Praying in color? (Full Version)

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Consecrated2God -> Praying in color? (8/11/2008 11:57:31 AM)

We received a flyer in the mail the other day advertising a conference teaching people how to "Pray in Color". Apparently, this lady was praying one day and started doodling while she was praying, and felt that her drawing was a prayer. She has now written a book and does conferences and teaches other people how to use her new prayer technique.

Here is a link to her website: Praying in Color

What do you think about this new technique? Is it biblical, or does that matter? Is this a valid technique? Should it be taught to others?

Discuss!



Zhi -> RE: Praying in color? (8/11/2008 1:32:27 PM)

Different people use different techniques to focus.

I can identify with that.

I would say that if it helps her focus in her prayer life, and keeps her mind from wandering all over the place when she wants to concentrate on talking to God, then that's fantastic! If teaching it to others helps other people focus too, also great.

I get some good prayer time in when I'm knitting baby hats and booties for friends at church, etc, who are having babies. I know the pattern so well that I can do it in my sleep, but the movement of my hands helps my mind focus better than just sitting there doing nothing (which usually results in me fidgeting and my mind wandering, because I'm a little fidgety.) I pray for the baby I'm knitting it for, and their family, and other prayer requests I've heard, and just talk to God. I've considered doing it in church to help me focus on the message, but I decided that it might distract others so I haven't so far. I also get some good prayer time in when I'm doing mindless cross-stitching or knitting the reverse side of the cardigan I'm making for my husband (the front side is cabled, so not so much on the front. hehe)

Paul says "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thess 5:17) so I'm kind of wondering if he had the same problem... perhaps he prayed better while sewing tents. ;)



rcjames -> RE: Praying in color? (8/11/2008 1:42:07 PM)

Well I guess I am just an old fuddy duddy, but it seems a little freaky to me.

What ever happened to just conversing with God?

Thanks
RC



Zhi -> RE: Praying in color? (8/11/2008 2:02:15 PM)

Well, just from my own point of view...

Maybe I'm slightly ADHD. But just sitting there, holding a conversation in my mind or even praying out loud, does not go well for me. I start picking at my fingernails, fidgeting with anything in arms reach, and if I try not to do that my mind starts wandering. I can't sit still and watch television or movies or listen to a lecture or sermon either, so it's not so much a prayer thing as just a general problem with my ability to sit still and pay attention to something unless I keep my hands busy, whether knitting or doodling in the margins of my bulletin or notebook or what have you.

I would certainly never say that everyone should be doing something else also while praying. If you are able to sit there and converse with God without fidgeting or having your mind wander all over the place, that's AWESOME!!!! But, for those of us who really cannot sit still, something that helps us focus is wonderful, and finding out that other people have trouble sitting still and praying too is frankly kind of a relief. Especially after years of frustration with "Why can't I just SIT STILL? Why can't I spend hours (or even minutes would be nice) on my knees in silent, unfidgeting prayer like some of the prayer warriors I greatly respect? What's WRONG with me?!"



URForgiven -> RE: Praying in color? (8/11/2008 2:04:53 PM)

If prayer is communicating with God, I should think what He has to say to me may be more important than what I have to say to Him. I may not be able to speak to Him without ceasing, but I can certainly be listening for Him to speak to me without ceasing.

Anything that puts the emphasis on us and what we are doing, instead of God and what He is doing, be it prayer or whatever, is missing the mark.

Peace



Consecrated2God -> RE: Praying in color? (8/11/2008 5:01:40 PM)

For me, I guess if someone wants to doodle while they pray, that's their business. It's the idea of having conferences and workshops to teach people how to do this that seems odd to me, and making a profit off your new technique.



Zhi -> RE: Praying in color? (8/11/2008 5:12:30 PM)

Yeah, I suppose that is a bit odd. Though people write books on how to pray all the time and give seminars and workshops on it and make money off that as well, so I don't know that it's all that unusual.

