Prayer Tip--God’s Delight in and Care for Animals
Daily Scripture
Genesis 1:20-25 (CEB)
God said, “Let the waters swarm with living things, and let birds fly above the earth up in the dome of the sky.” God created the great sea animals and all the tiny living things that swarm in the waters, each according to its kind, and all the winged birds, each according to its kind. God saw how good it was. Then God blessed them: “Be fertile and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” There was evening and there was morning: the fifth day. God said, “Let the earth produce every kind of living thing: livestock, crawling things, and wildlife.” And that’s what happened. God made every kind of wildlife, every kind of livestock, and every kind of creature that crawls on the ground. God saw how good it was.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
Big numbers are hard for humans to comprehend. We tend to not be very impressed with a little number like 1,000, but have you ever tried to count to 1,000 in one sitting? According to those who’ve done it, it takes between ten and twenty-five minutes. If that doesn’t impress you, try counting to 10,000. One YouTuber finished in around three hours and twenty-five minutes! 100,000? Over forty hours!
Look up at the night sky. Some astronomers estimate that there are 6,000 visible stars in the sky on any given night. Those are the ones we can see with the naked eye. The astronomers estimate that there are 200 trillion billion stars in the universe! That’s 200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000! Don’t try counting to that number–you don’t have enough time left no matter how young you are!
This gives us another set of numbers to think about: how many people are alive on the Earth right now? Almost 8.1 billion people. How many people are in the United States of America? Over 336 million! Zoom in again all the way down to just one human being on this planet, who is currently reading Resurrection’s GPS: you! How does that make you feel?
Tiny? Humbled? Insignificant? Overwhelmed?
Hold that feeling for a moment and then remember that the God who created all that life and beauty sees you. Not only does this amazing God see you, but this God knows you. Loves you. Invites you to be a part of this God’s family and to join in this God’s work on the earth.
How does it feel to be known by the Creator of this breathtaking universe?
Take some time today to thank God for seeing, knowing, loving, and inviting you. Do your best to make yourself as small as possible before God as you pray: bow, kneel, or lay face down as you are able. Let your gratitude flow in praise and adoration from your heart and, if necessary, from your mouth.
Prayer
Awesome God, the Bible writers never heard the words “light years,” or the number word “trillion.” Yet they marveled at your world, at a vastness we are still discovering. And they marveled, as I do, that creating and ruling all that, you nevertheless love ME! Thank you, and I want to love you in return. Amen.
GPS Insights
David Andersen
David Andersen, who serves as the Leadership Development and Mentoring Ministry Program Director for all Resurrection locations, wrote this week's prayer tip. He is a life-long Kansas City native. He’s been married over 30 years and has two adult sons. He loves composing music, learning new things, writing, running, and creating spaces where people can encounter God.
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Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
(All numbers used in this prayer tip are estimates found through Internet searches. None of them are intended to be exact–except that you are one individual, and God loves you!)
