A Prayer about Respecting the Aged

by | Jul 23, 2024 | aging, dying, and death, Daily Prayer

A Prayer about Respecting the Aged

Stand up in the presence of the elderly, and show respect for the aged. Fear your God. I am the LORD.  Leviticus 19:32

Eternal Lord,

We live in a culture that prefers agelessness, 

a culture that strives to remain eternally young. 

We live in an aging culture, 

where we see some who age graciously, 

and others who do not. 

In this season of the silver tsunami, 

may we obey your command 

to respect the aged. 

Forgive us for any harsh words 

spoken to aging parents 

out of frustration and fear—

words uttered out of 

concern about their driving when they shouldn’t,

impatience about their refusal to follow doctor’s orders, 

annoyance about their rejection of our offers of help. 

Replace our fears about their frailty 

with tender concern and honoring respect.

Help us to take the time to listen to their stories, 

asking them to tell us about the seasons of sorrow 

and seasons of joy they’ve endured and enjoyed. 

Help us to honor the wisdom of the aged (Job 12:12) 

and seek out their counsel 

on marriage and finances and work and children. 

Lord, slow us down 

so that we might truly respect the aged 

as you have called us to do.

In Jesus’ respect-full name. Amen.

Read Leviticus 19:32; Timothy 5:1-3; Job 12:12; 1 Timothy 5:8; Proverbs 23:22. 



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17

Lord, 

We believe; help our unbelief.

We believe you have already come into our midst 

in the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

We believe you are a mighty one 

who has already saved us from our sins 

through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

But in the next line of this magnificent verse, 

we stutter and stumble. 

We think that maybe you will rejoice in us 

some day in the future 

when we are more holy, 

that you will love us 

some day in the future 

when we never sin again,

that you will exult in us with loud singing 

some day in the future 

when we’ve finally earned our way to heaven.

But that’s not what Scripture tells us.

The gospel good news 

for all who trust in Jesus

is that right this minute, 

you are rejoicing over us, 

right this minute

you are quieting us with your love, 

right this minute

and you are exulting over us with loud singing. 

You saved us. 

You love us. 

You delight in us. 

You sing extra-loud over us, 

like the five-year-old who loves to sing 

at the top of his lungs 

because he’s so happy. 

Help us today to sit quietly 

and listen for the sound 

of your delight in us, 

and may that delight 

change the way we live and love 

today and every day. 

In Jesus’ saving name. Amen.

Read Zephaniah 3:14-20.



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

A Prayer about the Aging Body

by | Apr 12, 2024 | aging, dying, and death, Daily Prayer, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about the Aging Body

If the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens 2 Corinthians 5:1

Heavenly Father, 

Yesterday we prayed about finding hope in the losses of aging 

by keeping an eternal perspective. 

Today we acknowledge the reality 

that despite what our culture tries to tell us, 

our bodies are aging, 

every day, 

all the time. 

Again, the apostle Paul helps us 

by naming the reality of physical deterioration, 

calling our bodies “tents.” 

As a tentmaker, Paul knew well the frailty of tents. 

They were made by human hands, 

to be raised and lowered easily. 

They were subject to the terrors of storms 

and could not stand in the face of them. 

Such is the nature of our human body. 

It is vulnerable. It is wasting away.

And yet, Paul claims, there is reason for hope: 

“If the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, 

we have a building from God, 

a house not made with hands, 

eternal in the heavens” (2 Cor. 5:1). 

One day we will receive our resurrection bodies, 

healed and whole. 

Immediately after death, 

we will “be away from the body 

and at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8), 

that is, separated from our earthly body. 

But when Jesus returns, “we shall all be changed. 

For this perishable body will put on the imperishable, 

and this mortal body will put on immortality” (1 Cor. 15:53). 

In that day, we will no longer groan 

with the aches and pains 

of a breaking body. 

In that day, we will no longer groan 

with the deeper sorrow 

of losing family and friends to death. 

In that day, we will see our hope fulfilled, 

the hope of living with you 

and worshiping you forever. 

How we long for that day. 

Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

Amen.

Read 2 Corinthians 5:1-10; 1 Corinthians 15:50-58.

*This prayer, like yesterday’s, was based on my article, An Eternal Perspective on the Losses of Aging. 



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

A Prayer about an Eternal Perspective on Aging

by | Apr 11, 2024 | aging, dying, and death, Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about an Eternal Perspective on Aging

Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day 2 Cor. 4:16

Eternal Lord,

The Bible is clear about the losses of aging, 

but it also provides hope in the midst of these losses. 

The apostle Paul offers an eternal perspective 

that helps us live wisely and graciously as we age. 

He shares about the affliction he has experienced, 

saying that it has not crushed him (See 2 Cor. 4:8-9). 

