Prayer Paradox

Posted by laurieetta on April 2, 2020 in Being Human | Leave a comment

Prayer is a paradox, I think, because it is easy to do (just talk to God) yet it is also complicated, nuanced and deep. That is probably why so there are so many books and Bible studies on prayer. Mark Batterson, who wrote a book about prayer called, “Draw the Circle,” talks about this prayer paradox, saying, “Sometimes prayer is a casual conversation with God. It’s like two friends catching up over coffee. But sometimes prayer involves intense intercession, as it was for Jesus praying in Gethsemane on the eve of his crucifixion.” (pg. 29)

Even the disciples needed some direction about prayer and asked Jesus to teach them, which resulted in the Lord’s Prayer, the subject of the painting for today. I found this beautiful piece of artwork while surfing the web. It is an acrylic, which gives it a brilliant, strong color palette. The artist is Jen Norton and I encourage you to take a look at her artist’s statement found here. It is a powerful story of how art has helped her find her purpose and, more importantly, share her purpose with others. She says, “I don’t make art because I’ve been endowed with some divine knowledge that I must bestow on humanity. I create in order to figure out my own truths and story. I create to understand. I choose beauty over fear. Somewhere in the telling and making and sharing, a purpose has begun to emerge, and that makes all the difference.”

Being Human connection: In these unusual times, may you find yourself able to choose beauty over fear; to be able to count your blessings in the midst of bad news. And above all, may you find comfort in prayer. “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” -Romans 8:26

Featured art: Jen Norton, “Our Father,” 2014. https://www.jennortonartstudio.com/ Used with permission.