I work for the Pilgrim’s Friend Society.
On 19 June, and the week beforehand, we are calling on seniors in churches across the land to join with us in this year’s day of prayer. We value prayers led by those with a long perspective on the Lord’s faithfulness through good and bad times.
Including God
Last year we asked Violet, 104, how she thought we should pray on this day. Her response was: ‘My prayer for this nation is that they would include God in their lives more. I think it has become a godless country with church only on special occasions and not taken seriously. It makes all the difference when you start leaving the Lord out. I pray that they would know the foursquare gospel – Saviour, Baptiser with the Holy Spirit, Healer, soon-coming King. I pray that they would trust and believe in the Lord like I do, because he never lets you down. He’s always faithful. Bless the Lord!’
Violet was a resident of our care home in Yorkshire. She lived to be 105, and went home to be with the Lord last January. She had been orphaned at the age of eight and was sent by train to live with people she had never met. She came to faith at the age of 21, married at 26 and had seven children. She loved to talk about God’s kindness to her.
Her comments headed up the list of topics on the prayer guide sent to everyone who took part in our 2015 day of prayer. Supporters and head office staff travelled to homes and housing in different parts of the country to join staff and residents in prayer. Home managers arranged schedules, along with tea and cakes for the day.
I went to Bethany, our home in Plymouth, and sat with others in the sunlit lounge and chatted and prayed throughout the day. Relatives and supporters came in for an hour or so. I was especially blessed by some of the residents’ prayers, for example, the lady whose thanks to God included not just carers and staff, but other residents in the home, for their friendship and encouragement.
Ageist attitude
Older people in care homes are often thought of in a patronising sort of way, as helpless and unable to contribute anything at all. They don’t do anything, is the assumption, they are there to have things done for them. This kind of thinking is really a reflection of the ageist attitude in society. Our care homes are not warehouses for ageing bodies – they are marshalling grounds for glory, as 93year-old Dr Ben Walkey in Leicester described it. Their ‘outer tent’ may be decaying, but their inner ‘man’ is being transformed from one degree of glory to another (2 Corinthians 4). Many residents are prayer warriors.
Ageist thinking also ignores the fact that older people have specific ministry gifts, including encouraging, mentoring, interceding, and telling out God’s goodness. ‘I will proclaim your great deeds’, says the writer of Psalm 145. Ephesians 2:10 makes it clear that God equips each person for the ‘good works’ he has already planned for them, and there’s no mention of that equipping ceasing at the age of 80, or 90, or even 100. Ron, 103, lived in our home in Haslemere and would be taken to the local Tesco by his nephew, to do some shopping. Tesco staff loved him, and Ron, who’d been a Sunday School teacher, didn’t waste an opportunity to tell them about Jesus. He was like the psalmist who wrote, ‘Don’t let go of me, God, till I declare your power to the next generation.’ (Psalm 71:18).
We know that in our churches there are other spirited seniors like Ron, Violet and Ben Walkey and we would love to know that they are going to be praying alongside us this year.
Resources
Churches can download resources from our website, www.pilgrimsfriend.org.uk. There is a pack that can be downloaded or sent through the post. It includes a PowerPoint presentation, prayer guides, and a beautiful video about God’s promises to older people. If for nothing else, visit the website to watch the video. It was made for us by Christian partners in a commercial firm as part of their tithing. One of them said that, for them, ‘this is holy ground’.
