7. Colour In Your Prayers

One way that Christians sometimes use the Bible in praying is to focus on a short passage and just stay with it for quite a long time. Sometimes people say that reading a passage once, or twice, is just words. But read it three or four times, and suddenly something about it might jump out at you, or you hear it differently.

I have been thinking about how we can do this in a way that isn't just reading words on a page, and someone on Facebook (thanks Rosalind Rutherford!) said a teenager in her church had enjoyed using a special meditative colouring book (from the Lindisfarne Scriptorium) as a way to think and pray.

That book has to be ordered online, but there are several similar activities that you can try for free.
Have a look, and see which catch your eye, then print one of them off and have a go.

There are various options.
1. The first idea is to have a colour-in version of a short Bible passage. As you are colouring in the words and images, you will be able to think about them for quite a long time. And the fact that you are concentrating on colouring in means you won't be too focused on the words: your conscious mind will be occupied, leaving your subconscious to meditate on the passage without thinking about it too much. The best I have seen are at Flame Creativekids ; scroll down and choose one, print it out and get colouring!

2. Secondly, you could of course make your own. If you enjoy art, try choosing a passage - maybe one of the ones you've seen elsewhere on this site, or one you find by flicking through a Bible, or one you remember from somewhere else or from church this week perhaps. Enjoy deciding the best way to lay it out on the page, what style of writing fits it best, how you might illustrate it. Use the whole page, decorate every centimetre, take at least half an hour and make it as beautiful or dramatic as you can.

3. Another way of engaging with a Bible passage in this way, particularly if you prefer more specific questions or don't like colouring in much, is to try a Cartoon Church cartoon worksheet. Again, there are several different ones available on that link, scroll down and choose one you think looks interesting.

6b. Review of bedroom door prayers

I made two Post-It notes for my door. As I came in I had 'God be in this place', and going out I had 'God be with me wherever I go'. I read them each time I passed, though the sticky notes fell off the door after two days! But by that time it came naturally to keep saying it each time I went through the door. The effect wasn't very noticeable though.  I preferred the activities like the Lego where you interacted with something else. Just saying something was not as powerful. It did make me think about God though, not every time I walked in but quite often. When I went to bed, for example, I found I usually said a prayer because it had reminded me to.

Ease of use: 10
Effectiveness: 2.5