I really wouldn't call doodling or fidgeting while praying "new" by any stretch. ;)



lw9 -> RE: Praying in color? (8/11/2008 10:04:06 PM)

From the Praying in Color website:

quote:

Praying in Color: Drawing a New Path to God by Sybil MacBeth introduces the active, visual prayer practice the author calls "praying in color." The book provides a little bit of memoir and theology and a lot of how-to. Step-by step instructions in Chapter 3 introduce "praying in color" as a way to do intercessory prayer. Additional chapters explain how the practice can be applied to learning Scripture, keeping Advent and Lent, practicing lectio divina, and praying in other ways.


quote:

The prayer practice Praying in Color was born when her need to invite her body into intercessory prayer intersected with her love of color and doodling.


quote:

1. Draw a shape.
2. Put the name of a person for whom you are praying inside the shape.
3. Add lines, squiggles, and dots.
4. Add color.
5. Think of each stroke of the pen and each daub of color as a moment of prayer.
No words are necessary; no artistic skill is necessary-only a desire and a longing for the presence of God.


Where does the Bible teach that doodling is a type of intercessory prayer and a new path to God? Does adding someone's name to a drawing give the drawing, the person, or the prayer special powers? If so, how is this different from pagan ritual? If not, what's the point?

The Bible teaches us how to pray... in words, no less:

Luke 11:2 He said to them, “When you pray, SAY: “ ‘ Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread... “

James 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

Mk 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

James 5:14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord 15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.

Dan 9:17 “Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servants.

Ps. 32:5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord” – and you forgave the guilt of my sin. 6 Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach Him.

To recap: Sybil MacBeth DOODLES. It's a hobby that she's proclaiming to be a new path to God and an intercessory form of prayer. This new 'path' can be yours for only $15.95. Oh... and she's also available for workshops and retreats, of course.



Neeva_Candida -> RE: Praying in color? (8/11/2008 10:11:32 PM)

Well, I don't know about "praying" in doodles but I use cartooning to help me remember various sermons, special events and the like. I can look back at this pictures and frequently recall a great deal of detail about a particular session.

I have even posted some of them to my website.

I've done this for years.

~Neeva



colliefan -> RE: Praying in color? (8/11/2008 10:28:09 PM)

Haven't read the entire site but I wonder how she connects the mind with the art?



Zhi -> RE: Praying in color? (8/11/2008 10:55:41 PM)

That seems a little out of context. Here's more.

quote:

This prayer practice came to me through my weaknesses: I can't draw; I fumble for words; my mind wanders; I can't sit still. When I "pray in color" I turn my faltering words and my worry over to God. The simple action of moving the pen and coloring on the page keeps my restless body happy and allows me to focus on my prayer. Distractions don't disappear completely, but they're less powerful.


If you look at the actual drawings (under the examples tab) many of the prayers have verses and words associated with them, as well as the name of the person being prayed for. I get no impression that she's saying you should draw INSTEAD OF praying with words, rather, her examples and what she says seems to indicate that she is using drawing to focus what she's praying with words, and to give her the stillness she needs to listen. While I have not read the book, basically all the reviews I've seen from people who tried it talk about how much they were able to focus on what they were praying about while doodling. There's nothing "magical" about it, it's just something to help you focus. There are lots of things people use to focus and in their prayers.

Many people keep prayer journals. Are prayer journals wrong too?

Many people write lists of prayer requests. Is that wrong?

Many people use verses to pray. Is that wrong?

Many people pray silently and don't "say" anything. Is that wrong?

My cousin has been deaf from birth and prays with his hands. Is that wrong?

Romans 8:26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;

The important thing in prayer, as far as I know, is to talk to God. If doodling helps you concentrate on doing that, great. If you don't need to doodle or do something with your hands to do that, also great. But, I think perhaps people who ARE good at "sitting still" to pray don't understand how very difficult that can be for some of us, and how much having something to "focus" helps.



colliefan -> RE: Praying in color? (8/11/2008 11:07:38 PM)

quote:


Many people keep prayer journals. Are prayer journals wrong too?
Many people write lists of prayer requests. Is that wrong?
Many people use verses to pray. Is that wrong?
Many people pray silently and don't "say" anything. Is that wrong?
My cousin has been deaf from birth and prays with his hands. Is that wrong?


