settled in” as a NASCAR driver “settled into” the fast groove of a race track.  Negatively it can mean “settled for” as a new college graduate “settled for” a lower-paying job until s/he gains experience. In this blog I am using the term in the negative sense.  We need to pray for marriages that have “settled for” less.  You are right in asking, “Settled for less of what?”  Well, less of a lot of things.  Some marriages have settled for less physically.  The spouses have gotten lazy or take each other for granted.  They have assumed their spouse desires them even though they make no effort to be desirable.  The old flame is a flicker.  These couples don’t need to renew their vows.  They need to renew the...

Please join us this week in praying for marriages dealing with the issue of jealousy. Jealousy can arise in a marriage in a number of ways.  The cause can be internal to the marriage, as when a spouse shows excessive or inappropriate attention to a person other than his/her spouse.  In fact, jealousy can arise if the same excessive attention is given to something other than a person, such as work or even a hobby.  Another cause of jealousy that arises internally in a marriage is low self-esteem or extreme possessiveness which causes one spouse to see every relationship the other spouse has as a threat or competition. Jealousy can also arise externally to the marriage when a third party shows inappropriate attention to one's marriage partner even though that partner may be above reproach or actively shuns the attention. Another form of jealousy that can attack a marriage is that which arises because of differences in life situations.  Jeal...

Please join us this week in praying for marriages dealing with sexual dysfunction.  Whether the sexual dysfunction is the immediate problem of the husband or the wife, it will ultimately be a problem for both. The causes of sexual dysfunction are numerous.  The genesis of the dysfunction can be physical, emotional or psychological.  It can be rooted in the past or its cause can be very current.  Regardless of the origin, the effects of sexual dysfunction on a marriage can be severe. The inability to “perform” or respond sexually can lead to feelings of inadequacy, failure, humiliation, unattractiveness and frustration.  In order to avoid a painful experience, couples may start to avoid intimacy altogether.  In turn, this avoidance can be devastating to the self-esteem of both husband and wife. It is not unusual for the cause of sexual dysfunction to be misidentified and for blame to be assumed by a spouse or assigned to a spouse...

Please join us this week in praying for marriages being negatively affected by a disruptive friend.  Just like spouses bring their families into their marriages, they also bring their friends.  This reality is normal and healthy.  Marriage should not signal the end of pre-existing friendships.  Nevertheless, there are instances when a friend, either of the husband, wife or both, does not honor the marriage relationship and becomes an instrument of division instead of a mainstay of support. The nature of a friend’s disruptive behavior can vary widely.  A couple may be faced with a friend who does not respect their time and privacy. A couple may also need to deal with a friend who does not understand that marriage generally affects how his or her married friend must manage money.  Martial stress can arise if one spouse makes unwise spending decisions in order to meet a friend’s expectations. Married couples can also be faced...