Creative Prayer and Journaling

I've always been a journal keeper. I even have a box in storage of journals. Most I've even written in. I love the potential of a fresh new journal. Especially beautiful leather bound books. But I'm admittedly not consistent and I tend to write more when I'm in a bad mood. I used to resolve every year to write more, then beat myself up when I'd miss large blocks of time. I'd get discouraged about feeling like I needed to fill in the blanks and get too busy for the time I thought it would take. So when I went to mom's group that morning in late January, I had already resolved yet again to restart with journaling. I was also looking for a creative outlet resolving to scrapbook more or do some sort of artsy-fartsy thing.

Enter Anna: guest speaker, fellow prayer group member and soon-to-be friend. What Anna taught us that day changed my life. I'm not trying to be dramatic; I truly believe learning about Creative Prayer was a breakthrough for me. She shared example after example in the bible of God's creativity and beauty. (Genesis 1:1, Psalm 139:13-14, Isaiah 64:8, Psalm 145:9, Ecclesiastes 3:11a just to list a few.) I was trying to calm a baby who needed her morning nap but something about this topic clicked with me and I knew I was the one who needed to hear it. Anna also kept it simple, for me at least. This is from her notes she handed out: 

Where to start:

Prepare your heart. Read Scripture, take some deep breaths, whatever helps you remember that you are entering into God’s presence as you begin to create (rather than just sitting down to draw or make a craft).  It can be helpful to choose a Scripture on which to meditate, especially if you’re not sure where to start.  Ask God to speak to your heart, teach you, and show you who He is and who you are in Him.

Begin your creative prayer session!  It can be helpful to move through some of the kinds of biblical prayer: Adoration, confession, petition, intercession, and thanksgiving.  As you focus on who God is, meditate on your scripture, and express yourself to God, create in parallel with this conversation.

Both of these prayer practices result in a physical product that serves as a reminder of my time with God and what he taught me; it is a reminder of his presence, a reminder of a Scripture, a reminder to pray.

Remember: Don’t be intimidated or hindered by perfectionism! God wants your attention, not your perfection.  It’s about your heart and it’s about God; it’s not about the end product.

God wants my attention! Just like my own children want my attention or when I want theirs. He wants mine. This whole thing just made sense to me.

Then Anna led the group in an exercise of praying in color showing us different ways to intercede on behalf of others by doodling around their names, meditating on scripture or even just drawing with God and letting Him take over. She even talked about times she would do this while coloring with her son. (I thought that might be something I could try, then I realized our son doesn't really sit down to color. But I still liked the idea.)

So I came home and resolved I would try. The first few days were a bit rough but I did it. I'll admit life was kind of in a difficult place when I started all this. I didn't know what to pray for or where to even focus. Mostly I just prayed that God would give us direction. When I borrowed the twistable crayons that Cade doesn't care for, I really started to enjoy my time 'doodling'. I'm a very visual person and there's something appealing about a pretty page. Now I'm hooked! If there's a day that goes by that I don't spend my 15 to 20 minutes in devotion, I feel it. 

For anyone wanting to try, here's what I do:

• Start on a fresh page and only concentrate on filling one page for the day.

• Write the date at the top.

• I've started adding little notes about the day's events. We've had some big events lately so it's fun to see, for example, the day we sold our house.

• Find a verse that speaks to me for the day (or read my daily devotion page from the study I'm doing with Jenny.) A lot of times I use the kLove daily verse.

• Write down the verse and then take the time to make it look pretty. Focus on each word as I trace over it, committing the verse more to memory. (I can't say that I actually memorize them but I can paraphrase quite a bit more now.)

• That all gets me "centered" and ready to pray.

• Draw a sun because sun's are bright, powerful and make me feel good--that symbolizes God for me and is my way of opening up prayer.

• Then depending on my mood or what's on my heart, I'll draw stick figures of people as I pray for them, draw pictures of things like the uhaul as I pray about that, write out words or lists. If I'm not in a particularly good mood, I'll make an effort to write all the things I'm thankful for and remind myself of how I've been blessed. I've learned to be very specific in my prayers. God does amazing things!

• Conclude/wrap up my thoughts and write "Amen" somewhere on the page.

• Go about my day.

I've learned over these few months that I have a better day if I make the effort in the morning. Some days I get interrupted and the page is only half done. I try to come back to it but I don't worry about it if I don't. Even a half page is enough to get my mind focused on my relationship with God and communicating with him throughout the day. I think I've even made a believer out of my husband. Now he'll make sure I get my devotion time because he's seen the power of prayer in our life. (But that might be a story for another post.) And, as I advised a young friend of mine, I don't have to worry about anyone who might read it because what I draw really only has meaning for me.

I highly recommend Creative Prayer and Journaling! Even if you don't consider yourself a 'believer', you can still use it to meditate and call upon the law of attraction or the power of positivity. It's very therapeutic! There's no way I could be going through this crazy move without it.