Post-employment seniors have a tremendous opportunity to serve Christ. Their opportunities multiply if their retirement allows them financial security and independence. Many older saints have the privilege of discretionary time to serve their Lord with whether financially stable or no. Some use this time of life to dedicate themselves to prayer.
If you have not read the first four parts to this Focus on Senior Saints, you will appreciate this one much more if you do. In the last three articles, we have meditated on 1 Timothy 5:3-16 [1] and its implications for senior saints.
I would like to tell you about some men and women who, during these precious latter years, devoted themselves to prayer. These senior saints have, and continue to be, a tremendous blessing to me. Those living do so through their continued prayers, and those who have gone on to Jesus through their memory. I hope these testimonies will encourage older brothers and sisters in Christ to pursue this type of ministry.
A Younger Widow Dedicated to Prayer
Dorothy’s husband died middle-aged, leaving her with income to keep her needs met until her own passing. God led her to choose not to remarry. He also led her to dedicate her time and energy in her widowhood to prayer, especially for missions. She did this for many years.
Grandma H dedicated at least three hours each morning in intercessory prayer, Monday through Saturday. She led a ladies missionary prayer ministry in her church. She opened her home to missionaries traveling through. He prayers led to deep love and the missionaries knew she was one of their most earnest supporters in prayer. Countless times, especially earlier on in our ministry in rural Cambodia, we found strength in the knowledge of that woman’s prayers.
When she was declining and living with her daughter, many missionaries went out of their way many hours to visit Mrs. H and express their love and respect in the Lord for her ministry. What a treasure to be prayed for by such a woman.
A Sacrificial Widower
Some years back, Steve (name changed) started financially supporting our ministry in Cambodia. He was a member of one of our supporting churches, though we never met him. We were grateful for his support and prayers and hoped to meet him.
While back in the USA for home assignment (furlough), we traveled near this brother’s home. We decided to just drop in and meet him. We had his address, so we looked him up and followed the GPS until it led us to his home.
His house was small and simple. The grass was overgrown—really overgrown. There was a very rusty old car in the drive. My immediate thoughts were, “Does this man have any family that loves and cares for him?” I wondered if he was sickly.
I walked up to the door and knocked. No one immediately came to the door, but I patiently knocked a few times. Finally, the door opened and Steve asked me what I wanted. I told him that my name was Forrest McPhail, missionary to Cambodia, and that I had come to meet him. His first response was, “What are you doing here? I thought you were in Cambodia!”
He invited me in. Newspapers were stacked maybe four feet tall the length of the hallway along the wall, all the way to the kitchen in the back. He led me to the left where his small living room was. All surfaces were covered with this and that, including his chair and sofa, except for where he sat.
What was he doing when I arrived? He was listening to Bible Broadcasting Network and his Bible was open. Ralph explained that he prayed for my family every day—every day. He told me of his joy to support us financially and that he would continue to do so until he died. He said he was sick, that medical bills were piling up and his fixed income disappearing fast, but he promised to support us, even if descending amounts, until he had nothing left. I thanked him with deep gratitude for his love for Jesus Christ and his love for us to give and pray so. We prayed together and parted ways.
Over the next year or so, our monthly support from him started to decrease, eventually it disappeared altogether. I later found that our brother had gone on to Christ. What a blessing he was and is to us because he was a man dedicated to prayer.
Prayer Cards Everywhere
Granny and Pop Edmonds are special people, my wife’s grandparents. When I married into the family, one of my first of many spiritual blessings was to get to know them. They were simple, hard working people, that grew up with hard lives. Pop was Granny’s third husband, the first two had passed on. Life had been very hard for Granny, but she and Pop both were soundly converted and committed Christians. And they prayed.
Granny, in particular, was dedicated to prayer. She prayed much for her relatives and for missionaries. We were family and missionaries, so we got double coverage! Granny had missionary prayer cards everywhere she went in the house—kitchen table, on the refrigerator, on the end tables in the living room, and at her bedside table. She had reminders to pray everywhere. When she said she’d pray for you, she meant it! Granny has gone on to Christ, and Pop may join her soon.
Ladies Missionary Fellowships
One ladies missionary group pulls in ladies from several churches from the surrounding area. These ladies meet regularly to pray for missionaries, write letters to encourage, and raise funds for support. Some send us cards and hand-written letters regularly. They want us to know that they are praying for us. We were so blessed to know of their combined prayers. Among our prayer supporters there are several such ladies missionary fellowships. May God multiply these!
Widows in Affliction Who Pray
We have been blessed to know many widows who pray. Often these ladies are quite ill and are physically quite limited, but they take prayer seriously.
One such woman recently passed away. Just before she died, we had opportunity to call her and thank her for her love and ministry in prayer. Although she could barely speak, she asked us specific questions about people she was praying for in our ministry!
Occasionally the Lord reminds us that others are praying that we did not even know, but they do pray, even daily, for us, or our missions organization, Gospel Fellowship Association. We are so grateful for these older saints who pray.
Increased Wisdom in Prayer
Older saints are special. While these men and women have very complicated lives in some ways, in others their world has focused. They tend to have a sharper ability to remember what matters even if recall comes more slowly. They know their time is short. Their long experience of life in all of its phases and trials lend them increased wisdom in prayer.
The problem with older saints is that their time is short. When they go on to heaven, they need new prayer warriors among the senior saints to step up and replace them. May God keep raising up many such men and women who pray.
[1] All Scripture references are from the ESV unless otherwise noted.
