I lead a Bible study in our apartment building.  We all have gray hair.  I encourage us to visualize the effects of our prayers for our loved ones as we experience “the rising up of the gray hairs.”  We read in Ps. 20:7-8, “Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the Lord our God.  Those nations will fall down and collapse, but we will rise up and stand firm.”  Instead of lamenting about the state of the world, we will boast in the Lord.  We choose to see ourselves rising up and standing on solid ground.

We realize the culture is embracing a post-Christian narrative, putting the Good News in a negative light. As seniors, we grew up in a fairly positive environment. We know the difference.  Our prayer concerns can be expressed well in the words of the Psalmist in 71:17-18: “O God, you have taught me from my earliest childhood, and I constantly tell others about the wonderful things you do.  Now that I am old and gray, do not abandon me, O God.  Let me proclaim your power to this new generation, your mighty miracles to all who come after me.”

Recently I was sharing our Bible study’s corporate concern for our children and grandchildren with my son Kurt.  Seeing him as a good father, I asked what Judy and I as parents imparted to him that would encourage a group of gray hairs concerned for their families.  I have summarized what I gleaned from Kurt’s reflection in three principles noted below.  

Sowing the word of God as a seed that will grow and have its effect is a helpful image.  In Mark 4:26-27, Jesus tells us, “This is what the kingdom of God is like.  A man scatters seed on the ground.  Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.”  Our task is to sow the “living and enduring word of God” (I Peter 1:23).  Remember it is more than a memory.  It is living and enduring.

Instill – As believing grandparents, we cling to the Word of God that was sown in the lives of our loved ones. Isaiah 55:11 is a wonderful promise for parents and grandparents who have done this: “It is the same with my word.  I send it out, and it always produces fruit.  It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”  Our confidence is in Jesus, the light of the world, who is the Word incarnate (John 1:14). John assures us, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). 

Enhance – This implies daily prayer and remembrance of our loved ones.  Pray believing the seeds that were sown will bear fruit through the life of Jesus, as His Spirit bears witness to the heart and mind of a loved one.  Don’t give up: carry your loved ones in your heart. “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for.  Keep on seeking, and you will find.  Keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you” (Matt. 7:7 NLT).  

Trust – Believe in God’s sovereignty, knowing that nothing can separate us from the love of God: “Indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:39).   God can at any time intervene with his presence in the life of a loved one through an event, a person, a still, small voice, etc.