Prayer requests

This time of year, many of us have vacation on our minds. (It is on my mind, to be honest, but hubby and I have not actually had a vacation in many years!)

Folks day-dream about the peace and quiet (especially if you leave the mobile phone turned off most of the time), about seeing new and different things, about visiting with family or friends they've not seen in a while.

Vacations are many things to many people. 

But too often, they are times that we neglect our quiet times with God.

If we want to stay connected with Him as we travel, we need to be intentional about it.

First, we need to keep our daily appointment with God. We might have a morning quiet time that we are really good at keeping when we're at home. It may be that we need to adjust a bit, when we are away. It may be that we tell our traveling companions that we'll have our devotions in the evening, or in the morning, and then stick to it! We might also need to be creative in our location - are we sharing an RV with spouse or family? Are we in a hotel room? We can take our Bibles and a snack or our cup of joe, and head out to the pool (before it's busy) or to a shady picnic table, or somewhere else that we've chosen. We can even take a walk and listen to an audio Bible. Maybe even involve the whole crew in a devotion time! The possibilities are endless.

When we are away, we'll need to remember to pray for the concerns that we lifted up at home. But we also can pray for the people and the situations that we encounter on our travels. The Uber driver who helped us, the clerk at the counter, the park ranger, and even the political and cultural issues of the local area we are visiting. Make all of these matters of prayer.

Lastly, we can look for God in the places we go. Sometimes it is easy to forget that He is with us wherever we travel! There are always opportunities to worship and thank Him, and spur of the moment prayers are just as fervent as those in our devotion times. Have we seen mountains or waterfalls that drew our mind to His awesome power? Have we admired other natural handiwork of our Creator? Have we thanked Him as we hug a family member or friend that we haven't seen in "ages"?

We must not forget to thank Him for these things. We need Him whether we are at home or away, and He wants to hear from us!

Let's pray.