A blank canvas

It can be a bit intimidating to get started. That may be true in whatever it is that you’re doing, but especially if you’re creating art. That blank canvas… So much possibility.

Possibility — or pressure?

Depends on why you’re creating it, I suppose. If someone hired you to do a masterpiece, if you had a large commission depending on your success, or if people are actively watching you — yeah, that can be intimidating. If you have to complete something specific and you have exactly one canvas, or a limited amount of paints, I suppose that could cause some trepidation.

Lucky for you — and for me — this blog is one place where the pressure is off. You are not here to perform or to achieve. Just to do. If you want to paint something, be my guest. But I’m really here to talk about prayer. It’s amazing the similarities between prayer and art.

During the next several months as I prepare my book (The Art of Praying Upside Down) for publication, I’ll be exploring countless other connections between prayer and art, hoping you’re willing to walk beside me as we search for more of God, for deeper intimacy in prayer, and for individual ways to strengthen our prayer lives. See, I too am staring at a mostly blank canvas right now.

Your prayer style will likely be very different than mine. That’s what makes art interesting, too — the individual styles, the variety, the differences. I’m excited to see what each of us will create. One thing is certain: we will get God’s attention. He’s waiting, as anxiously as we are, to see what we can make together.

Because the possibilities are endless.