Most of my visual prayers start with doodling and then include coloring. The doodling focuses my attention and invites my eyes and hand into my prayer. Doodling and coloring give me time to slow down.They help to calm the chatter in my mind and help me to get quiet enough to listen. The lines, dots, swirls, and arcs are like little nonverbal prayers.

Although I love to doodle when I pray I have come to appreciate the value of a pre-drawn template. The format is already laid out. The first words on the coloring page are the name I am using for God. In this prayer, it is Almighty God. Then I add people’s names or write words of intercession, gratitude, or concern. Then I begin to color. Each stroke of color can become a wordless prayer. A coloring page/template can be used for almost any kind of prayer. Coloring prayers can also be progressive. There’s no need to fill in the whole coloring page in one sitting. I can add new names on another day or add words for the people already on the page–my requests, emotions, fears, hopes….

I keep the emerging prayer in plain sight so whenever I notice it, it prods me to pray again.

This is #1 template in the book Pray and Color: A Coloring Book and Guide to Prayer. I have to admit it was really fun to draw the pages.