Some people find cemeteries depressing. Others find them interesting, even inspiring. But did you know a cemetery can be a rewarding place to pray?
Near my Ohio home are several beautiful cemeteries, some of the loveliest in the country. One of them, Spring Grove Cemetery, encompasses more than 700 acres, most of which are so beautifully landscaped and maintained that the cemetery is frequently studied by horticulturalists and cemetery planners from around the world.
Such a sylvan setting makes an ideal backdrop for a prayer walk or period of meditation, not only because of its beauty but also because the surroundings suggest and focus prayer in unique ways. For example:
1) Pray for grieving friends and family.
When you see a fresh grave, take a moment to pray for the family and friends whose loved one has been so recently buried. The sight can even prompt memories of those among your friends and family whose recent departure from this life is still felt and grieved.
2) Pray for loved ones whose lives may be ending.
Let the proximity of life’s end suggested by tombs and tombstones prompt prayer for the terminally ill and the aged who may be about to cross the bar, to use Tennyson’s image.
3) Pray for yourself, to make the most of your remaining days.
Being among graves and tombs reminds us that our lives “are like a breath of air; [our] days are like a passing shadow” (Psalm 144:4, NLT). So there may be no better place to give thanks for your life and also pray for the time you have left, that it will be plentiful and productive.
4) Pray metaphorically.
Ezekiel 37 records the prophet’s vision in a cemetery of sorts—a valley of dry bones. There, God used that sight to deliver the message, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live” (Ezekiel 37:12-14, NLT). Similarly, a cemetery can stimulate prayer for revival and renewal, restoration and resurrection—of a church, business, family, marriage, nation, etc.
5) Give thanks for the promise of resurrection.
Give thanks that even in the midst of death, followers of Jesus need not “grieve like people who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). Give thanks for Jesus’ promise: “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying” (John 11:25, NLT). Give thanks for “the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory,” even as we “long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering” (Romans 8:23, NLT).
Whether you pass a cemetery on your morning jog, linger there after a committal service or intentionally go there to enjoy the scenic setting, you can, by prayer, turn an otherwise gloomy reminder of death into beautiful moments of prayer and meditation.
