Need help communicating with God?
Maybe you hunger to know God better. Maybe you love color. Maybe you are a visual or kinesthetic learner, a distractable or impatient soul, or a word-weary pray-er. Perhaps you struggle with a short attention span, a restless body, or a tendency to live in your head.
This new prayer form can take as little or as much time as you have or want to commit, from 15 minutes to a weekend retreat."A new prayer form gives God an invitation and a new door to penetrate the locked cells of our hearts and minds," explains Sybil MacBeth. "For many of us, using only words to pray reduces God by the limits of our finite words."

For more information, including author events, examples and contact information to request Sybil MacBeth to do a workshop, visit www.prayingincolor.com.

Use Praying in Color to help with: •lectio divina -- reading the bible for spiritual growth •memorizing Scripture •prayers for discernment •creating a personal Advent or Lenten calendar •praying for enemies

Praying in Color is ideal for: •Intergenerational Education Classes •Women's Meetings •Praying Workshops •Vacation Bible School and Summer Camp •Staff Retreats on Prayer •Summer Sunday School Classes •Wednesday Night Church-wide Programs •Senior Citizens Activity •Youth Confirmation Retreats •Men's Prayer Groups •Prayer Therapy During Convalescence •Kindergarten and Children's Prayer Training •Homeschooling, grades K-12 •Prison Ministry •Ministry to the hearing impaired •Ministry to the disabled

"This is the most invigorating and enabling book about prayer that I have seen in years! Wry, funny, accessible, wise beyond all appearances, and deeply spiritual, MacBeth warms the soul as well as the heart. So will praying in color." - Phyllis Tickle, compiler, The Divine Hours

Download Center These resources are available to assist you in setting up a Praying in Color workshop or retreat in your area. Praying in Color Flyer - 13 ways to use Praying in Color 13 Tips on leading a Praying in Color workshop in your area Watch a sample video of the Praying in Color DVD Sample Intercessory Advent Calendar

What others have said about Praying in Color:

"I tried praying in color on my own. And here's what I discovered: Normally I hate drawing. I got self-conscious about my lack of talent somewhere in fourth grade and just shut down. Even my doodles are limited to letters and circles and lines. But even I was able to pray in color because I didn't think of it as drawing . . . just as letting my heart move across the page in a squiggly way. My heart kept beating and my hand kept moving and I felt confirmed and released. I found praying in color to be child-like, not childish, and it felt good. I got over myself and for the first time was able even to feel negative emotions in prayer . . . like anger . . . another aspect of self I started repressing in about fourth grade."
-Ellen Klyce

"I am a botanical artist and Jewish, so I am coming from another point of view. Being Jewish, I found praying in color an insightful process. It kept me focused and connected, both to my thoughts and my intentions."
-Sally Markell

"I introduced the practice to dear friends whose long awaited baby ended up critically ill for months in intensive care. They were staying with us because we lived closer to the hospital and of course, needless to say, were beside themselves with worry and fear. The mother said she just couldn't pray because her mind was racing all the time and she was sick with fear. I packed up my pens, pad, and pencils and told her how this method might helpful and comforting during those long hours of waiting. She later brought me a page of her prayers of assurances of what God could do to heal her son and to give strength and courage to her family. I was so glad I knew about this type of prayer and could pass it on. It was a perfect way to prayer for them."
-Lisa DiScenza

"Sybil presented this praying technique in a workshop at our church and again to a women's study/prayer group. I have difficulty staying focused as I practice meditative prayer and praying in color was very appealing. A short time after following Sybil's presentations, I decided to use the technique at a half-day silent retreat for Christian women. We were in a lovely wooded spot, away from usual distractions. I was amazed how quickly time passed as I used my colored pencils and a special notebook just for praying. I truly felt I was connecting with God in silence and in my color graphics. While I don't pray in color on a regular basis, when I do, I am amazed how relaxing, cleansing and refreshing to my body, mind and spirit the practice is."
-Linda Nelson

