Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a favorite memory.
The memory goes back in the early 1990’s that Ken and I were in Russia with Billy Graham — we had traveled there a year earlier to help prepare for his outreach in Moscow, and when I was back the second year to speak at the Crusade we stayed at a hotel not far from the downtown stadium. And while there, all week long we befriended an old woman who daily cleaned the floors of our hotel lobby. Old and wrinkled, her round and red cheeks were framed with a tightly knotted colorful scarf. Her face sparkled with her blue eyes and golden-toothed smile. She had on layers of skirts and wore leggings and boots. With a straw broom in hand, our elderly friend looked out of place in the hotel lobby; maybe that's why we were drawn to her. Through an interpreter, we complimented her on doing an excellent job. I even hunted down a copy of the Joni book in the Russian language to give to her — from the way she responded we knew this woman was definitely a Christian.
We met many Russian "babushkas" as they call grandmothers — the praying grandmothers. They were hard-working women and, years ago when Communism still gripped that country, it was the babushkas — the praying grandmothers — of whom Stalin had cruelly said, "If we can get rid of these old women, we will have the youth in our grasp." Stalin failed. And thank God for praying grandmothers. These stalwart saints served as a link, spanning a generation lost to atheism and connecting a new generation of young people who started asking open, honest questions about God. It was the generation of grandmothers that served as the bridge between the old order and the new, between unbelief and revival.
It’s why I’m especially grateful to elderly saints who make prayer a life vocation. You know, there are still some people consider praying as a lesser calling; as though it were the only thing elderly people can do, so why not do it? Well, I can’t think of a better full-time ministry for a Christian (no matter what their age) than to pray for our next generation. The Bible says that God hears the cries of the afflicted; He listens and is attentive to their requests. When an elderly saint prays in the midst of arthritis, or other aches and pains — when a grandparent prays out of loneliness, or through a hearing or visual impairment, God listens. And He listens with an attentive ear — the prayers (I’m convinced) of a senior citizen enjoy a special audience with the Lord. One day eternity shall reveal just how far and wide Christ's Gospel was advanced through the faithful prayers of elderly Christians.
Friend, if you have even one gray hair, you qualify for Proverbs 16:31 where it says, “Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life.” So I just have to ask — especially if you’re my age, in your 60’s — is your life a righteous one, hallmarked by intercessory prayer? Praise God if you are offering up energetic prayers despite arthritis, wrinkles, joint pain, poor vision or a wheelchair. Because just like that babushka — that praying grandmother in Russia — just like her, elderly friends who know the Lord Jesus (the ones who wear a crown of splendor?), they need our prayers, too. Let’s not resent the encroaching years, but view them as an opportunity to deepen our life of prayer for the next generation.
© Joni and Friends
Compliments of Joni and Friends
PO Box 3333 Agoura Hills, CA 91376