In Acts 21:5-6 we meet Paul and his companions on one of their many journeys and read, “At the end of the week when we returned to the ship, the entire congregation including wives and children walked down to the beach with us where we prayed and said our farewells. Then we went aboard, and they returned home.”
What a wonderful picture the church at prayer on the seashore with the waves lapping at their feet. On the shore - this bible episode indicates that any place may be proper for prayer. It gives a new emphasis that God is everywhere, and can as easily hear prayer on the seashore as in the most magnificent temple.
This is an instance, where the apostle evidently prayed with the church without a form of prayer. No one can believe that Paul thus poured forth the desires of his heart at parting, and commended them to God in a prescribed form of words.
Scenes like this show more clearly than abstract arguments could do that such a form was not needed, and would not be used. Paul and his fellow-Christians, on the sand of the sea-shore, would pour forth the gushing emotions of their souls in language such as their circumstances would suggest, and no one can read this narrative in a dispassionate manner without believing that they offered prayer.
In your minds eye walk along the seashore. Hear the Waves. There is an ebb and flow to the spiritual life, just as there is an ebb and flow to the waves breaking onto the sand. It is much like breathing. Inhaling and exhaling. Inhale as the waves come in. Take in an expectation of every- thing God might have for you today as you fill your lungs. Exhale as the wave returns to the sea. Breathe out any heaviness you have on your heart or mind or in your physical being. In and out. Receiving and releasing. There is a consistency of God in the waves. There is a consistency of God in you. Let him fill you.
Feel the stones under your feet. Ask yourself what is cluttering your mind this day? What worries consume your thoughts? What do you need to turn over to God? Find a stone on the beach. Allow it to represent all that you need to give up to God. When you are ready, throw the stone into the ocean. Watch God receive it.
Take your shoes off and feel sand running through your toes. Let it fall between your fingers. Know that God has numbered the sands on the shore just as he knows how many stars he has set in the sky. How big is your God? Write a word to describe God in the sand. Leave it there as you continue the journey.
Lord, as I walk daily with You, I will put my hope in You today, all day long. Remind me, through Your Holy Spirit, to look to You for guidance.Call me into Your quiet presence to think on Your truths and precepts. May I not be distracted by the world. Thank you that You give me the hope, help, and peace I need. Thank you that You never cease to call me to Yourself. Help me to respond afresh to Your presence in my life as I seek You daily in prayer and meditation. Help me, Lord Jesus Christ, walk with You, my Lord and God, Amen!
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