Last January, we crossed three time zones to our escape winter vacation.
The sunrise a few hours and two time zones later in Atlanta was lovely. The bright orange and yellow rested on the earth and as the clock ticked forward, the colors faded and the promise of a new day awaited.
About 9 hours and another time zone later, God confirmed his promise as we were landing on Saint Thomas. The orange and yellow bleeding into the red, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
Landing in St Thomas
“I have set my bow in the cloud …
I will see it and remember,”
Genesis 9:13 & 16
A bit out of context, I admit, but the lovely rainbow that day was a reminder of God’s love and the beauty he created that leads to worship. Beauty inviting worship, leading to prayer.
During our entire two weeks on St. John, God directed my heart to worship in many and various ways.
“O LORD, our LORD,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!”
Psalm 8:1
The awe-inspiring beauty surrounding us. The foliage, the flowers, the beautiful white sand beaches leading to the clear, walk-in, warm blue waters. We snorkeled and enjoyed the fish.
The view from our deck.
My times with God. God led me to many different passages pointing to worship and asking me new questions from familiar verses. As I watched the sailboats harnessing the power of the wind, I thought about Acts 1:8 and the power God promises to his children with his gift of the Holy Spirit.
John 1:12 was the first verse that seemed like a personal message to me from God many years ago. Lately I’m being captivated by the power to become children of God. It has led to praying, as a child of God, how do I harness that power? The sailboats brought my question back to me.
Me too. Growing my friendship.
Five months later and we’re again by the ocean. This time the Atlantic. Bill and I are with 70 college students at the University of North Florida for a summer of growing their our friendship with God. The beautiful campus invites me outside each morning ~ even in the Florida heat.
A few nights ago while sharing dinner with a small group of students, one of the gals asked, how has your prayer life changed over the years? A great question.
It has changed.
My prayer life usually does not follow a list.
It is more God-centered.
God initiates as he did last winter with John 1:12.
It starts with scripture and leads me to questions. God, in this situation, what does it look like for me to trust your truth today? How do I harness the power John 1:12 speaks of?
The beauty of God’s creation leads to worship and invites to prayer.
Enjoying God’s beauty twice as I sit on the swing in the morning.
Copyright, sue tell, June 2022
Sue, I’m so happy for you and Bill that you were able to see St. Thomas and that you’ve been with these incredible young adults in Florida. Wow. The pictures are stunning. Thanks for sharing.
I love the question you were asked, “How has your prayer life changed over the years?” That set me to pondering about my own journey with prayer. I remember being taught in my youth that I had to pray with a balance of praise, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication. As a result of that well meaning teaching, my prayers became about trying to perform and get it right. As years went by, I’ve learned that God just wants me to be with Him. I haven’t failed if I didn’t praise or thank Him enough in each prayer. The result is that I enjoy being in His presence. Praise and thanksgiving flow from my heart instead of from my fear of failure. I am confident of His interest in my concerns. It is one of the gifts of many years of walking with Jesus. It’s like the old gospel song says, “Richer, fuller deeper, Jesus love is sweeter, sweeter as the years go by.”
Absolutely. You know the word “balance” is always raises a yellow flag for me. I’m training myself to think about “faithfulness” instead of “balance”.
I love your words, “Praise and thanksgiving flow from my heart instead of my fear of failure.” So good!
FMA,
sue
Sue ,
What a good reminder to ask God what does it look like to trust your truth today. It can be hard to live in these confusing and tumultuous times. That is exactly why we need to trust His truth because that is what grounds us to respond in grace to everyone around us.
Hey Denise, You’re so right. I ask God just about every day what it would look like for me to trust that day. Sometimes the answer comes immediately, sometimes not. But thinking about one day at a time for me is helpful.
FMA, Sue