All I Can Do Now is Pray

All I can do now is pray … so said a special lady in her 80s.

Once an active pastor’s wife and mom to five children, Norma is now a great-great grandmother who dearly loves her family. She enjoys reading, watching old Westerns and telling jokes.

She was a partner in ministry with her husband of 55+ years of marriage. She loved to send cards, especially birthday ones to her growing family. She could tell you all the dates of each grand and great-grandchild, along with the anniversaries of the couples. All she can do now is pray.

She is a lover of God and cares about people. She was a doer, a planner, a giver of her resources to serve others. She was the primary music leader as the organist/pianist for church. She was a wonderful accompanist for those who sang special songs/solos for the Sunday night church services. Now, all she can do is pray.

Her prayer list is extensive: family, her senior adult Sunday school class at a large church, missionaries and whatever other needs come her way for intercession.

Who wouldn’t want someone like her in your corner, praying for you when ‘all she can do is pray’?!

My admonition to her was, “you are doing an incredible thing when this is all you can do.” Remembering the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, we are to:

Always be joyful, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Norma is fulfilling this Scripture. Although limited in physical activity, she is engaged in spiritual activity of high value.

So when you think that “all you can do is pray,” realize you are doing the will of the Lord. He is pleased. People are cared for. And you become a channel of God’s grace to help those in need.