Praying To Notice Beauty Wherever We Are

 I had an early morning errand to run just a block from home and when I was finished I decided to take a walk through the alley to the street behind the shopping center. There are some lovely flowers and grasses the city has planted at the end of the boulevard and I have been wanting to take some pictures.

I did that and then as I was coming back through the alley I took a second look and through the clutter and the “less than appealing” nature of an alley found so much beauty.  From weeds to flowers in pots in little lost spaces to metal grates on the back wall of the bank with beautiful green growth.  So much to see if we just take the time and opportunity to see it.

Isn’t that often the way we are in life as well?  We easily see the beautiful things that are before us or that we intentionally seek out.  On days when life is going well it’s not hard to find things to be grateful for and let our hearts embrace a smile.

But then the tough days come and the challenges pile up around us and inside us. Then what do e see?  I wish I could say that I did all the time but you and I know that I don’t.   One of the

writers in the Bible had a variety of times – easy and challenging – and wrote these words:

You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you,

in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. Psalm 63:1-4

Well Loving God, certainly we’ve seen times of feeling parched as well as times of seeing Your power and glory active in our lives.  We pray that You will work in us again, by Your Holy Spirit so we can say with the writer of that Psalm, “because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.  I will praise you as long as I live.”

Thank you for eyes to see and ears to hear wonderful things that You are sharing with us every ay.  We don’t want to miss them simply because some things go wrong in our circumstances or

relationships.  We pray to be people who are trusting and who are seeing You at all times and in all things so You can give us Your peace.

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal. Isaiah 26:3-4

As we go through today we pray to see more of the positive things that are around us than the negative.  We pray to be grateful for what we have rather than what we don’t have.  We pray to see the strengths and good things we see in others rather than focusing on their mistakes or the way they irritate us. 

We pray to be encouraged with the abilities and opportunities You are giving us today to contribute to the lives of others. Help us to honour and use well what is in our hands, even if it seems less than what someone else might have, and bring great beauty to our sphere of influence.

Help us to take that good long look, and then a second look, and then a closer look, relying on ou at all times to help us see what’s there and how to understand it all inside Your good

purposes.

Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8

The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. Deuteronomy 33:27

Thank you Lord for this day, this moment, the opportunities, the frustrations, all that this day holds, we give you thanks.  We’re grateful that You are with us in it all, giving us all we need.