Showing posts with label Prayer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prayer. Show all posts

Thursday, December 20, 2018

Advent Intimacy


Joseph Listens for Jesus
Digital Illustrations for 
Rejoice! Advent Meditations with Mary
Video Series
by Ascension Press

One of the sweetest moments during my wife's pregnancy was the privilege to rest my head on her belly and listen for our baby to kick and move. We even had a home device where we could hear the swishing of the baby's heartbeat. I suspect Joseph and Mary had similar experiences. These two images, show an intimate family scene. Joseph rests his head on Mary and listens for Jesus as Mary lovingly runs her fingers through Joseph's hair.

May we also pause to listen for Jesus. God desires intimate prayer with us. God wants a close communion with us, not just a one-sided list of complaints and wants. Relationship is what Emmanuel, "God with Us," is all about. God wants us to come close and listen for the heartbeat of LOVE. God want us to wait, expectantly, to feel the kick, punch and squirm of God's GRACE.

May we strive to draw nearer to God in such ways this season—and always.


Thursday, March 30, 2017

40 Days: Day 25: Jesus Wept Prayer Labyrinth


8.5""x11" Digital Art


Did you know that I am also a graphic designer? Today' post is something new for you to enjoy. This is a prayer labyrinth design based on John 11:1-44. You can read the scripture below. 

You can download it for non-commercial use/reproduction at the link above. It's a great way to pray for your close friends and give thanks for those who cry with you and comfort you.

The Death of Lazarus

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.
Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.”  The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”  Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Jesus the Resurrection and the Life

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.  Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.”  Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”  Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”  Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live,  and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”  She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

Jesus Weeps

When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

Jesus Raises Lazarus to Life



Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”



Thursday, March 23, 2017

40 Days: Day 19: Daily Prayer V


5"x7" Acrylic on Paper


The next few posts will be examples of daily prayer with paint. 





Wednesday, March 22, 2017

40 Days: Day 18: Daily Prayer IV


5"x7" Acrylic on Paper


The next few posts will be examples of daily prayer with paint. 






Tuesday, March 21, 2017

40 Days: Day 17: Daily Prayer III


5"x7" Acrylic on Paper


The next few posts will be examples of daily prayer with paint. 






Monday, March 20, 2017

40 Days: Day 16: Daily Prayer II


5"x7" Acrylic on Paper



The next few posts will be examples of daily prayer with paint. 





Saturday, March 18, 2017

Monday, March 13, 2017

40 Days, Day 10: Refuge


5"x7" Acrylic on Paper
email me to purchase the original art



Psalm 43

Prayer to God in Time of Trouble

Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause
    against an ungodly people;
from those who are deceitful and unjust
    deliver me!
 For you are the God in whom I take refuge;
    why have you cast me off?
Why must I walk about mournfully
    because of the oppression of the enemy?
 O send out your light and your truth;
    let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
    and to your dwelling.
 Then I will go to the altar of God,
    to God my exceeding joy;
and I will praise you with the harp,
    O God, my God.
 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
    and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
    my help and my God.

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Pie Jesu


20"x24"x1.5"
Oil on Canvas
with Palette Knife
Click Here To Purchase

Our choir has the privilege to sing John Rutter's Requiem this spring. One of my favorite pieces in this work is Pie Jesu. The full text in english is:

Blessed Jesus, 
Lord I pray,
in Thy mercy,
Grant them rest.
Grant them rest eternal.
Lord our God,
I pray Thee,
Lord our God, 
We pray Thee,
Grant them everlasting rest.

It is a beautiful song with haunting undertones overcome by ascending grace. The song makes a most beautiful prayer. To paint it, I wanted to capture the mixture of deep longing, communal faith and brilliant hope. The painting is also a theological mix of interaction between a community of faith and God. The highest and most beautiful parts of the soprano solo are represented with the bright yellow streak ascending upward. It makes for a nice blending of both personal and corporate prayer. 