He states bluntly the reality 

that our outer self is wasting away. 

And yet, he says, “our inner self is being renewed day by day.” 

Paul offers more hope in the midst of loss, 

“For this light momentary affliction 

is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory 

beyond all comparison…” (2 Cor. 4:17).  

We must see look through the lens of an eternal perspective 

to see our suffering as fleeting and insubstantial 

in comparison with the enduring weight and substance 

of eternal glory. 

We can picture a timeline 

extending from before the dawn of time to beyond its end. 

Eternal glory spans the entire length of the timeline, 

into eternity, 

while our afflictions occupy 

only brief, intermittent sectors. 

Our suffering molds us and refines us 

to reflect the very nature 

of our suffering and glorious Christ. 

Help us, Lord, 

to see all of the losses of this life 

through the lens of an eternal perspective: 

Help us to look beyond 

the light and momentary trials and troubles 

of this fallen world 

to the eternal welcome, beauty, and joy 

of heaven and the new heavens and new earth.

In the hope-full name of Jesus. Amen.

Read 2 Corinthians 4:8-18.

*This prayer based on my article: An Eternal Perspective on the Losses of Aging



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

A Prayer about Ageism

by | Apr 6, 2024 | aging, dying, and death, Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Ageism

Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.

1 Timothy 5:1-2

Good Father,

Forgive us for the ways 

we sometimes marginalize older people. 

We do it in unnoticeable and unmistakeable ways: 

with sins of omission 

(not seeking ways to include the elderly 

by making churches and homes accessible 

in space, sight, and sound), 

or by sins of commission: 

grumbling about how slowly an older person moves

or how poorly they drive. 

You make it abundantly clear that all people, 

from cradle to grave, 

deserve dignity and honor, 

because we are created in your image (Gen. 1:26-27). 

The fifth commandment calls us to honor fathers and mothers, 

promising that doing so leads to lengthy life (Ex. 20:12). 

In 1 Timothy, Paul instructs Timothy,

“do not rebuke an older man harshly, 

but exhort him as if he were your father,” 

treat “older women as mothers,” 

and help widows in need (see 5: 1-3). 

Jesus rebuked the Pharisees 

for failing to care well for their parents (see Mark 7:9-13). 

Help us to see the subtle ways we marginalize the elderly. 

Help us to think of ways to honor the elderly 

and to welcome them in our lives.

In Jesus’s name. Amen.

Read Proverbs 16:31; Ecclesiastes 12; 2 Corinthians 5:1-10.



 

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

A Prayer about Honoring the Elderly

by | Feb 6, 2024 | aging, dying, and death, Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Honoring the Elderly

The glory of the young is their strength; the gray hair of experience is the splendor of the old.

Proverbs 20:29

Everlasting Father,

In a world that often marginalizes or mocks the elderly, 

transform us into people who honor and value the elderly.

Even as we age, may we see your holy purposes for aging—

some may no longer have the energy to tend to babies all night long, 

but they do wake up in the night, 

and they can pray for those who do.

Some may no longer have the physical agility 

to perform skilled labor, 

but they do have years of experience 

and can teach those who do.

Some may no longer have the responsibilities 

of running a business, 

but they do have the ability and wisdom 

to give good counsel to those who do.

Lord, may we see the opportunities aging affords, 

and may we embrace not only our own aging, 

but the aging of others. 

May we see that you call the elderly 

to continue giving you glory 

by learning and leading every day of their lives. 

In Jesus’ redeeming name. Amen.

Read Proverbs 20:29; Titus 2:2-5; 1 Timothy 5:1 . 


 

A Prayer about Living and Dying in Faith

by | Jan 27, 2024 | aging, dying, and death, Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Living and Dying in Faith

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. Hebrews 11:13

Heavenly Father,

Whatever our age,

Make us ready always 

to “die in faith.” 

Dying in faith is the natural conclusion 

to living in faith. 

Dying in faith is to look to the redemption 

you have already accomplished in this world

and in our lives through Jesus Christ, 

to be convicted of things we haven’t seen yet: 

our heavenly homeland, 

the new heavens and new earth life 

that will truly fulfill our every hope (Hebrews 11:1). 

To live and die in faith 

is to let go of the things of this earth 

to which we sometimes cling too tightly, 

knowing we are “strangers and exiles on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13). 

To live and die in faith 

is to trust your perfect timing 

in numbering our days 

and your perfect patience 

in sending Jesus back 

to take us home. 

To live and die in faith 

is to wait eagerly 

for the restoration of all broken things 

even as we groan inwardly 

when life hurts (Romans 8:19). 

Father, give us the eyes of faith 

to endure until the day comes 

when we are reunited with you.

In Jesus’ living and dying name. Amen.

Read Hebrews 11:1-16; Romans 8: 19.