Creativity
Being creative is both thrilling and a bit scary.
It’s one of the ways we feel closest to God.
When you create something, you might sense that God is present with you in every little decision. Or when you finish and look back, you realise that God was there all along.
Since God is the supreme creator, it’s no wonder there’s a spiritual side to creativity. We’re using a part of ourselves that’s made in God’s image.
Creative blocks are common because creativity is delicate and easily derailed by fear of failure and judgment - is what I make any good?
Think back over your life
Author Brene Brown found that a third of people have a ‘creativity scar’. They can remember a specific moment when someone told them they weren’t good enough to be an artist, dancer, or writer. These words still hold them back from enjoying their natural creativity.
God is saddened by our creativity scars and wants to heal and restore us.
Do you have a creativity scar? If so, hand this memory over to God now and ask God to heal and restore you, so you may let this go and become free.
How are you feeling about creating something right now? Hand any fears over to God and allow God‘s creative nature to rise up in you instead.
Here's a simple prayer, say it with me
Loving God, creator of all things,
creator of me, and creator of my creativity,
help me today to bring something new into the world.
Help me use the skills I have and the skills I’ll learn along the way.
Protect me from negative thoughts that might block me.
As I create, be with me in every small decision and every action.
May this be a joint project, you and me.
Amen.
We can get caught up in the daily grind of work and worry and forget to take time to admire the creation God made.
Read this Bible passage (Luke 12:22-32) and look at the creation near you. What might God be saying to you? You could write it down, and highlight the bits that stand out, or create images and drawings around it.
Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? If then you are not able do small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest?
“Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not keep striving for what you are to eat or what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.
Psalm 8 is a beautiful passage in the Old Testament expressing wonder at God’s creation, and a reflection on how humans can partner with God.
Speak this prayer (aloud if you can) as a prayer to God. You could also write it in your diary, or on a post-it, to repeat whenever you feel anxious.
O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
to silence the enemy and the avenger.
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you have established;
what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
mortals that you care for them?
Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
and crowned them with glory and honour.
You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under their feet,
all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Are you feeling a creative block?
Just start. Do something. Don’t overthink it, and notice how God is with you on this creative journey.
To explore the paradoxical nature of prayer, explore Sunshine and Showers, a six-session course about prayer for groups.
Explore other prayers in The Prayer Hub