Use Prayer Objects to Boost Your Prayer Life

The National Day of Prayer was established to remind us to pray—primarily for our nation, but also as a reminder to participate in the most vital of spiritual practices. I was lamenting my shameful prayer life to my friend, Paul Franklyn, and he gave me advice that spurred me to get my prayer life on track. Paul reminded me that if I truly want a relationship with God, like any relationship, we must talk to each other.

So, I was ready to pray; but when I would start, frankly, I found myself drifting . . . at a loss for words. I realized I needed an object, something to help me concentrate and focus. There are many tools out there to help bring focus: labyrinths, stones, calligraphy, illumination, sand gardens . . . the list goes on, and these objects have been used throughout the history of Christianity.

To be clear, these objects are not intended to replace prayer, or to be used as some folk- or fairytale “charm,” but rather as reminders, anchors, and tactile-learner tools to help us arrive and remain in a prayerful state—an outer manifestation of inner spiritual life.

 

Stones and Labyrinths

For example, many of my friends use prayer stones; they’re easy to carry or display in a special place. More than just a reminder to pray, they also serve as a reminder of the clay we came from, and the rock that God is for us.

I often see labyrinths on a desk or in a special place in a home. Often are mistaken for mazes, labyrinths have only one way in; mazes, on the other hand, are intended to trick with wrong ways and dead ends. In a labyrinth, though you may seem to be lost, you never are. Labyrinths are very powerful reminders of God’s grace; the tactile sensation of the journey inside steadies us for prayer, and the center of the labyrinth is intended for just that.

On my wall, tucked away where only I can see it, hangs a plaque of a prayer very special to me. When I have a tough phone call, a rough conversation or just a bad day—I can see it. I pray for myself, but it also reminds me to pray for others. Especially for their forgiveness if I have been too tough or unreasonable. It is a reminder to do better next time.

 

Beads
But my own preference, in terms of regular prayer? I use prayer beads on a regular basis. Though we often associate beads with the Roman Catholic rosary, the practice of praying with beads is found in every religion and goes back millennia. I use traditional Protestant (sometimes called Anglican) beads:

• Thirty-three beads (often said to be the years Christ lived) divided into . . .
  • Four sets of weeks (seven beads each, as seven is often a Christian sign of perfection or completion) separated by . . .
  • Four cruciform beads (that remind us of the cross) and you start with . . .
  • One invitatory bead that completes the circle.

I adapt favorite prayers to the template, and keep them in a journal to help me ‘move through’ the beads. The beauty, feel, and repetition of the beads help calm and immerse me in my prayers. They are portable, so I take them with me everywhere. I have sets stashed in purses, drawers, and pockets—always there when I need them.

So, this April 5^th, please pray for our nation and the world, but don’t stop there. Take the reminder to renew, deepen, or even start a regular prayer practice. If you are not sure how to start the conversation, consider searching for a prayer object, a prayer spot, or some other reminder that will help you arrive at that point.

Mary McCarthy is the Executive Director of Merchandising at Cokesbury, selecting many of the books and all of the gift items we offer. 2016 marks Mary’s 40^th anniversary in the book business. Trinity Episcopal (Russellville, Kentucky) is her Church home.

Sacred Edges: The Joy of Colorful Margins

My book, Writing in the Margins, began with a prayer.

After the death of Rich Gordon, his family entrusted me with his Bible. I quickly learned he was a margin writer.

For years I thought about the notes and prayers he had written into scripture. I began to wonder how this scriptural discipline he loved and was shaped by might be shared with others so they could learn from him as well.

When I started researching to discover more about margin writing, there were plenty of examples of medieval illuminated manuscripts. As I poured through images on the Internet, there were a few examples of notes and prayers people had written into their Bibles. But it was rare to find any color. One young teen drew rainbows and birds into the Psalms. Another mom posted a photo of her toddler’s pink crayon scribbled into the mom’s devotional Bible. A precious mark for sure.

Now when you Google “writing in the margins of your Bible” you will discover an array of words, colors, prayers, images, artwork, paint, joy. You’ll find journalers, scrapbookers and margin writers who have discovered how the Holy Spirit can meet them in a creative process in the margins of their Bibles. Something has happened!

When I wrote over five years ago, “The invitation of this book is, at its simplest, to pick up a pen and write in the blank spaces of your Bible,” I never could have imagined the growth and power this movement would have. I could never have imagined that writing in the margins of our Bibles would meet the scrapbooking world. I could never have imagined that now, in 2016, five of the top twenty bestsellers on Amazon are adult coloring books. This “scriptural” discipline of taking pen, marker, and/or paint to the margin of scripture is creating places of joy, creativity, and identity in people’s daily lives.

These practices are first and foremost solitary. An individual sits quietly and creatively in the presence of God to let the scripture speak to them and then guide their hand.  However, what we have learned is that these practices also shape community. Whether the community is a Bible study, or a small group meeting at a local scrapbooking store, the large “Journaling Bible Community” on Facebook, or a smaller regional group like “DC Metro Bible Journaling” group, individuals are gathering in deepened community to learn, share, reflect, pray, and grow.

