Praying for Marriages (PfM)

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 child...

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 lifetime 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 old “spur-of-the-moment” event 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 the parent’s...

Please join us this week in praying for newly married couples.  Though the issues faced by newly married couples are common and often joked about, they can really be troublesome and cause a marriage not to get off to the best start.  The adjustments of living with another human being everyday can be a strain.   Although these adjustments can be tough for young persons who haven’t yet established routines as independent adults, they can be even more troublesome for individuals who have been independent adults for a number of years prior to the marriage and have habits and life-styles with which they have become comfortable.  Another issue for young marriages is the personal baggage the newly weds bring with them.  Often not all this baggage gets opened 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....

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 gets 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, ...

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 a...