None of these are wrong b/c they involve the mind.



Zhi -> RE: Praying in color? (8/11/2008 11:27:51 PM)

quote:

None of these are wrong b/c they involve the mind.

How does doodling while praying not involve the mind? The point, from what the quotes indicate, is to help focus the mind on prayer and on the specific person and request you're praying for, not to be mindless.



Consecrated2God -> RE: Praying in color? (8/12/2008 8:05:32 AM)

I think there are many ways to pray, but some people get so caught up in something and start creating meaning where there isn't any, and then teaching it to other people. Kind of like the people who wave banners during church--nothing wrong with banner waving, but when you start saying that a red banner is for fighting demons and a blue banner is for praising the Lord, etc. (probably not the right colors there, I didn't look it up) it just starts being a stretch.

What in the world does she need to do a whole conference for to teach her technique? Couldn't she just include it on a list of things to try to help your prayer life? I don't see anything wrong with it, but I think the idea can be conveyed in a paragraph.



Zhi -> RE: Praying in color? (8/12/2008 10:40:22 AM)

Yeah, but frankly many Christian how-to books can be summed up in a paragraph. From the various Christian books I've read, I find that usually you get about 1 sentence of help and instruction, and then 3 to 6 pages of related anecdotes for that sentence. If you type "Prayer seminar" into Google you get tons of hits. Some are several days long. The "Praying in Color" seminars seem to be around 3 hours, and most of that time is spent actually praying, as far as I can tell. That doesn't seem all that unusual for a prayer seminar (time wise, actually praying can be kind of unusual. heehee).

Would I go to one of these seminars? Probably not. Do I plan to actually try the "praying in color" technique, or get the book? No, I already know how to doodle and I have my own techniques that aren't doodling. But, I could say the same thing about 90% of the seminars available anyway *shrug*



colliefan -> RE: Praying in color? (8/12/2008 11:38:46 AM)

quote:

How does doodling while praying not involve the mind?


what is the difference between drawing and doodling? One involves the mind and the other is unfocused scribbling.



Zhi -> RE: Praying in color? (8/12/2008 11:44:06 AM)

quote:

what is the difference between drawing and doodling? One involves the mind and the other is unfocused scribbling.

But the point is to keep the hands busy in order to help focus the mind. People like me have to do this anyway, so I guess it's not weird to us... if I don't doodle in church or in my classes or even in meetings at work, I have no clue what it was about because my mind was wandering. My husband says that I "listen TV" instead of watch TV because if I'm not knitting or stitching, I have trouble keeping track of what's going on. When I DO knit or stitch, I can recite back the conversation to him when he doesn't catch something they were talking about. Keeping the hands busy with "mindless" activity helps keep the mind on what you are trying to concentrate on, be that the sermon or the prayer topic you're bringing before God. The point isn't the doodling... it's the fact that for some of us, keeping the hands busy keeps us on topic.



colliefan -> RE: Praying in color? (8/12/2008 12:17:07 PM)

quote:


I have no clue what it was about because my mind was wandering.


the purpose of prayer is to be focused on God and His word



Zhi -> RE: Praying in color? (8/12/2008 2:42:53 PM)

quote:

the purpose of prayer is to be focused on God and His word

Right. And if doing something mindless with my hands helps me keep my mind focused on God and His word... I think that's probably a better thing than to spend all my time trying to keep my mind from wandering off.



Lapidoth -> RE: Praying in color? (8/12/2008 3:09:48 PM)

I looked at the site and examples.

I could call it many things, but prayer isn't one of them.



Zhi -> RE: Praying in color? (8/12/2008 3:29:36 PM)

quote:

I looked at the site and examples.

I could call it many things, but prayer isn't one of them.

The doodles, as far as I understand, are not in and of themselves supposed to be "prayers". The prayers happen as you concentrate on talking to God while doing the doodles, then the resulting doodles are a reminder to pray for the subjects much like prayer lists and prayer journals are.



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