I don’t know about you, but my favorite way to pray is upside down.
When you turn a drawing upside down and then draw what you see, you will achieve better results because your mind is freed from its self-imposed constraints. The idea, commonly known as left brain/right brain theory, is that when an image is turned upside down, the mind no longer recognizes it or names it. This helps you let go of preconceived notions and judgments to enable you to really “see” what is there. Praying upside down involves applying this idea to prayer. But before you can pray upside down, you have to learn to see in a new way — upside down, perhaps, or sideways or backwards. From new vantage points. This approach is about training your mind, much as a visual artist does, and letting God turn your perspective upside down.
When, for two years, my husband and I owned two houses because we couldn’t sell the first one, I prayed for the woman who would be buying it, for every aspect of her life to line up so that she was ready to buy. As God seemed to open one door after another for us, but never provided a buyer, my faith plummeted in counterbalance to the skyrocketing bills. So I prayed. For her, the future buyer, not me. I asked God to let me be a part of a plan bigger than simply meeting my immediate needs. Selling my house wasn’t the end goal in God’s plan; it was just one step. At the end, I got to see how God worked in a powerful way in the life of the woman who bought our house, and I realized that God had turned my perspective upside down.
In Praying Upside Down, I explore the many ways non-artists can apply artistic concepts and perspectives to see prayer (and God’s ways of answering) in a new light. Throughout 22 years in advertising and a lifetime as the daughter of a professional watercolorist, I’ve learned to make unexpected connections. And in my journey to discover God, I have found that when I incorporate creative approaches to prayer, I always discover more of the Master of Creativity, the original Artist.
You can use these techniques to train your mind to see in a new way, and prepare to let God turn your world upside down.
