This is a fun and creative - and surprisingly profound - look at praying for other people in a different way. The author, a right-brained (math teacher), finds a way to express prayer in left-brained (doodling) activity. I loved it.

It's an easy read; I started it waiting for my bus to arrive and finished it before the bus commute was over. I found that I highlighted and made a lot more notes than I expected to, and the book spun off some other ideas about creative forms of prayer expression.

This would be a great one for people who are just bored or stuck with rote prayer, but who want to find a way to pray simply and effectively. ( )

Praying in Color; Drawing a New Path to God. Sybil MacBeth. 2007. How could I resist a book with this title? The author is the wife of an Episcopal priest and a math instructor who encourages you to pray while you draw items or copy Bible verses, prayers and quotations that remind you of people you want to pray for. She maintains this helps you remember what or who you want to pray for all during the day. She is encouraging and laid back and maintains anyone can do this. I am intrigued, and will try it. I am especially interested in her section on “Praying with the Scriptures using Lectio Divina,” as there is always a section of scripture in Magnifcat for Lectio Divina. ( )

Focusing mostly on intercessory prayer, Sybil MacBeth helps us 'Right Brain' people stay engaged in prayer through drawing our prayers (drawing a shape with the person's name in and continue to decorate their name, focusing on praying for the person as you draw). In the end, you have a visual representation of your prayer which continues to call you to prayer for that person (or people)

Of course she doesn't restrict herself to intercessory prayer. Macbeth also uses this technique to explore the meaning of concepts, ideas, complaints and scriptural meditation.

As I am giving a 'book like this' a positive review, I figure a few friends may call me out on it, because I tend to be critical of 'prayer methods' and 'prayer technique' books. This book is pretty focused on exploring a particular prayer 'technique' and it is possible to take the Macbeth's exercises, empty them of relating to God and treat them simply as something cathartic. Such a technique may still feel beneficial and meaningful, but it wouldn't truly be prayer. However using a device like this to focus your energy on prayer, doing something kinetic to connect yourself with God (even doodling!) can be really helpful. I plan to try out some of the exercises Macbeth suggests. I think the strength of this book is that it takes something that people do anyway (I'm a compulsive doodler) and recasts it as prayer.
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This was a fun book and brought new life into my intercessory prayers. I highly recommend. ( )