Summer is quickly approaching, and it provides an amazing opportunity to connect with God outdoors and enjoy God's beautiful creation. With warmer weather and longer days, spending quality time with God outdoors uplifts our spirits and our overall physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental health. It also helps break up the often monotonous routines of daily life by offering a new environment. To help combat the demanding, busy schedules of the rest of the year, Summer is a great time to slow down and reconnect with God. Social media and fast-paced, information-overloaded screens consume our lives. Occasionally, it’s important to disconnect from electronics and reconnect with God in the stillness of the outdoors. We can be refilled and reassured of God’s continual presence, provision, and peace that are available to us when we reconnect with God outdoors.
When I spend time in God's creation outside, I always feel refreshed, restored, and energized. God speaks to me clearly, and I'm able to drown out and minimize the distractions, to-do list, and noise that often consume me. If you're ready and looking to connect with God more outside, here are six exciting ways to try this summer:
1. Journal Outside
Journaling outside is a creative and renewing way to connect with God this summer. Journaling allows us to share with God openly and write down the many ways God continues to be faithful. During challenging seasons, it’s encouraging to re-read older journal writings and see answered prayers and continued reminders of God’s faithfulness. This Summer, I invite you to sit outside on your back porch, a park bench, or during your lunch break and write down your favorite Bible verse, personal reflections, or prayer requests to God. In addition to writing prayers and petitions, you can also write what you observe or hear outdoors as a praise to God.
Journaling, or drawing images, and allowing God to speak to you in new and insightful ways are other reinvigorating ways to reconnect with God. Journaling outside is a wonderful way to connect with God through nature and to express your thoughts in a peaceful, non-distracting way. When you journal, allow yourself to write freely, praising God for who God is, petitioning God for requests, and writing down scripture to encourage your spirit. Let journaling be a powerful tool to continue strengthening your relationship with God, to spend more quality time with God, and to allow the beauty of God’s creation outdoors to replenish your body, mind, and spirit.
2. Take a Nature or Prayer Walk
Taking a nature or prayer walk is another exciting way to connect with God outdoors. When you walk, you not only get much-needed exercise but can also listen to and pray to God for you, your family, your church, and your community. Praise God for God's blessings and the beauty of God's creation. When you walk, you can also choose to pray to God about what's on your heart or experience God's presence in solitude. Taking a prayer or nature walk outside clears our minds and allows us to realign our focus from endless tasks to praising God. Taking a prayer walk also allows us to pause and notice the ways God is moving in creation, and to give God praise as Creator.
You can take a prayer walk by yourself or walk with family or friends. Spending time with God in community is another way to connect with God this Summer. I encourage you to schedule a regular prayer or nature walk where you can commune with God uninterrupted, praise God for God’s creation, and enjoy spending time with God outdoors. When we walk, talk, and listen to God outside, our relationship strengthens, and God speaks to us in new and encouraging ways.
3. Go to a Park and listen to Worship Music
Listening to worship music keeps praise on our lips and in our hearts. This Summer, I invite you to go to the park, find a sunny spot with a picnic and a blanket, or sit on a bench and listen to your favorite worship music. Listening to worship music helps me to pause and be reminded that God is with me, is for me, and always has my best interests at heart. Let the melodious sounds and message of a worship song saturate and strengthen your spirit and renew your mind. When we don’t have the words to say, God speaks to us through the words of someone singing a worship song that ministers to our spirit during the right time or season. When we listen to music outdoors, it also helps to clear our minds, stabilize our spirits, and powerfully invoke God's presence.
We can sing praises to the Lord and be a witness to those around us of God's joy. Worshipping the Lord outside doesn’t mean that our circumstances are perfect, but it reassures us that God’s presence is with us and leading us. By worshiping outdoors, we not only encourage ourselves but also encourage others who may never set foot in a church. Our public witness for Christ transforms, breaks down barriers, reaches beyond the four walls, and profoundly impacts others. Worship God this Summer with boldness and allow your praise to minister to many.
4. Sit and Meditate
In our fast-paced culture, the idea of sitting in one place for too long is neither ideal nor desired. We often equate sitting with minimal productivity. However, sitting and meditating in God’s presence provides a renewed peace and clarity that’s essential to keep moving forward. This Summer, I invite you to sit outside to meditate, listen to God, read scripture, and pray. Take some time and listen to the birds chirping, feel the wind blowing, and enjoy the warmth of the sun. When we pause and slow down from our busy lives, sitting and meditating outside is an uplifting way to just “be.” When we can bask in God's creation, it is healing, renewing, and restorative. Embrace the contemplative practice of sitting and meditating outdoors. Enjoy God’s presence and reconnect with God without the pressure to produce something. Listen to God in solitude and allow God to renew your mind and spirit.
5. Exercise and Breath Prayers
Exercise is another restorative way to stay connected with God outside. You can jog, walk, or stretch outside to your favorite worship music. Exercise keeps us in shape and is an act of worship to God by honoring the body God blesses us with. Exercise also helps us restore our bodies, regulate our nervous system, and soothe our spirits. In addition to aerobic exercise, we can connect with God outside by doing breath prayers. Breath prayers are times when we take a moment to breathe in God’s presence and breathe out our anxieties and fears. Often, we carry so much daily and don’t take enough time to surrender and release our burdens to God. Breath prayers don’t require words but a willingness to let God speak to us with the very breath God created. This Summer, try a breath prayer and exercise outside to be renewed.
6. Bible Sketch and Draw a Psalm
If you don’t prefer writing, Bible sketching is another creative way to connect with God outdoors. Draw something you see in nature or read a Psalm and draw key words or images associated with the Psalm. As God speaks to you through the Psalm, draw what God is speaking and reflect on it for encouragement. There are also inexpensive sketchbooks you can purchase to color in and connect with God. Sketching and drawing are other ways you can connect with God, express your thoughts, listen to God, and be strengthened and restored.
Connecting with God doesn't have to be stagnant, but can be creative and diverse as we commune with God in new and unconventional ways. Allow the beauty of God's creation to remind and encourage you to receive God's continual presence, faithfulness, and restoration. Connecting with God extends far beyond the church walls, and there is no one right way to do so. Enjoy the outdoors this summer and be renewed and reminded of God’s steadfast love, presence, peace, and renewal, all available to you.
Photo credit: ©Pexels/Negative Space
