As a Christian mixed media artist, I love looking for ways to connect my faith to my art, and my art to my faith.
Which is why I’m really excited to give you a peek into a new project that I’ve started working on, which I’m calling the Prayer Box Project.
I strongly believe in the power of prayer, and I have been trying to make prayer a bigger part of my life.
While I have been faithfully praying for my husband and my children every morning, prayer is still not as consistent a part of my every day life as I would like it to be.
As much as I try to pray about pretty much everything, and talk to God as I go about my day….
There have been many days where I have fallen into bed and realized that I barely said a word to God all day.
Then of course there are are those days when I’ll suddenly remember that I had been planning on praying for something….only I forgot…..
Or I promised to pray for someone,….and completely forgot…..
Or even worse, someone will thank me for praying for them….only I didn’t (even though I said I would), because I forgot.
That’s where the Prayer Box comes in.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ~ I Thessalonians 5:16-18 (ESV)
It’s purpose is to help me develop a deeper and more consistent prayer life.
It will be a place for me to keep track of my prayers.
And just as importantly, it will be a place to document answered prayers.
Which is a biggie.
I don’t know about you, but sometimes It’s way too easy to get hung up on unanswered prayers, and forget about how faithful the Lord has been to me, and how many of my prayers He HAS answered.
For my prayer box, I altered a card tin that I got from Stampin’ Up! as a free reward during their recent annual SALE-A-BRATION event, where you get a free item for every $60 of product you order.
The tin is about 5 1/2″ high x 4″ deep x 6 3/4″ wide.
Here is what it originally looked like:
I sanded off the color around the top edge of the tin itself, and I roughed up the rest of the tin with sandpaper so that I could then collage and paint on it.
I collaged tissue paper for the base, painted it with 3 different colors of paint, did a little stamping and stencilling and then embellished it with stickers, washi tape and prima crystals.
On one side using stickers I put the phrase “Lord hear my prayer” and on the other side, “my prayer box.”
Unfortunately, the tin itself is no longer available, and I’m not sure where you could buy one like it.
However, you could easily make a prayer box out of a recipe box, a wooden, paper mache or even a cardboard box. All you would have to do is size your prayer cards accordingly.
As of yet I haven’t created any prayer cards, but I’ll be sure to share once I do!
I hope this project inspires YOU to look for ways to get creative about your faith!
Love it. I have this tin. I will be copying your idea.
LOVE LOVE LOVE…
Or even the box and packaging it comes in…I kept sixof them lol
I feel the need to pray more…you know why…but since I have to admit never did on a daily basis..I am sort of lost and new to it all!
Hi Tammy – I have a bunch of these tins too LOL and a bunch of ideas for things to make with them! I’d be happy to have you follow along with this project. The nice thing about prayer is that there is no right or wrong way to do it and it’s never too late to start!
I think this is a great idea! All too often I have good intentions concerning prayer but I fall short of achieving what I really want to do. Lately ill health has caused me to begin to pray, but then I end up praying about myself! I am so glad that we have an understanding and forgiving Father! Love your project, your prayer tin AND your whole post! God bless…..
Hi Sharon – thank you! I am so glad you were inspired by this post! I am sorry to hear that you have been struggling with ill health – I will pray for you! I too am glad that we have an understanding Father and that we can go to Him with all of our concerns. It’s okay to pray about yourself!
Such a great idea Andrea. I like everything about this.
Thank you so much Jennifer. I am so glad you liked this project!
Beautiful! I need to make one because it is so easy to forget how God answers our prayers during the difficult times. This will be a way for me to write down my prayers and how He answered and can even become an encouragement when you feel God is far away.
Thanks for sharing your beautiful work of art!
Thank you Monica! I think having a visual reminder of our prayers is a great way to remind ourselves that God is always by our side.
Beautiful and such a fabulous idea!!!! I totally get what you mean and just in the past couple of weeks apologized to a lady because I had said I’d be praying and then totally did not pray… completely forgot that she even needed prayer.
I love your incorporation of faith into your art. God has given us this beautiful world with so many colors.
Love this idea, Andrea! I used to buy this type of box at my local scrapbook store but haven’t seen them in awhile…I do have this one and the one in the annual catalog. Another prayer idea I read about some time ago: use month & date tabs/dividers and when you receive all those Christmas card photos put them in there as a reminder to pray for that family/person. Also could do the same thing with graduation photos, or wedding announcements/invitations, etc. and pray for them on their special day. And now that SU has a ribbon of support stamp set add a section for that.
Love the idea of this. Thank you for sharing.
lovely! God Bless you for keeping a prayer in your heart.
Hi Andrea, I love your altered box idea. I have an older tin of cards box, and I may give this a try too.
Hi Andrea,
This is such a beautiful project. Thank you for sharing it! I can’t seem to find the printable. I watched the video and followed the link here. It has been a few months since the original post but is it possible to still get a copy of it? I love your art and so appreciate the time and care you put into your videos. I always learn something new!