Water can splash wonder into our lives. It symbolizes reflection, clarity, cleansing, renewal, and the gift of life. Here are some prayer and meditation ideas involving water that can help you experience awe.
In Wake Up to Wonder, I tell the story of encountering wonder through water while hiking inside Iceland’s Langjökull glacier. Our group entered a chapel carved into the glacier and sang a worship song together there. While we sang, I could see water all around us – in the ice walls, the liquid puddles, and the steamy mist that we exhaled into the air. The awe I felt drained away everything that had previously blocked my awareness of God’s presence. I felt the wonder of God’s love flowing through me like the water flowed around me.
Water, which is vital for our bodies to thrive, points us toward relationships with God so our souls can thrive. Just as we need water physically, we need God spiritually. Water reminds us to seek the God of wonder who sustains us. We interact with water constantly – from drinking it to bathing in it. The more we interact with God, the more we’ll notice the wonder of his love flowing through our lives.
Since it has reflective qualities, water is a useful tool for spiritual reflection. You can take a fresh look at your life by visiting a pond, creek, lake, river, or ocean – or simply by focusing on a glass of water or even a rain puddle at home. As you look at the water’s reflective surface, pray about how your life is going right now, what changes you’d like to make, and what guidance the Holy Spirit has for you about moving forward well. As you touch the water, pray for the Spirit to cleanse your mind of negative thoughts and renew it with positive thoughts. While water flows around you, pray for God’s love and wisdom to flow to you, and through you to others.
Here are some Bible verses about water to meditate on:
“… whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” – Jesus in John 4:14. A few verses earlier, Jesus uses the term “living water” to refer to the salvation he offers.
“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” – Ezekiel 36:25-26
“With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” – Isaiah 12:3
“For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.” – Isaiah 44:3
“On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’” – John 7:37-38
“The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” – Isaiah 58:11
“He said to me: ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.’” – Revelation 21:6
Every ordinary experience you have with water – from a shower to a walk in the rain – has the potential to become extraordinary if you use it to connect with our God of wonder.
Learn more about experiencing God’s wonder in Wake Up to Wonder (order the paperback or the e-book) and Wonder Through the Year: A Daily Devotional for Every Year (order the paperback or the e-book).