Praying for Marriages (PfM)

Please join us this week in praying for marriages dealing with sexual dysfunction. Whether the sexual dysfunction is the immediate problem of the husband or of the wife, it will ultimately be a problem for both.   The causes of sexual dysfunction are numerous. The genesis of the dysfunction can be physical, emotional or psychological. It can be rooted in the past or its cause can be very current. Regardless of the origin, the effects of sexual dysfunction on a marriage can be severe. The inability to “perform” or respond sexually can lead to feelings of inadequacy, failure, humiliation, unattractiveness and frustration. In order to avoid a painful experience, couples may start to avoid intimacy altogether. In turn, this avoidance can be devastating to the self-esteem of both husband and wife. It is not unusual for the cause of sexual dysfunction to be misidentified and for blame to be assumed by a spouse or assigned to a spouse mistakenly. Finally...

Please join us this week in praying for marriages being negatively affected by a disruptive friend. Just like spouses bring their families into their marriages, they also bring their friends. This reality is normal and healthy. Marriage should not signal the end of pre-existing friendships; nevertheless, there are instances when a friend, either of the husband, the wife or both, does not honor the marriage relationship and becomes an instrument of division instead of a mainstay of support. The nature of a friend’s disruptive behavior can vary widely. A couple may be faced with a friend who does not respect their time and privacy. A couple may also need to deal with a friend who does not understand marriage generally affects how his or her married friend must manage money. Martial stress can arise if one spouse makes unwise spending decisions in order to meet a friend’s expectations (golf every week, trips, shopping sprees). Ma...

Join us in praying this week for couples going through marital separation.  Although separation from a spouse can be necessary because of abusive and/or addictive behavior, marital separation is not a cure-all; in fact, it can lead to issues that make reconciliation even more difficult than living under the same roof. When separation is viewed as just a way to avoid the stresses of marital disharmony, it can lead to a false peace that provides no positive movement toward the resolution of marital problems. The longer that “hiatus” continues the harder it is for couples to re-enter the difficult process of healing a broken marriage. Separation can deepen feelings of failure and hopelessness and chip away at a couple’s commitment to their relationship as they experience the very real physical withdrawal from one another. This physical withdrawal, when coupled with the emotional distance almost always present in broken marriages, can make ...