Week 86: Marriages and Debt

Please join us this week in praying for marriages in deep financial debt.  Debt is a life-situation pervasive in our American culture.  When this debt is excessive, it can lead to numerous problems for a married couple.

First, deep debt can lead to a blame game in which spouses expend their energy assigning blame for their situation instead of working on a solution.  Second, excessive debt can create crippling stress as the couple tries to maintain life and limb while fending off creditors.  Third, debt can lead to hopelessness, since escaping debt is most often a long road many couples see as beyond their ability to travel.  And finally, even when a couple commits to escaping debt, they face the difficulties of changing long established habits, of giving up things precious to them, and of learning to say “no,” or at least “not now,” sometimes even to good and worthwhile things.

Please pray that couples in this situation will

• Be granted grace and perseverance by their heavenly Father
• Recognize that debt is a taskmaster to whom they do not have to be slaves
• Be able to agree together on strategies to escape the bonds of debt
• Seek wise counsel in areas where they need help
• Establish relationships with accountability partners who can help them stay the course when they are tempted to give up
• Learn the skills and adopt the attitudes necessary to manage their resources
• Have supportive friends who will not unwittingly tempt them to live beyond their means but rather encourage them as they work to free themselves from debt