A Bouquet of Prayers

One of my favorite things about LinkedIn is the opportunities to connect with people I might otherwise never know. I became friends with Bri Simpson , a lawyer and tech executive based in Saudi Arabia, through our posts and then via Zoom chats. Bri moved to Bahrain from her home in Texas in 2019 to do Business Development and Marketing for the American Chamber of Commerce. Now, she lives in Riyad and heads up Growth for Arabius, a company helping expats learn the Arabic language and culture. ? Recently, Bri told me about a beautiful prayer practice she discovered during a challenging season.

“About a year ago, I faced a particularly challenging work situation. My WhatsApp was constantly blowing up, and I was always distracted by my phone. When I needed prayer the most, I struggled to quiet my mind and heart. I desired a new way to experience God. I remembered that Jane Austin uses flowers to express specific emotions in one of my favorite books, Pride and Prejudice. This led me to another book called The Language of Flowers and, eventually, to creating what I think of as bouquets of prayers. ? I started drawing what I felt called to pray for. For example, in the picture below, I expressed my longing to meet people who wanted to know more about Jesus. So I painted the flower, Everlasting Pea, which, according to Google, means an appointed meeting. It helps me to have a physical object to look at while praying! ? Now, a friend comes over every Sunday, and we spend an hour painting and praying. For that time, I can suspend my highly analytic self and focus on the beauty of the time with God.”

It is so easy to get in a rut with our prayer and quiet time or to walk away altogether in seasons of intense distraction at work. Like many, I love the New Year as a time to reset my intentions. Last year, I used a guided practice from Jo Saxton called Hello Goodbye. The process starts with reviewing and reflecting on the past year,? joys and sorrows, highs and lows, frustrations and disappointments, goals and dreams. You take a deep look at how God was and is moving in your life, then release the things God is calling you to let go of and begin to receive what he has for you in the coming year. It was profound for me, and I am eager to do it again in 2024.? ? The visual I created below guided me throughout the year as I sought to trust God more with my time and decisions.

Here is a link to a digital resource, podcast, and online event for Hello Goodbye 2023/2024. ? I cannot recommend this highly enough!

I wish you beautiful moments with God in the year ahead!