“Prayer is the highest intelligence, the profoundest wisdom, the most vital, the most joyous, the most efficacious, the most powerful of all vocations. It is life, transporting eternal life…Heaven will be fuller and brighter in glorious inhabitants, earth will be better prepared for its bridal day, and hell robbed of many of its victims, because we have lived to pray.”
E.M. Bounds
We are on this earth for a reason, a purpose. And, like this church father of old, I think the highest purpose is to pray. Think about it. There may be people in your life that only you are praying for, and they may end up in heaven because you interceded for their souls.
I believe that I am here today—a law-abiding, tax-paying, productive, heaven-bound citizen, serving in my church—because my grandmother prayed for me.
She and I didn’t have a relationship to speak of. After my parents divorced, I can count on only one hand the times I saw her. But on one of those visits I discovered that she was a Bible-totin’, Scripture quotin’, Jesus lovin’, praying saint for the kingdom of God. She did a lot of work in her prayer closet because one-by-one her sons, my dad included, came back to the faith that they were raised with. She prayed for the next generation too—me included.
Grandmother Vesta lived to be 105 years-old! I guess God knew this family needed a lot of prayer!
In my time in the counseling office, I have encountered older Christians who lament that life has passed them by. “My kids have their own lives, and all my friends are all dead and dying. I don’t feel useful anymore.”
I’ve seen older moms lean on their adult kids to entertain them and bring them meaning. I’ve seen aging dads become needy and demanding using guilt as a weapon.
That dependent mindset wrecks our Christian witness to the next generation as we refuse to embrace God’s power in us. And we miss the joy our sunset years can bring if we spent our time praying instead of complaining. Just sayin’…
Like my ol’ southern pastor used to say, “If you ain’t dead, you ain’t done. Git to prayin’!”
This quote from J.C. Ryle who lived from 1816-1900 and was part of the evangelical wing of the Church of England sums it up best:
“A zealous Christian feels that, like a lamp, he is made to burn. And if he’s consumed in burning, he had but done the work for which God appointed him. Such a Christian will always find an outlet for his zeal. If he can’t preach or work or give money, he will cry, and sigh, and pray.”
Can I get an Amen!