Connie Denninger, a creative faith coach, who has studied church and community leadership, recognizes this opportunity. She enjoys networking with women across the country through social media to deploy them to be digital missionaries, creating small networks of Bible journalers. These creative havens provide a space for sharing information about the practice, discovering formation through the practice, and living into transformation by way of the scriptural practices. Connie says this practice of margin writing provides a way to be “re-arranged.” She explains further, “Bible journaling and margin writing are a place for spiritual transformation where God at work in our lives can move all sorts of pieces around all at once.” We become shaped by the word. I appreciate how Connie moves us from the individual practice to community fellowship and then takes us a step further to ministry. Folks equipped in the practice of margin writing can then serve their church, neighborhood and community ministries teaching others the practice and finding joy in so doing. At a recent Bible journaling retreat, Connie worked with a woman who had been estranged from both the church and from spiritual practices.  After being turned loose in scripture to journal and draw and create, the woman said to Connie as the retreat came to a close, “Do you feel the ice melting around my heart?”

When I started exploring Bible margins a few years ago, I prayed that the margins of Rich Gordon’s Bible might inspire and encourage others to continue the practice. I never could have imagined the transformation that would occur as margin writing, social media, scrapbooking and the adult coloring book craze ignited new practices of scriptural disciplines. My hope is that more hearts melt and discover as the ice cracks creative faith, color-filled hope and illuminated love.

 

Lisa Nichols Hickman is a pastor at New Wilmington Presbyterian Church, author of Writing in the Margins: Connecting with God on the Pages of Your Bible and adjunct teacher at Westminster College in the Religion Department. She writes regularly for Faith and Leadership online magazine as well as its “Call and Response” blog. Recent articles appear in The Huffington Post, in The New Castle News and in The Pittsburgh Post Gazette. She lives in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania.

God Answers Prayer! Who Knew?

 

I’ll never forget my friend, Leesa, plopping herself down beside me on the church pew the Sunday morning after I had shared my structured prayer journal with her. Along with a bright smile, she flashed me a view of one of her pages, and said, “God answers prayer! Who knew?”  We both laughed in agreement because her sentiment is no doubt shared by many.

Until I began structured prayer journaling, I thought the same thing. Oh, I would have never admitted that to anyone, but, truly I was unsure. Even if He did answer prayers, I was certain of this—the answer was often No. I don’t believe that I am alone in this thought. Just look up the antonyms for prayer on Thesaurus.com and see the word answer listed. Had I felt He was a God of Yes, I am sure I would have noticed this, and been much more inclined to confidently state that God did indeed answer my prayers. However, this had not been my experience, or so I thought.

It was Albert Einstein who said, “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?” The point is that I really had nothing to show for my prayer life. Of course, I was randomly pitching things up to God, and in return felt that I was getting nothing back. My prayer life was random, which yielded me little.

In 2001, God changed all of that. Either He felt I had had enough or maybe He had from my pitiful prayer practices. In a matter of just a few short weeks I began to feel strongly that I should create a worksheet with ten compartments for recording short prayer prompts to aid my prayer life.  I also added scripture to pray along with my entries. Once it was complete, I was on my way to a personal prayer revival that immediately taught me three things.

The first thing I realized was that prayer journaling brings things from the spiritual realm into my visual presence where I can physically see the hand of God moving in my prayer life. And if He is moving in my prayer life then that means that he is moving in my life. That was a revelation.  Think about how many times God instructs people of faith to “write this down.”  The things I am experiencing spiritually are not apparent to others. I can speak about them; yet, only few will hear, and more than likely forget, including myself over time. But, if I write something down, I can view it over and over.

Viewing my conversations with God brings permanence and clarity like nothing else.

Secondly, I have received a surprising bonus—the blessing of realizing that God says Yes more than He says No. Feel free to test Him in this. Within my first week of structured prayer journaling, I was ashamedly surprised that I was able to record answers to my prayers. The number of Yeses delighted my soul. From this, the words or Psalm 56:9 became my new reality.

“Then my enemies will turn back when I call for help. By this I will know that God is for me.”

God is for me. I can now see this, and even when an answer is No. On more than one occasion can I refer back to a No that has since turned into a Yes. Additionally, I do believe that becoming a student of my prayer life through the continual examination of my structured prayer journal has helped me pray with right motives.

Lastly, an organized and structured prayer life is a productive prayer life. When I became the director of women’s ministry of my church, I quickly learned that participation can be increased with organization and structure. As church leaders, we are mistaken to believe that people do not want to live missionally. The culprit is crazy-busy lives. By and large, if God’s people are left to themselves to step out and do, they often won’t. That is why the spiritual gifts of leadership and administration are important to a church. Once structure and organization are in place, believers can accomplish both mission and ministry projects together.

Prayer is much the same way. My disorganized, random attempts at prayer were not only one-sided, but they were also unable to demonstrate my Heavenly Father’s love and wisdom. By recording, updating and detailing His movement, my organization honored God’s participation in my life.

I cannot imagine my prayer life without structured prayer journaling. I literally would not be able to spiritually see what God is doing. The Prayer Closet Organizer, which is housed inside Organizing Your Prayer Closet, neatly brings things from the spiritual realm in our visual presence, faithfully showcases God’s wisdom and readily keeps our minds clear for prayer.

God does indeed answer prayer, and everyone can experience His goodness.

 

Gina Duke, author of Organizing Your Prayer Closet, is a direct, point-on speaker and Bible teacher. With educational degrees in Organizational Leadership and Ministry, as well as fifteen years of leading women’s conferences, Gina provides a combination of expertise for uncluttering the busy Christian’s life. She is the director of Women’s Ministry at her church, hosts a short radio segment called “A Moment of Clarity,” and frequently hosts prayer journaling workshops. She and her family live in Portland, Tennessee.