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Grief AND thankfulness: How to pray for people we love

Lynne Baab • Friday January 24 2020

Let’s imagine you have a friend whose beloved mother just died. Your friend is really grateful for the medical care her mom got in her last months of life, and your friend is also grieving deeply. She wonders how long she’s going to feel this bad, and also wonders if maybe she should try to hurry the grief along faster.

Or maybe you have a friend or family member who just lost a job, suffered a major career setback, has a new major health issue, or had a big argument with a significant family member. How can you pray for friends and...

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Creative Prayer: The basic practice of the kingdom of God

Lynne Baab • Thursday August 29 2019

As Christians who receive the kingdom of God, try to live in it, and long for more of it, we engage in a lot of different spiritual practices, ways of drawing near to the God of the kingdom. If someone asked you which spiritual practice is most central to God’s kingdom, how would you reply? In a recent sermon at my church, the preacher identified prayer as the basic practice of the kingdom of God.

The preacher was Rev Dr Mike Langford, Associate Professor of Theology, Discipleship and Ministry at Seattle Pacific University. Mike gave four ways that prayer images God’s kingdom,...

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Creative prayer with colors

Lynne Baab • Friday August 23 2019

Imagine you have just arrived at a church prayer meeting. The leader gives you a slip of paper and asks you to write down five things you are grateful for and five concerns you want to bring to God in prayer.

Then the leader shows you a box of pieces of fabric. All of the pieces are solid colors, and just about every color is represented. You can see different tones and shades of each color, too, bright yellow as well as pale yellow and gold. On a table the leader shows you pieces of paper and felt tip pens of various...

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Creative prayer: The Psalms and music

Lynne Baab • Thursday August 15 2019

The Psalms have often been called the prayer book of the Bible. They help us pray even when we don’t feel like it, and they teach us to pray in new ways. They bring us into God’s presence in whatever mood we’re feeling. They are honest, vivid and sometimes raw.

I wrote last week about my friend Steve Simon’s wonderful book, Holy Walks. (I’m linking to the book on amazon. For my overseas readers, it’s also available at the Book Depository with much cheaper postage.) In the book, Steve describes the way he memorizes psalms as he walks his dog and then...

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