"This would be a terrific book to use during retreats, youth group meetings, prayer groups, and for personal devotion and meditation times. Writes MacBeth, "A new prayer form gives God an invitation and a new door to penetrate the locked cells of our hearts and minds." A beautiful image, and one I'm planning to draw - the next time I go to God in prayer. Thanks Sybil!"
-Cindy Crosby

Those struggling with contemplative or intercessory prayer might want to consider communing with God through markers and crayons. So says Sybil MacBeth in her new book, Praying in Color: Drawing a New Path to God. MacBeth, a left-brained math wiz and self-avowed "third grade artist," encourages the use of lines, shapes and colors as a way of centering and of keeping the individual or situation being prayed about before God. "Partly, this process is about creating a time and space when the focus of my sitting is devotion to God," said MacBeth. "Yet it's also like bringing a 'blankie' to your time with God, a prop, where you don't feel so naked."

Publisher's Weekly- Religion Book Line

May 9, 2007

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Dancer and mathematics instructor MacBeth's charming book may be the first to combine the pleasures of doodling with a discussion of, among other things, lectio divina. Here, she shows how simple drawings-often hardly more than circles and lines with names or ideas or places sketched in and enlivened with color-can focus the praying heart, making prayer something better than a shopping list or a chore and helping the praying believer to carry the wishes and thoughts of the prayer through the day. MacBeth's book is not for unbelievers or those who do not pray; it is directed to those suffering something more like spiritual attention deficit disorder. Still, it is one of the most appealing books on prayer to appear in the last five years. Highly recommended.

Library Journal

May 1, 2007

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Just as Julia Cameron, in The Artist's Way, showed the hardened Harvard businessman he had a creative artist lurking within, MacBeth makes it astonishingly clear that anyone with a box of colors and some paper can have a conversation with God.... Readers of all ages, experience and religions will find this a fresh, invigorating and even exhilarating way to spend time with themselves and their Creator.

Publisher's Weekly

January 31, 2007

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In her book Praying in Color: Drawing a New Path to God, author Sybil MacBeth introduces a new way of praying that inspires playfulness and joy by using the art of doodling. Praying in Color targets those who may be struggling with their prayer life or others who want to enhance their relationship with God. The book offers short, entertaining, and easy-to-read chapters that provide a step-by-step guide to doodling prayer in color. "A new prayer form gives God an invitation and a new door to penetrate the locked cells of our hearts and minds," explains MacBeth. "For many of us, using only words to pray reduces God by the limits of our finite words." Part One of the book explores dilemmas and frustrations of praying, especially for those who are visual or kinesthetic learners or who have short attention spans and are easily distracted. Part Two offers a step-by-step guide to getting started that includes a supply list as well as time and place suggestions. Part Three includes tips and techniques on how to enhance drawing, to add color, and to create an image that encompasses the people for whom you want to pray. MacBeth thoughtfully incorporates a section on how to overcome prayer barriers. Praying in Color can be used in a variety of settings, such as intergenerational events, workshops, Vacations Bible Schools and summer camps, Bible studies, mid-week church programs, and youth confirmation retreats. It has suggestions for enhancing other forms of prayer, such as lectio divina and discernment prayers, and for creating personal Advent or Lenten calendars. Praying in Color is an excellent resource for anyone seeking to promote playfulness and joy in prayer time with God. Also available is a DVD with everything you need to know to lead your own Praying in Color workshop, featuring author Sybil MacBeth.

Episcopal Teacher

Winter 2008

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Sybil MacBeth, a mathematics instructor by profession, and dancer by avocation, has written, and doodled, a daring devotional.... MacBeth is transparent, accessible, and human. She exercises what she calls spiritual imagination as she works on, in, and through prayer. She trusts herself enough to experiment, mess up, and try again in prayer. She trusts God enough to guide her as she falters, succeeds, and grows stronger. Her book emboldens others to trust their instincts, too.

Christianity Today

January 28, 2008