The Lord is my shepherd…he makes me lie down in green pastures (Psalm 23).
All people, including God’s people, need seasons of rest. For many in the Princeton area, summer is a time for vacations. But vacations are not necessarily synonymous with rest. So, I thought I’d share this wise column written in 2011 by our former Associate Pastor, John Beeson, who is now serving as the Teaching Pastor of New Life Bible Fellowship, Tucson, AZ:
I recently received an email from a friend in which she mentioned that she was going on vacation for a couple of weeks. The way she put it was, “I'm hoping to go offline for a few weeks, as I haven't had a chance to stop yet for longer than I'd care to admit.” I voiced a prayer for her as she took a break.
Since then I’ve thought about how to pray for God’s people as they take vacation. It’s an interesting line of thought, since vacation as we know it, even weekends as we know them, are relatively modern developments. You don’t find much at all in Scripture about people getting away for a weekend or a week or two. But there is plenty of information in the Scriptures about the need for rest and what it can entail. Most importantly, the Scriptures teach us that the deepest rest comes when we combine physical relaxation with spiritual renewal; that was one of the main points of the Old Testament Sabbath (Deuteronomy 5:12-15).
With that in view, here are seven prayer requests for members of the body of Christ who are on vacation:
- Pray that they will be surrounded with divine safety as they travel: Psalm 121.
- Pray that they will enjoy longs nights of deep and satisfying sleep: Psalm 127:1
- Pray that they will experience life-giving fellowship with spouse, family, friends, or other believers: Psalm 133.
- Pray that they will have deep communion with the Lord through his Word and prayer: Psalm 123:1-2.
- Pray that they will be blessed by times of worship in a different venue: Psalm 122:1-2.
- Pray that they will stand strong against expected and unexpected temptations: Psalm 125:1-2.
- Pray that they will gain a richer perspective on current responsibilities and calling: Psalm 131.