Although a requiem is mainly intended for loved ones who have passed on, the song and the painting are an expression for all prayers—especially prayers for intercession and peace.




Sunday, December 18, 2016

O Lord and Ruler



2.5"x3.5" Oil on Board
with Palette Knife
ACEO

O come, O come, great Lord of might,
who to your tribes on Sinai's height
in ancient times did give the law
in cloud and majesty and awe. 



"O" Antiphons series.

The Church has been singing the "O" Antiphons since at least the eighth century. They are the antiphons that accompany the Magnificat canticle of Evening Prayer from December 17-23. They are a magnificent theology that uses ancient biblical imagery drawn from the messianic hopes of the Old Testament to proclaim the coming Christ as the fulfillment not only of Old Testament hopes, but present ones as well. Their repeated use of the imperative "Come!" embodies the longing of all for the Divine Messiah.

There are many different texts for the O Antiphons. For this series, I'm using the verses to they hymn "O Come Emmanuel" which lyrically contains all of the O Antiphons.

Saturday, December 17, 2016

O Wisdom



2.5"x3.5" Oil on Board
with Palette Knife
ACEO

O come, O Wisdom from on high,
who ordered all things mightily;
to us the path of knowledge show
and teach us in its ways to go.


This is the first of a new series of "O" Antiphons. 

The Church has been singing the "O" Antiphons since at least the eighth century. They are the antiphons that accompany the Magnificat canticle of Evening Prayer from December 17-23. They are a magnificent theology that uses ancient biblical imagery drawn from the messianic hopes of the Old Testament to proclaim the coming Christ as the fulfillment not only of Old Testament hopes, but present ones as well. Their repeated use of the imperative "Come!" embodies the longing of all for the Divine Messiah.

There are many different texts for the O Antiphons. For this series, I'm using the verses to they hymn "O Come Emmanuel" which lyrically contains all of the O Antiphons.

Thursday, March 24, 2016

40 Days: Day 38: Stay with Me



6"x6" Oil on Panel
with Palette Knife
Click Here to Purchase

Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated. Then he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.” And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.” Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, “So, could you not stay awake with me one hour? Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again he went away for the second time and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.”

Matthew 26:36-46

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

40 Days: Day 18: Morning Song


5"x7" Oil on Panel
with Palette Knife
SOLD

O Lord, open my lips. 

And my mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Psalm 51:15




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Saturday, February 27, 2016

40 Days: Day 16: Glow



5"x7" Oil on Deep Edged Canvas
with Palette Knife
SOLD


“No one after lighting a lamp hides it under a jar, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed, nor is anything secret that will not become known and come to light."
Luke 8: 16-17



Wednesday, February 24, 2016

40 Days: Day 13: Illumine


5"x7" Oil on Deep Edged Canvas
with Palette Knife
SOLD


Your word is a lamp to my feet
    and a light to my path.


Psalm 119:105



Friday, February 19, 2016

40 Days: Day 10: Quiet


6"x6" Oil on Panel
with Palette Knife
SOLD


O  Lord, my heart is not lifted up,
    my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
   too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
    like a weaned child with its mother;
    my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.

O Israel, hope in the Lord
    from this time on and forevermore.


Psalm 131


Thursday, February 18, 2016

40 Days: Day 9: Secret


6"x6" Oil on Panel
with Palette Knife
SOLD

And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Matthew 6:5-6








Wednesday, February 17, 2016

40 Days: Day 8: Evensong III


3"x3" Oil on Canvas
with Palette Knife
Click Here to Purchase


May the Lord, who is our peace, give us peace at all times and in every way. Amen.

2 Thessalonians 3:16




Tuesday, February 16, 2016

40 Days: Day 7: Evensong II


3"x3" Oil on Canvas
with Palette Knife
Available

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13



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Monday, February 15, 2016

40 Days: Day 6: Evensong I


3"x3" Oil on Canvas
with Palette Knife
Click Here to Purchase

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:7