“Creative Ways to Pray” by Anita Kelly: 7 Ways to Pray blog series

Anita offers some wonderfully engaging creative ways to pray. I love how she involves her body in praying and worshipping God, and how she outlines the practice of slowing down to pray with a passage of Scripture through coloring. I hope you’re inspired to try something new.

Being able to go on retreat has really helped me to connect with God on a deeper level, particularly during lockdown. A friend, a member of the Lay Community of St Benedict, leads an annual creative prayer retreat, usually at Worth Abbey. Then lockdown hit, so retreats have moved online instead. These were such a blessing that a monthly online creative prayer group was formed, connecting Christians across the UK and Europe.

Discovering Worship through Sign Language

As a visual learner I’ve found signing songs a powerful way to come closer to God in sung worship, particularly when we were unable to sing in church throughout lockdown. It somehow engages my heart more with God’s and adds another dimension, other than my brain, to worship. I’ve only learned a handful of signs (and sometimes made up my own!) but this kind of worship has helped me through the ups and downs of the lockdown. God moves and blesses us as we use our bodies to express ourselves to Him. Some churches have embraced this signing during worship, some long before lockdown began, and not just in the kids’ songs, making church more accessible to all. We’ve also learned how to sign the Lord’s Prayer and the actions can be more thought-provoking and visually expressive than saying the words alone.

Bible Journalling as a Way to Pray

Art can also be a way to express our prayers to God, drawing out our praises or what we’re thankful for. As Amy touches upon in her chapter in her book, 7 Ways to Pray, on praying with the Bible, creative Bible journaling has also opened up a new way to meditate and pray through illustrated bible verses. As I colour in the different parts of the pictures, God may show me something new about that word or verse, and the colours I choose may be symbolic of what I see, e.g. red for Jesus’ blood poured out or blue to represent the Holy Spirit.

We were sent some icon pictures to colour in at the 2021 online retreat. The one I was drawn to was Rublev’s icon of the Holy Trinity. Whilst staying at a retreat centre, I was unsure where this story came from in the Bible, so looked it up. Having found a relevant book on this icon, I discovered the passage was from Genesis 18:1-15. Abraham greets 3 strangers who visit his tents and invites them to a meal. It mentions the Lord as one of the visitors, but by inference Rublev interprets them as God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit. The way that each one looks out towards the viewer, invites us to take a seat at the table where they sit. As I contemplated this, I imagined myself sitting there with Them, I poured out my heart to Them, as They listened and talked with me. It was a chance to just sit and be in God’s presence, away from the hubbub of life for a while. An opportunity for some Ignatian prayer, too, as I imagined myself in the picture.

Today, is there a new way you can be creative in your prayers? YouTube has some signed worship songs, e.g. God Is my Refuge by Kat Mills. Why not choose one to watch and have a go at signing too as you worship? Or try Bible journaling, listening to God as you colour and contemplate His words? You can look online for a relevant Bible journal picture/ words to colour if you don’t have access to a Bible journal.

Anita Kelly is a mental-health awareness trainer and writing-for-wellbeing facilitator. She lives in North West London and blogs on Christianity and mental-health issues.

She discovered her love of writing whilst completing an MA at Kings College London and is writing her first book, a mental-health memoir. As a creative, she enjoys writing, doodling and going for walks in nature. 

Order 7 Ways to Pray here, including in the US, UK, and Australia. You’ll also find lots of resources for small groups – videos and a leader’s guide – here.