Old age comes for everyone, including our beloved parents. With each passing day, they are confronted more and more with the fact that they will face our Heavenly Father one day.
We, their children, know that we worship a Gracious God.
We know that while we spend time less and less with our parents in their later years on Earth, God continues to shower our father and mother in His grace.
Let’s look at some of the prayers we can offer on behalf of our parents as they reach the very end of their lives. These prayers include prayers for good health and the salvation of our beloved ones.
Prayer for the Elderly in Nursing Homes
Life seems to end when our parents and neighbors enter assisted living facilities. Family members who cannot carry them or find them too much trouble often leave them in the care of others.
This leaves them to struggle with poor eye sight, poor memory, and an inability to stand and makes them feel like life is not worth living. This is where prayer comes in.
Here is a prayer to the Lord to allow our aging parents to continue to feel glad. It will allow them to begin a new life in a new home and to show our care for them through prayer.
A Prayer for the Elderly in Nursing Homes
“Gracious God, we ask you to bless your children who have grown old. When they can no longer care for themselves, send them loving caretakers who appreciate their wisdom and the richness of their experience.
Send your angels to keep them safe as long as they live and to lead them home to you when their work is done. Bless the families of the elderly with insight and good judgment.
Send your Holy Spirit to help them make wise decisions, and grant them the patience to care for those who once cared for them. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.”
This prayer is perfect for those looking to share a blessing and the grace of the Lord with those entering assisted living.
It offers them the grace to enjoy the rest of their lives safely before entering the Almighty’s bosom.
Here is another prayer asking for a blessing for our loved ones in care facilities. It is for families with parents they can no longer take care of. It talks about their grace and well-being.
Prayer for Loved One in Hospice Care
“God our Stronghold, we lift our dear one who has been admitted into hospice care. May You bring comfort to her body and kind caregivers to help her.
May you console her family and bless them with sweet memories of these final days. May she put her confidence in Jesus, who can keep her from faltering and present her blameless before Your glorious presence with great joy. Amen.”
We ask the Lord God to protect our beloveds as we entrust them to healthcare professionals who can care better than we can.
We ask the Lord to console them and give them respite in their final days.
Prayer for the Dying Elderly to Receive Eternal Life
Death comes for us all, whether we’re prepared for it. We ask the Lord, through this prayer, to give our parents the strength to face the unknown and steel themselves for the end of their life.
A Prayer for Those Who are Dying
“God, thank you for being with us right now. We confess that we don’t understand why things happen as they do.
We don’t understand why illness comes into our lives, but we know that you walk every life path with us. Remind [Name] that you are walking with him right now.
Remind Joe that you love him, no matter what he is going through. I also pray for [Name’s] loved ones. Please give them your strength as they care for [Name].
God, we thank you for never leaving us and never forsaking us, but you love us. We trust you and pray this in your name. Amen.”
This prayer is a way for us, the child and our parents, to reflect on a life well-lived. It allows us to think of the next life without fear or doubt. Through this prayer, we entrust our older beloved to God.
Our beloved parents may leave us, but they are going to a better place.
We pray that they will not be afraid of the next step. We ask the Lord to lift them from long conditions of suffering.
Instead of dwelling on sickness or conditions of weakness and infirmity, we pray that the Lord give our beloved ones the strength to face death with dignity.
We ask that they be lifted from their pain.
We pray that they may enjoy their last days being blessed and welcome the Lord with open arms.
We ask the Lord to give them the strength to enjoy their last days with love and happiness.
Prayers for the Elderly in the Bible
We don’t just find prayers and pieces of advice in the writings and quotes of the saints. We also find them in the Bible.
The Psalms, in particular, offer us and our older beloved consolation in our hour of need. Psalm 71:18 is from someone who declares their undying loyalty to the Lord.
Though they may grow old and weary, they ask that the Lord stay with them and bless them for the rest of their lives.
Psalm 71:18
“Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation.” —Psalm 71:18
The verse also calls us to “declare God’s power” to the next generation. It was our dear seniors who first led us to prayer. We are expected to pay it forward, passing the faith down to our kids.
Older people often feel forsaken by those they love and care for. They feel betrayed by their bodies and notice their minds slipping away. We thus ask the Lord to continue to guide us as we progress on our onward march.
Psalm 78
1 Lord, I have come to you for protection;
never let me be defeated!
