While most of the activities in this book focus on quieter, often internal, ways of engaging with God (reading, writing, speaking, listening, etc.), there can also be great value in incorporating more creative or interactive aspects into our time with God. This acknowledges and lives in the reality that God made us creative, dynamic people, and there is good precedent for these types of activities in God’s Word. We see examples in God’s Word of people singing, dancing, writing poetry, using their posture to express the emotions of their hearts, creating art, playing instruments, erecting monuments, and more. If we are not used to engaging our more creative or active side with God, this may be an area to intentionally stretch ourselves in. We may find benefits and fruit in areas we didn’t expect.
Don’t let your level of artistic, musical, or physical ability be a barrier to engaging with these possibilities. God does not value our worship or offering based on the quality of the art, but based on the heart of the artist. Remember our goal — full engagement with God. As a father, I am overjoyed each time my 6-year-old son brings me something he made to express his love. And God is a far better Father than I am.
The different activities below all have the same essential purpose — to dwell on God’s Word and take the responses of our hearts and minds and bring them back to God through creative or interactive means. Remember, the Psalms encourage us to bring all emotions back to God in prayer, whether they are positive or negative. The Scripture shows a huge range of examples of God’s people coming to God with sadness, joy, anger, praise, frustration, thanks, hope, despair, fear, confidence, doubt, and more. Don’t be afraid to humbly bring very difficult feelings and situations to God.
While I am recommending the Psalms as a good place to start for this activity (they express a wide range of emotions and use a variety of pictures and metaphors), these activities could also be done using other passages of Scripture, or to express personal prayers not connected with a specific passage of Scripture.
Step 1 — Connect with God’s Word
Choose a psalm that mirrors the feelings of your own heart, or choose one that you long to live more fully in light of. The Praying the Psalms activity has a list of possible psalms to start from.
Spend some time dwelling on the psalm. You can use one of the meditation activities, or just follow the simple pattern below:
1. Silence — be still that your mind and heart would be prepared to hear from God.
2. Read — read the passage slowly a few times.
3. Meditate — dwell on what you have read, engaging your heart and mind, talking with God about how the passage impacts you.
4. Silence — be still for a few moments and let God’s Word finish speaking.
In this time, pay attention to how God’s Word engages your heart. What emotions are there? Also, are there any images, metaphors, or themes that you want to dwell on further or talk with God about?
Step 2 — Interacting with God
Based on your response to God’s Word, choose one of the following possibilities that feels appropriate. The goal of all these activities is to give opportunity to dwell on, interact with, and creatively express the responses, images, themes, and metaphors that stir your heart. Your feelings may be positive or negative, and that is okay.
Colors and Shapes
This activity can be very helpful for trying to interact with and express emotions or more abstract themes.
Materials needed:
- different colors of paper
- scissors
- glue/tape
- pen/pencil
- OR
- different colors of clay
Choose a few (3 to 6) ideas, feelings, or themes that strike you.
For each one:
- choose a different color to represent it
- cut out a shape from that color that represents the idea/feeling. It can be small or large, one shape or many. Clay can also be used instead of paper to make these shapes.
Arrange the shapes on a blank piece of paper, how do they relate to one another? How can you represent that? Once you are satisfied, glue or tape them in place (if you are using paper).
Using Art Supplies
This activity is pretty versatile, but may be especially helpful for interacting with images or metaphors from the Word or from your own life.
Materials needed—any art supplies you would like to use, such as:
- paints and brushes
- colored pencils
- markers
- drawing pencils
- photos, scissors, and tape/glue for creating a collage
- chalk
Take some time to try to express the central images or metaphors through the materials you have. Think about how you can try to capture the emotional tone as well as the ideas. Is there anything surrounding the core images or themes? How do the pieces of the picture relate to one another? Remember, don’t be too concerned about whether your picture looks as nice as you might like it to.
Writing Songs or Poems
Songs and poems can be used to engage with a wide variety of feelings, themes, and images whether concrete or abstract.
A few suggestions when writing a song or poem:
- For writing a song, it may be easier to choose a melody from a song you know and simply change the words. Choose a song melody that captures the right tone, matching the feelings you want to express.
- Are there a series of ideas or feelings that you want to express in individual verses? Making a list might be helpful.
- Is there a core idea, feeling, or theme that you want to repeat in a refrain/chorus?
Step 3 — Offering Our Work to God
Take some time to linger here. How does your work/picture/poem strike you? Take some time to talk to God about it. Depending on your choice of activity, it may be helpful to write out the pieces of your prayer as a part of your picture.
Close with a few moments of stillness, resting in God.
If helpful, you can journal about your time interacting with God and His Word.