I hope that you have had a chance to spend special time with the Lord in prayer and reading His Word over the past couple of weeks as we prepared for Holy Week. The Lord has been working in my heart in a very humbling and powerful way over the past few weeks. I decided to use some of the art supplies that my wonderful husband bought me in March to try my own experience of Visual Prayer and I have been so blessed by the experience! He has done some powerful healing in my heart and spirit…it has been so amazing. Every brush stroke…every stroke with the pastels poured from my heart as I prayed in this special way after reading the Gospel of John.
If you missed my last article about Visual prayer in Drawing Closer to our Savior Part I I encourage you to read it.
Visual Prayer is a way to connect to God through our natural desire to create. By combining several artistic values that may overlap each other including (but not limited to) scrapbooking, painting, drawing, doodling, and countless other visual and kinetic art techniques, we are able to commune with God in silence through creation. Visual Prayer offers tangible comfort and peace in our sometimes intangible faith. ~ Michelle Pendergrass
The important thing to realize is that I am not an artist. I just prayed and poured my heart out to the Lord as I drew and painted and in the process I felt the Lord’s quiet voice comforting and touching my heart. I shed many healing tears and I will treasure my visual prayers…after completing each of them I came away with a sense of being refreshed and a burden being lifted.
I feel very vulnerable as I open my heart and share these very personal visual prayers with all of you, tonight. I have a lot to learn about artistic technique but I realized more and more as I prayed while creating that it isn’t about technique…it is about communing with our Savior in a very personal and tangible way.
Here is my very first Visual prayer from the past couple of weeks.
I call it God Calling. As I prayed I felt the Lord calling me to step out of my hesitancy, fear, feelings of inadequacy and allow Him to work boldly through me. As I drew a burning bush formed before my eyes…my interpretation of one that is. I knew in that time that I needed to remember that it is in and through my weaknesses that the Lord can and does work so powerfully. It is sharing what He is doing and how He is healing and transforming my life that He is given the glory.
As I prayed my passion to share my deep love for God and how His amazing Grace has changed and continues to change and impact my life grew! I realized that His passion for me and for each one of you cannot be quenched and leave the bush alive just as His purifying and cleansing work in me leaves me filled with new life…His new life and never burns out.
Over this past week during Holy week…
This one is called the power of the Cross.
This one is called the King of Kings.
This week I kept being drawn back into the powerful contrast between Jesus triumphant entry into Jerusalem that we celebrated on Palm Sunday and His being “crowned” with a “crown of thorns” as we remember His being put to death on Good Friday.
I am struck by how what appeared to be a time of great weakness and helplessness to those who watched Jesus walk to Calvary and as He hung on the cross was actually the time when He was completing His most powerful and holy act of all…taking our punishment…making the ultimate sacrifice…living out His great gift of transforming Grace! I am in awe at this thought…and my heart surrendered even more!
I am so grateful for such a humbling, beautiful, and creative time of praying. God’s transforming work has been an amazing experience for me during Lent this year and especially during this holiest of weeks.
My heart is filled with joy at the anticipation of celebrating His Resurrection with my family tomorrow, Resurrection Sunday! I am so glad that even in the midst of a very hectic schedule that I committed to setting aside these special times of Visual prayer in my Lenten preparation for Easter.
I would love to hear about some of the ways you prepared for our celebration of Christ’s resurrection celebration! Did you spend extra time in His Word over the last few weeks? Did you sacrifice something in order to help you focus on Him more in your life? Please share!
And may we always remember that we have the amazing blessing of being able to celebrate the awe of the incredible price He paid in order that He may offer each one of us His very powerful and personal gift of salvation. Let’s not forget to share that gift with people we meet or special people in our lives every day of the year.
5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” Matthew 28:5-7 NIV
Let’s take some time to commune and draw closer to our Savior as we celebrate His resurrection this weekend!
Happy Resurrection Sunday, friends!!!
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Worshiping our Savior,
Mary Joy
