A Prayer for the Lonely Elderly

Lord, the phone does not ring like it used to. The friends I would have called are gone now, and my children are busy with lives I am proud of and lonely outside of. The days are long and the visits are few.

I confess some afternoons stretch out so empty that I talk to the television just to hear a voice in the room. I wonder if my time of being useful, of being wanted, has quietly passed.

So I bring You these slow, quiet hours. You do not discard people when they grow old. You promised to carry me even to my gray hairs, to sustain me and rescue me right to the end.

Fill this room with Your presence so it stops feeling so empty. Send a knock at the door, a kind voice, a reason to smile. And when no one comes, be the One who stays, faithful as You have always been.

I release the fear of being forgotten in my final chapter. You have not set me aside. You are with me now as You were in my youth, and You will carry me all the way home. Amen.