In his 1990 World Day of Peace message, St. John Paul II, an avid hiker, said: “Our very contract with nature has a deep restorative power; contemplation of its magnificence imparts peace and serenity.” Being outdoors is not just fun, it can also be a deeply spiritual act of immersing oneself in the Lord’s presence. As the days get longer, this is a perfect time to head outside and connect with God in the natural world.
Hiking organizations like the Sierra Club label their trails according to level of difficulty. As such, I’ll share a few ways to pray outdoors that range from physically easy to advanced, so you can know what to expect and choose based on your mood, health, and weather conditions.
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Easy. Whether you live in an urban, suburban, or rural area, you can go on a neighborhood walk. Notice all the different ways nature peeks through — a flock of geese flying overhead, trees in bloom, even a persistent dandelion making its way through the cracks in the sidewalk — and think about how God makes his presence known in your life.
When I used to work on a dairy farm in upstate New York, I tended to the livestock and taught young summer campers. One of the reflection exercises I conducted lends itself well to outdoor prayer. We sat outside and I asked the children to close their eyes and just listen. For several minutes, we remained silent and paid close attention to what we could hear. Afterwards, we shared all the different things that caught our attention.
We heard crickets strumming, birds chirping, chickens clucking, and cows mooing. Pigs snorted, frogs croaked, and the creek trickled nearby. We caught the sounds of deep cow breaths, a farmer’s boots passing by, a farm cat meowing, the breeze whispering around us. A whole orchestra of sound that we would otherwise gloss over.
It’s easy to get caught up in the daily grind and forget about the amazing world that exists around us. This silencing exercise helps us quiet not only our ears but our hearts. As we listen for sounds we don’t normally pick up, we can also hear the voice of God. After all, God comes not in a “strong and violent wind,” earthquake, or fire, but in “a light silent sound” (1 Kings 19:11-13).
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Moderate. With these slightly more intense activities, you can offer your exercise and exertion as a gift to God. Take, for instance, jogging with your dog, playing beach soccer with friends, or bicycling down a beautiful country lane. Every bead of perspiration can be a prayer. The runner’s high, the celebratory goal, or cycling to the peak of a tough hill — these are all moments you can turn into an “Amen!” and “Alleluia!” of praise.
Some intermediate activities, like gardening, also provide spaces to pause and reflect. In between weed-pulling, pruning, and transplanting, you can literally stop and smell the flowers. You can think about the incredible divine imagination our God has and his delicacy and craftsmanship in creating each plant. You can watch the birds twittering about and think to yourself how, if God knows each and every little sparrow, then “even the hairs of your head have all been counted” (Luke 12:6-7). He knows everything about you and loves you.
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Strenuous. These next activities are advanced because they require a lot of forethought and planning. Hiking to a mountain peak, camping, and fishing are all activities that entail commitment, training, and equipment knowledge. But they are also fantastic ways to pray. These activities usually consume an entire day or weekend, and they really provide a prime opportunity to disconnect from the world around us that competes with God’s voice.
One particular activity that I’ve learned to love from my husband is night hiking. (Disclaimer: This is an activity in the super advanced category. It is neither for the faint-hearted nor the ill-prepared. Do not attempt if you don’t already have plenty of experience hiking in the daytime!).
Whenever we go camping, my husband and I conduct night hikes. Traversing the dark woods is a form of surrender: You don’t know what to expect. We’ve had run-ins with giant — and I mean giant — mosquitoes and spiders. We’ve also seen deer, beavers, and bats. The woods aren’t silent but eerily calm. Every frog croak and stick snap just lands differently.
I love how much more alert and awake I am in the woods in the dark. I have to pay attention to everything around me with more intentionality. That includes where I place my feet, too. It’s a humble reminder to “stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come” (Matthew 24:42).
Praying outdoors is a fantastic way to become closer to our creator. By immersing ourselves in his divine goodness, we too, become closer to the divine — both in the world around us and within ourselves. I hope you find the chance to chase God in the great outdoors this summer!
