Praying with Art Part 2

 

PRAYER SERIES.

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PRAYING WITH ART PART 2

Do you ever feel dry in prayer, stopped praying, would like to explore a different way to pray?

Throughout this series I would like to present some different ways to pray.  Many of them you will have heard of before, some of them you have already tried but might like to revisit and others may provide a different way into prayer.

In a previous part Praying with Art part 1 I introduced you to this type of prayer based on my own experience.   I would recommend that you read this post before reading this post.

In today’s post I would like to share with you further   I was introduced to this type of prayer last year, so I want to say that I am no expert.  I am sharing my own experience from this type of prayer from the course.  It is definitely worth exploring as another tool in the prayer tool box.

FROM MY EXPERIENCE WITH PRAYING WITH ART.

Process:

1.    Relaxing of body, mind and spirit.  A guided relaxation of body, mind and spirit is important as it invites us to prepare for communion with God.  It helps let go of stress and tension and sets a relaxed slowing down of body mind and spirit. We can do this ourselves and/or use a guided relaxation already recorded of approximately 5-10 minutes.  This relaxation process should be in proportion to the time allocated.  For example, if you have set aside 15 minutes then a 10-minute relaxation exercise is too long, whereas a 5 minute one would be better.    If however you set aside 30 minutes for Praying with Art, then a 10 minute relaxation exercise as preparation would be great balance. In the end, it depends solely on you and your needs.

2.    Praying with Art using guided reflection questions.

Questions that you may wish to consider include:

1. Where does your eye first focus when you look at the picture? Then where does it travel to take in the whole painting?
2. How many colours do you see? Is there a particular colour which attracts your attention?
3.  Would you consider this a bright or a dark picture? • Are there any figures in the picture? Are you drawn to one in particular?
4.  Is there movement in the painting, or is it static?
5. Imagine yourself in the picture – become different figures or parts of it and see where you feel most comfortable.
6. You may want to compose a story around it – what has happened? What is happening? What do you imagine may happen? • Give the picture a different title or a ‘feeling’ name (such as ‘joy’, ‘anger’, ‘peace’, ‘hurt’)
7.  Does a piece of Scripture or a poem come to mind?
8. Stay with the painting and speak to the Lord about how it affects you and its significance for your life.
9. Feel free to allow the Holy Spirit to communicate other reflection questions and allow yourself to go where the Holy Spirit take you.  It is your time with God and the art is a medium in which to pray.

 

 

SUGGESTED ACTION PLAN FOR THIS WEEK.

 

1.      Choose an image/photo or art work either religious and secular.  Some people who use this process of praying using Art,  use the same image for a few days/week whilst others prefer to use a different image each time.  It is a personal choice.  Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you on the choice of religious or secular painting and whether you use it for a length of time on an ongoing basis or change.. 
2. .  . Take 5-10 minutes to relax your body and release stress from body/mind and spirit to prepare for your time with Jesus.
3.     Then spend time with the image and allow Jesus to speak to you through it.   

 

From my own experience, it is worth exploring this type of prayer as another means of praying.  If you are not used to this type of prayer or being quiet in His presence, many distractions can enter our mind even when some of them are valid and important. If you are able to let them pass in your mind without giving them due attention, then these distractions become less.  I find if I thank the distraction and let it know the matter will be attended to at a certain time, it goes away quickly.  It may sound strange but it works for me.

Another ideal way of dealing with distractions during prayer is to have a pen/paper handy coming into your praying with art time.  Should distractions/reminders arise in your mind, make a short note and bring yourself back to the art and more importantly to communing with Jesus. I like to thank the Holy Spirit for this reminder and by doing this, it becomes part of the prayer time too. 

The key to Praying with Art is to remember to pray and being in God’s presence for the time allocated.  The art is there as a medium to commune with God.  It is not meant to be a analysis of the art work itself as an art student or art critic may employ. Obviously, we will notice colour, texture, movement, subject but these are a means to allowing our thoughts to connect with God and what these thoughts mean for us in that time of Prayer. Praying with Art is entering into God's presence and allowing God to speak to us on a very personal level.