Praying for Marriages (PfM)

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...

Please join us this week in praying for marriages that have grown emotionally cold.  Emotional coldness in a marriage can be as destructive as rage and is more insidious.  Rage is like a fire that ignites and is immediately recognized as damaging.  Emotional coldness, or emotional distance, as some would call it, is like freezing weather, uncomfortable for sure but too often not identified as damaging until frozen pipes start to break. The growth of emotional coldness in a marriage can have its origin in any number of situations.  Excessive attention to children to the determent of a spouse can cause a marriage relationship to cool.  The same can be said of excessive attention to work, to a hobby or, yes, even to a ministry.  Discounting the need to give and ask for forgiveness when a hurt has been caused to a spouse can be the seed-bed of emotional coldness. Being unaware of how a spouse expresses his/her emotions can cause one to miss cues that would ...