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 and will be around this holiday season.   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 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 wish you a merry Christmas and hope that you are experiencing the joy that only the Christ child can bring.  He is King, forever and ever. 

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 asked Not ...

Join with us this week in praying for marriages in which law enforcement is the career of one or both partners.    The spouse in law enforcement deals constantly with the darkest side of life and can become jaded.   This attitude can easily color the marriage relationship, making intimacy and trust difficult.   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 knowing that those in the law enforcement profession suffer 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 the ability to celebrate that good with their spouses that the spouses of those in law enforcement will experience the peace that can only come from the L...

This week please remember in prayer those married couples who have experienced a job loss.   In addition to the financial pressures a job loss can bring to a marriage, it can also cause the one who has lost the job to question his or her self-worth.   If a new job does not materialize soon, hope can be lost and, when hope is lost, inertia can set in and eventually lead to deep depression. As you pray for these couples, ask the Holy Spirit to remind them that their standing with God has not changed; they are still His beloved children.   Pray that these couples will not lose hope but trust in God as their source of provision.   Pray that He will in fact provide a new job, one even better than before.   Also remember to pray that fellow believers will rise up and support these couples in their time of need.