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First post in a new series: Creative prayer

Lynne Baab • Wednesday February 20 2019

About a dozen years ago I attended a morning of prayer led by Louise Holert, a Presbyterian minister here in Seattle. Louise gave us postcards of sacred art to look at alongside scripture passages. The paintings illustrated the passages. She guided us into times of prayer where we pondered the passage. I found the juxtaposition of art and Bible stories to be very powerful. The paintings gave a richness and depth to my interaction with the biblical passages, and they helped me pray in new ways.

I was thrilled when I learned that Louise has put together a book using 31 paintings...

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Connections between the Bible and prayer: Sensory prayer in Revelation

Lynne Baab • Thursday November 1 2018

Through my childhood, in Episcopal and Anglican churches, incense played a role on special occasions. The priest would walk down the center aisle swinging a chain with a metal ball on the end. Inside the ball, incense was burning, and the smoke came out of cleverly shaped holes in the ball.

As I child, I was never sure if I liked the weird smell of incense. But it definitely signaled something about holiness to me.

Fast forward fifty-some years to the ordination of my colleague, James, to the Anglican priesthood. The ordination was held at St. Paul’s Anglican Cathedral in Dunedin, New Zealand,...

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Connections between the Bible and Prayer: the instructions in James

Lynne Baab • Saturday October 27 2018

In mid-2010, I began to have some weird medical symptoms. I was tired all the time, and my left foot felt cold, even if the room was warm. We were in New Zealand, where spring begins in September. As spring went on, and then summer began around Christmas, the weather got warmer and my foot got colder. I got more tired, and I talked to the people in my department about working fewer hours.

Of course, I went to the doctor about this, and got a referral to a neurologist. He put me through a raft of tests, and everything kept coming...

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Connections between the Bible and prayer: Paul’s thankfulness

Lynne Baab • Friday October 19 2018

For several weeks now, I’ve been writing about the prayers in the New Testament letters attributed to the Apostle Paul. These prayers have shaped my prayers in so many ways over so many years. Today I focus on thankfulness.

Paul recommends thankfulness in many passages. My favorite is Colossians 3:12-17, one of the passages Dave and I chose for our wedding. If you want to click on the link to the passage, notice how many times Paul mentions thankfulness in this description of how to live the Christian life.

In addition to recommending gratitude, Paul also models thankfulness in the letters. I won’t...

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