Praying for Marriages (PfM)

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...