When was the last time you sat by the ocean, a lake, or a stream? It’s a great place to meet God and breathe in deep as you appreciate his beauty and goodness that restores your soul.
Kristi and will be leading 30 missionaries in a 3-day retreat at the ocean at a private hotel in Mexico. What joy it brings us to assist Jesus’ ministry of renewing people who work so hard to share his gospel!
Our personal retreats and the ones like this that we lead for others are all about intimacy with Jesus. Through Scripture meditation, soul talk, solitude, and listening prayer we’ll be drawing closer to our Lord. In so doing we’re helping to prevent missionary burnout which is so common. Did you know that the average pastor quits after five years of ministry? The stress becomes too much.
Perhaps you can relate even if you’re not a ministry leader? We all have stress and need to be able to say with David, “He restores my soul” (Psalm 23:3).
Try this Little, Refreshing Prayer
Psalm 42 is one of my favorite soul restoring prayers. I especially have benefited from using it by a body of water. Do you know this Psalm? One of the lines is: “Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me” (verse 7).
Years ago I paraphrased this verse:
The Deep calls to my deep
Wave after wave washes
Over me… In me… Through me…
I invite you to take a breather now…
Imagine yourself before the ocean of God’s love and pray Psalm 42:7. Try to be like a seashell in which the ocean so lives in your soul that you keep echoing with the waves of God’s love!
More Soul Shepherding
“Waves of Love” paraphrases all of Psalm 42—it is one of my prayer poems that people appreciate the most. It’s especially helpful when you’re going through distress or God seems distant.
The 3-day retreat we are doing for the Mexican missionaries and their spouses is free for them. They’ve never experienced anything like this! We are able to do this, along with low cost counseling for pastors, because of our ministry partners. Perhaps you’d like to invest in the counseling and care of pastors and missionaries? Here’s how you can make a tax-deductible donation to Soul Shepherding.
Do you live in Orange County, CA? We invite you to join us for “Thirst,” a new ministry we’re offering.
