God Speaking

“I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, and I am now persuaded lives in you, also.”

(2 Timothy 1: 5)

This verse is a very comforting one for me, as I am now an old grandmother who would want nothing more than that all my darlings would know and follow Jesus Christ. As a young mother I loved my role of caring and protecting my little ones, but now that I am old that is impossible for me to do physically, but Scripture assures me I can still pass on my faith and tells me even when we are older we can still bear fruit for the Lord, in fact Psalm 92 has a beautiful passage describing getting old for those who follow the Lord will be like flourishing palm trees that continue to bear fruit 

“Planted in the house of the Lord they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will bear fruit in old age they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, the Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.” (Psalm 92: 13 – 15)

Scripture often describes God’s love seen in nature as like a hen covering her little chicks with her feathers to keep them safe 

“He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will be safe.” (Psalm 91: 4)

I can no longer protect my loved ones by my physical strength, but I have discovered I have a much greater power than physical strength, I can cover them with prayer leaving them in the powerful protection of the Heavenly Father. As we grow older, we have more time on our hands and I have learnt not to think of myself as useless, but to use that time in prayer.  Having time to talk to the Father, is one of the advantages of being old and I look forward to my prayer time as the most important thing I do. I tell my family I pray for them and they in turn tell me of major events happening in their lives and ask me to pray for them and thank me when they feel His Presence during difficult experiences. I also share Scripture with them to help them through. One of my favourites is this one 

“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in you.” (Isaiah 26: 3)

Of course, we don’t only pray for our loved ones, most churches have prayer chains so members can phone in their needs and others can pray for them. Again, we old people have time on our side and the joy of praying for others is very rewarding. 

We don’t always see the result of our prayers, but others will and be encouraged. When I think of Paul remarking on the faith of a grandmother and a mother resulting in young Timothy becoming a passionate evangelist for Jesus Christ and nurturing new believers, it makes me more eager to bear fruit like that for the Lord.