Prayer for grandmothers

Father, You are able to keep me from falling. That is Your work, not mine. The long faithful standing of my life has never been something I did alone.

The older I get, the more I see how much keeping has been involved. The years I almost fell. The friendships that almost broke. The times I was pulled toward wrong ideas. The grief that could have made my heart hard. You kept me.

The keeping was not loud. It was quiet. A word at the right moment. A friend who happened to call. A psalm that came back to mind. That is how You have held me, all these years.

Lord, today I am asking for more of the same. Keep me from falling. Not some big public sin — that has not been my fight for a long time. Keep me from the small falls. The bitter thought I hold onto too long. The lazy unkindness. The slide into feeling sorry for myself. The slow turning inward that comes with age and aches. Keep me from each one.

The ability is Yours. The asking is mine. Keep doing what You have been doing my whole life. There is more road ahead. And the keeping is what makes the road walkable.

Amen.