Prayer For The Elderly
O Lord my God, You have been my strength and my stay throughout my life. You alone are righteous and good, gracious and long-suffering towards the children of men. Keep me Lord, under the protection of Your love and listen to my cry, for You alone are my strength and my stay. You alone have the words of eternal life.
You have protected my life from destruction and brought me into Your overflowing banqueting hall and Your banner over me is love. I will praise Your name as long as I live, for You have been my strong Defender, my Shield and Buckler and the Rock of my salvation, and I love You Lord.
Let me proclaim the glories of Your name as long as I live. All day long, let me proclaim Your loving-kindness and tender mercies, which are new every morning, for You are my Saviour and Redeemer and great is Your faithfulness. You have been with me through my youth and proved that You will never leave me nor forsake me. Now that I am old and feeble, my hope and trust remains in You. Protect me from those that would seek my life to harm me, and keep me under the shadow of Your wing, regard me as the apple of Your eye.
O Lord, in You alone I put my hope and I will praise You more and more with each passing day. I will tell of Your goodness and grace to my children and grandchildren, so that for generations to come Your name will be lifted up. And may the voices of my offspring sing praises to the glory of Your name.
My life is in Your hands and the joy of the Lord has been my strength throughout all the days of my life. My trust is in the Lord my God. My hope is built on nothing less that Jesus Christ and His righteousness. Praise Your glorious name for ever and ever,
Amen.
Dear Lord God, how I thank You for my parents Who have been such a wonderful support to me throughout the whole my life. They taught me of You from being a child, and I cannot thank You enough for placing me in a family that knows and loves You.
Father, they are now elderly and becoming infirm, and increasingly they are both struggling to carry out the simplest of tasks.
Lord, I pray that I may be given the strength and the ability to care for them both as long as they need my help. I know that this is a mammoth undertaking and of myself I do not have the strength or resources to undertake such a task. And yet, I want to honour my parents and You Lord, by caring for them in their twilight years of their lives.
Help me Father, to tend for them lovingly and wisely and keep them I pray, from the unpleasantries of ill health and from the difficulties of becoming bed-ridden.
Lord, they are both Your children and I pray that Your love will surround them and that Your blessing will pour down in great measure upon each of them, until You take them to be with Yourself. In Jesus' name I pray,
Amen.
Loving Father, You have been my Rock in times of trouble, my Peace in times of distress and my Shelter from the storms of life. But Lord, as I advance in years I find I am becoming weary and worn-down with life in general, and I need You to be my good and gracious Shepherd, as my steps are slowing down to a shuffle and my health is showing signs of fatigue. Carry me on Your shoulder, my Saviour, and let me rest quietly in the crook of Your loving arms. Give me strength to face each day, for new every morning is Your love for me.
Lord, You have been my faithful Friend through so much of my life. You guided me thorough my childhood and were there during those days of carefree youth. You were with me as I entered into the joys and woes of marriage and supported me through the frantic years of parenthood. And now in the twilight years of my life, I am so thankful that You are my precious Saviour Who loved me so much that You took the punishment on the cruel cross that I rightly deserved. How can I ever thank You enough, my Lord and my God.
Visit me I pray, in my advancing years, and nourish me as I turn each day to Your precious Word for my daily sustenance. I love You Lord, and although I long to be with You and see You face to face, while-ever there is breath in my body, may I be used as a channel through whom Your love flows out to others. Thank You, Father, that I may come boldly to Your throne of grace, in and through the wonderful name of my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ,
Amen.
Gracious Heavenly Father, You are our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble and we bring before You the elderly men and women who have come to the twilight years of their lives, facing physical, mental or spiritual suffering.
Lord, for those that are Your children, we pray that You will be very close to each one and that You would give them the sufficiency of Your strength to endure the bodily pain or anguish of heart that they may be facing, as good and faithful soldiers and servants of Christ. Giving them courage to endure, knowing that there is a crown of rejoicing that awaits them at the appearance of their Lord and Saviour, when He appears at His coming.
But Lord, we know that there are many that do not know You, and whatever physical and mental pain and suffering they are going through, is nothing compared with the spiritual pain of not knowing the Lord Jesus as their Saviour and Redeemer. Draw close to all elderly people who are unsaved, and bring many of them into a saving faith in the Lord Jesus, in Whose name I pray,
Amen.
Loving Lord, we thank You for the thrill of life and all the mercies that You give to each of us day by day, but Lord as we advance in years our bodies begin to lose their strength, our fingers lose their dexterity and our knees begin to tremble. And Lord, the time comes all too fast, when we are not able to care for ourselves as we would like to, but have to rely on help from other people to do the basic things of life, like eating and drinking, bathing and generally caring for our homes and ourselves.
Loving Lord, we bring before You all the elderly and infirm, not only those that we know, but all who are facing this stage of their life. Draw those that have never placed their trust in You into a saving relationship with Jesus, and give those that are of the household of faith Your peace that passes understanding in their heart, as they fulfil Your purpose for their lives, in whatever condition or situation they find themselves.
Give grace to those that find it difficult to come to terms with other people caring for them, knowing that Your grace is sufficient. And as they grow older, I pray that in Your love and mercy, You will draw each one into closer fellowship with Yourself. In Jesus' name I pray,
Amen.
More than ever I find myself in the hands of God.
This is what I have wanted all my life from my youth.
But now there is a difference;
the initiative is entirely with God.
It is indeed a profound spiritual experience
to know and feel myself so totally in God's hands.
Lord,
Though knowest better than I know myself
that I am
growing older and will some day be old.
Keep me from the fatal
habit of thinking I must say something on every subject
and on every occasion.
Release me from craving to straighten out
everybody's affairs.
Make me thoughtful but not moody;
helpful but not bossy. With my vast store of wisdom, it seems a
pity not to use it all,
but Thou knowest Lord that I want a few
friends at the end.
Keep my mind free from the recital of endless details;
give me wing to get to that point.
Seal my lips on my aches and pains.
They are increasing, and love of rehearsing them is
becoming sweeter as the years go by.
I dare not ask for grace enough to enjoy the tales of others' pains, but help me to endure
them with patience.
I dare not ask for improved memory, but for a growing
humility and a lessing cocksureness when my memory seems to
clash with the memories of others. Teach me the glorious lesson
that occasionally I may be mistaken.
Keep me reasonably sweet; I do not want to be a Saint-
some of them are so hard to live with
- but a sour old person is one
of the crowning works of the devil. Give me the ability to see good
things in unexpected places, and talents in unexpected people.
And, give me, O Lord, the grace to tell them so.
All Gracious God, you have given me all I am and have,
and now I give it back to you to stand under Your will alone.
In a special way I give You these later years of my life.
I am one of those called by You into old age, a call not given to all.
not given to Jesus, not given to most in our world today.
I humbly ask You, grace me deeply in each aspect of the struggle.
As my physical eyesight weakens,
may the eyes of my faith strengthen,
that I may see You and Your love in everything.
As my hearing fails, my the ears of my heart
be more attentive to the whisper of Your gentle voice,
As my legs weaken and walking becomes more difficult,
may I walk more truly in Your paths,
knowing all the while that I am held in the embrace of your love.
As my mind becomes less alert and memory fades
may I remain peaceful in You,
aware that with You there is no need for though or word.
You ask simply that I be there, with you.
And should sickness overtake me and I be confines in bed,
may I know myself as one with Your Son as he offers his life for
the salvation of the world.
Finally, as my heart shows a little after the work of the years,
may it expand in love for You and all people.
May it rest secure and grateful in Your loving Heart
until I am lost in You, completely and forever. Amen.