2 Because you are righteous, help me and rescue me.
Listen to me and save me!
3 Be my secure shelter
and a strong fortress to protect me;
you are my refuge and defense.
These verses from Psalm 78 talk of someone who desperately asks for the Lord to save them, bless them and protect them. It reminds us that with the Lord, no condition can defeat us.
In the context of our progenitors, this Psalm tells us that the Lord is our defender and protector. Old age, sickness and the frightening nature of the unknown will not phase us.
This is because we ask for the grace and love of our Lord. As loyal servants of God, we ask the Lord to shelter us from evil.
We ask for the strength to face all of our challenges and accept them graciously.
Prayers for Healing and Strength for the Elderly
Our dearest ones struggle with age, sickness and even feelings of abandonment. While we cannot always be there for them, we can always ask the Lord for their strength and well-being.
The following prayer considers the capability of caretakers of those who are old and frail. It asks the Lord to grant our human angels the ability to care for our seniors as best they can.
This simple prayer is a double-edged sword.
While it primarily prays for the caretakers, it also asks the Lord to give strength and good health to our seniors. It asks the Lord to shine His light on them.
Walk-in Good Health Prayer
Lord, I speak of blessings over everyone who has committed to taking care of the elders. Give them patience and understanding that they may be able to care for the elder well.
May they speak words of healing to the elders that will help them walk in good health. In Jesus’ name, I believe and pray, Amen.
Another major prayer is one for healing, physical, psychological, emotional, mental and spiritual. We use this prayer to reassure us that our cries for healing do not fall on deaf ears.
Those who use this prayer thank the Lord for His victory over death, mortality and sin. Our God is the Lord of life. His followers may die, but we will soon join him in eternity.
Until then, we ask for a healthy life and healing from physical ailments. We ask for the capabilities to continue living a quality life. We ask the Lord to allow us to live a life worth living.
Healing Prayer
Heavenly Father, hear my prayer for healing. Thank you that you are the resurrection and the life. Death holds no power over you. Your word says you will be the cries of all those who call on you.
You say that you will send out your word and heal them. Increase my faith that I may call on your unfailing love for the healing and recovery I need. Lord, bless me and keep me. Make your face shine upon me.
Turn your face towards me and give me peace. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
We ask the Lord for peace in our body and soul rather than overcoming doubt or worry. We ask the Lord to keep us in his eternal care and entrust us to our Guardian Angels.
Why Should We Pray to The Lord Jesus Christ for the Elderly?
Life comes at us hard in our later years. Our parents, who we looked at with awe, respect and joy back when we were children, have had the life and ability to do things taken from them.
It now takes tremendous self-control for us, their children, to have the patience to deal with our loved ones with kindness. This is where prayers come in.
We pray to God, to the Lord Jesus Christ, to grant us wisdom and teach us humility.
As our parents took care of us as children, so are we called to care for them in their moment of need.
We pray because prayer grants us believers the grace to honor our father and mother. It allows us to retain our memories of them from our youth while allowing us to help carry their suffering.
It was our family that first taught us to have faith. Before we went out into the world, we learned to praise God.
We now return the favor as loving children with parents who are not long for this world.
How Do You Pray for Elderly Parents Entering Old Age?
Praying for your parents doesn’t need to be an exquisite gesture. Saying a quick prayer for your parents’ salvation when you wake up in the morning is a surefire way of pleasing God.
It also helps to pay a visit to your local Church. You can offer your parents’ well-being as a prayer intention or light a candle while saying a short prayer for them.
You can say the Rosary to ask the Lord God and The Blessed Mother to intercede on behalf of our parents.
There are also plenty of other prayers available with the words that speak our desires which we often cannot express.
We ask God to bless our parents with more wisdom as they age so that they can teach us to devote our lives and our youth and to serve God with all our might.
Our faith should help us see them as they begin their journey to the other side.
Our praise of the Lord God should increase as we age. The more we go out into the world, the more we should be praying for the well-being of our parents in their bodies and soul.
Conclusion
As their memory fades and age continues to be unkind to them, we know that our Loving Father will take care of our parents in their old age.
We pray for the Lord to bless our loved ones. We pray for understanding as our parents undergo fear and suffering.
We pray for their good upbringing and state. We pray, filled with the knowledge that our parents will enter the glory of the Almighty God.
