I've been thinking a lot about seniors these days. Some of them are just so unwell and it is to assume: “I guess that's all part of getting older.” The question I have rolling around in my mind is: is that true? When I think of scriptures like “they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength and they shall mount up with wings as eagles” (Isaiah 40:31) I see no timestamp on that promise.
I remember years ago there was a friend that Bill and I had, he was 90 years old. He woke up one morning and put on his glasses and he couldn't see properly. He thought they must be his wife’s glasses, so he went and found the other pair and put those on and it was still just as foggy! Then when he took the glasses off, he realized that in the night, God in his kindness had touched his eyes and healed him! When he died in his late 90’s, he had 20/20 vision!
I also remember at church, there was a woman who had to be in her mid 80s and was caring for her disabled son. She suffered such severe pain in her hips and asked us to please pray for her, which of course we did. God touched that sweet woman, and restored her completely and she walked out of there with no pain.
James 5:13-16 says: “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up”. Again, when I look at this passage from James 5 nowhere does it say: “except for when you're over a certain age don't bother”.
Isaiah 46:4 says “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” I think this is my new favorite Bible verse in the whole Bible. It reminds us that God does not forget us regardless of age. I have several older people in their 80s and 90s who are struggling but I ask God almost daily for strength for healing to restore hope in their lives.
I think the whole point I want to make today is this: if you have people that are elderly and struggling, don't stop asking God for healing and everything else that they need in their lives just because they're old. The promises of God have no age limit, He sees these dear people and He cares deeply for their struggles.
One of the great struggles people have in prayer is that they lose faith. After praying for so long, many will give up hope and accept that because the one they are praying for is old, and these struggles just come with the territory, there’s no need to keep praying. Yet as we consider the scriptures I mentioned (as well as more through the scriptures) we can see that there are no timestamps or limitations on God’s words, so why not ask Him for healing? Even if God chooses to not heal entirely, but insteads grants a blessing, God is always wonderful, whatever that looks like in each one of our lives. Prayer is never a waste of time. We can ask God for healing until the Lord tells us to stop.
Dear Father,
Thank you that you hear us when we pray. I think of some of these dear older folks in my life who fight so hard in life, but I pray in Jesus’ name you would put a new song in their hearts–a song of praise to their God who has walked with them, who is with them, whose promises are still true. Will you restore them and their hope I ask in Jesus’ name, for I know that with you nothing is impossible!
Thank you father, in Jesus’ name
Amen.