Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses….
Hebrews 12:1
This week I am thanking the Lord for elderly believers, whose lives testify to the faithfulness of God, every single day, no matter what. To be able to come to the end of your life, still trusting and giving glory to God, in spite of hardship, abuse, poverty, hunger, death of a child, chronic pain or any other combination of hurt from the reservoir of suffering in this world–that gives me the courage to go on. I am also praying for those who are living the end of their lives alone. Without God. Without family. Without the Body of Christ.
I live in a part of the country with many retirees. Attending a church service filled with elderly brothers and sisters is an awesome experience to me. As I listen to them share their stories and hear them join in worship, I am deeply moved in realizing that together and cumulatively they stand as a testament to thousands of years of God’s faithfulness. Every day. No matter what.
Thank you, Lord, for the elderly whose lives complement the lives and stories in Hebrews 11–examples of faith in spite of everything. They stand as witnesses to me, that even if You never make my life any easier, that even if it gets harder–harder than I want to imagine–that I can trust You and fix my eyes on You. Thank You for how these sisters and brothers live out Your joy in suffering and Your hope in times of regret and despair.
I also pray for the elderly who have come to their final years, and after everything has been said and done, are faced with emptiness and meaninglessness–lives lived without You in the picture. God, I pray that in their sadness in looking back and fear in looking forward, that they would find You and know Your peace.
I pray for the elderly who are living out the end of their lives in poverty, abandonment, confusion and pain. Without You and without Your body being the hands and feet of Your love to them.
God, help me not to forget the elderly. Do not let my family be mindless and careless in ignoring the gifts and the needs of those who are older than us. Show me how to make a difference in the lives of lonely and suffering senior citizens in my community.
Technorati Tags: prayer for the world
Two notes:
1.”Forget Me Not” is the motto our county’s Council on Aging. When I saw it on the side of the Council’s van, it deeply moved me, and I hope it will continue to serve as a tangible reminder to my children and me not to neglect or forget the elderly.
2. I have had this post in mind for several weeks. I wondered last night about going ahead with it when there are other, very specific and large scale prayer needs in our country and world, such as the bridge collapse and the Korean hostages. I decided to stay with this topic for my final week of Internet prayer for the U.S. By selecting the 4 topics I have, I am not saying that these are the most pressing needs in our society or world in general. But they are needs that weigh on me. That confront me. Praying for them does not mean I’m ignoring other suffering. Nor does it mean I’m not praying for other situations or people. It just means, that even when there are other huge needs, my heart still cries to God on behalf of the pain of people (including the elderly) whom I know or regularly see. Here are a couple of links which have helped me as I pray for the Korean hostages: (1) Regular updates, letters, prayers
2)A powerful lament-filled prayer and call to action
[...] August 7th, 2007 · No Comments The latest Prayer for the world has been posted at Eclexia: The Elderly in the U.S. [...]
We cannot all carry all the burdens of need for prayer that are in our world, but we can each carry the ones that the Lord gives us. This way the burden is light, as the Lord orchestrates the intercessory prayers of his people throughout the world.
I spoke of what triggered my heats cry and compassion, you joined in while reading and yet, you have this remembrance of other needs that those of us who venture here can join in, your remembrance becoming ours. I think this is the harmonious way God wants to work within us.
I appreciate you sharing this insight and the concerns to be brought to prayer.
Thats a good description, Ilona, I think, of how we work together to carry each other’s burdens (each other, in both the reciprocal sense, but also in the sense of together carrying other people’s burdens). Thanks.
Hey there E,
I’m still trying to get this up on the feed thingy that goes in the side bar. Seems like Flickr is still having trouble with that. Good news is we now have a real phone line from TDM. 26000 Kbps. That’s pretty fast for this part of Africa.
[...] Originally appeared at Eclexia. Used with permission. [...]
May the elderly individuals continue to receive blessings from God.
“And everywhere you are to go,
my hand will follow you
You will not be alone, In all the danger that you fear
You’ll find me very near, Your Words my own.”