Prayer by the Lake

     I know what you've been wondering. How was my prayer retreat? If you don't know what I am talking about, stop reading now and go back to the post titled, "A Retreat," to find out more! 

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    I still wasn't sure where to go on my retreat when I woke up Saturday morning. But thanks to my boyfriend's suggestion, I decided on Lake Lurleen State Park. 

    I brought my lunch and started the prayer day by praising the Lord for his goodness and faithfulness. It was such a beautiful day. I sat on a swing that I found and stared in awe at the clouds, admiring my God's handiwork. That was the start of my praise, inspiring the words I wrote in my prayer journal. 

    After lunch, I decided to search for a walking trail. I found one that looked curvy and fun, so I began to walk that one. As I began, I realized that as I was praising the Lord for the past hour, I had been in the first part of the ACTS acronym for prayer, which stands for adoration. So, why not continue with the rest? I liked this idea because I needed some structure to this prayer day. I don't normally pray all day, so I would be randomly praying and rambling on without some structure. As I walked through this short trail, I began to talk with the Lord again, focusing on confessing how I have doubted His steadfast love and how I have strayed away from His ways recently. 

    When I finished this trail, I decided to keep walking up the paved pathway, which brought me to two trailheads, one that was 11 miles and one that was 4 miles. I went with the 4-mile trail, as I only had about 3 hours let planned on my retreat and it was shorter and more doable. Once I had prayed through the confession part of the acronym for an hour, I moved on to thanksgiving. I began with the little things that I was thankful for, where I found myself starting from the beginning of my life, giving thanks to the Lord for my family and the way He's provided for me since I was young. I ended by giving thanks for the way God has orchestrated turning points and big events in my life, recognizing his perfect timing. 

    As I was finishing this trail and heading to my car, I arrived at supplication, the last part of this prayer journey. I'm not sure why, but I struggled with this one. I've done a lot of asking the Lord for restoration and guidance lately, so maybe I've grown weary and worn out from it. I tried not to get too disappointed that I wasn't very engaged in this part. I was also tired physically from all the hiking, and it was really hot out. Once I got my water bottle from the car, I sat by the lake and did something I would normally hate to do... I took my socks and shoes off and put my feet in the water. To be honest, it wasn't as refreshing as I had hoped, but it was still nice. I continued praying, which was a bit easier than it was ten minutes ago. Then, I walked barefoot back to my car. I usually don't love being barefoot on dirt and grass and my feet getting dirty, but I didn't mind this time.

    I think I had needed to focus on the first aspects of prayer, rather than remaining in supplication, where I had found myself so many times before. It's important to praise the Lord and thank Him for who He is before we come to Him with our desires. It just might shift our desires so that they align with His, allowing us to live in His will. I had needed a break from coming to God with my needs and wants. I just needed rest, being still in His presence and meditating on His promises.

    Although I had given myself structure for my conversation with the Father, I found that I was praising Him in my thanksgiving, asking for His guidance in the midst of my confession, and giving thanks as I finished out with supplication. I don't think it's a totally bad thing that I broke this structure. In fact, I think there's something cool about it. All of these things were interwoven with each other, interacting with each other and creating a conversation with God that seemed to flow easily and freely. 

    A thought I had many times throughout this retreat was that I don't do this enough. Getting away and immersed in God's creation. Being in constant conversation with Jesus. Being quiet and still in His presence. Praising Him before asking Him. What would it be like if we remained in constant conversation with our Creator and Heavenly Father? I think we would know more of who He is. I think we would understand more about what it is like to be in a relationship with Him. I think we would begin to come to him without fear. 

    This was such a wonderful day. It began with playing violin at the farmers' market, which deserves a whole other blogpost, and continued with solitude with God. I also got to see 5 spiders and 4 of their webs, two ducks, two dogs, one in a kayak and one on the hiking trail, and a mountain biker!

~Kthnxbai!