The Greatest Ministry

November 1, 2003 - One of the greatest blessings I ever received was having my mother come to live with us following the death of my father, Dr. L. Nelson Bell. During that time, I began to realize that for some Christians who are (like Mother was) confined to a wheelchair, handicapped in speech, and unable any longer to read or to watch television, God has reserved the greatest ministry of all—that of prayer.

by Ruth Bell Graham

One day while Mother was with us she received a personal letter from the editor of a Christian magazine. He wrote, "I hope that you will continue to pray for our magazine as your husband did. Whenever he wrote to me, he mentioned praying for us. We still need this, and we would be grateful for your prayers." Perhaps God has slowly, deliberately, lovingly cut you off from outer activities to free you for this greatest activity of all. As I have aged, I have found myself in this very situation. I want to be faithful in the ministry of prayer that God has put before me.

In commenting on Psalm 9:13, the 17th-century Christian writer John Trapp said, "Betwixt praying and praying, [David] divided his time and drove a holy trade between heaven and earth."

Perhaps in the days left to us, we could accomplish more than in all our more active years combined!