Creative Prayer

What if you were to communicate with your spouse the same way you communicate with Jesus? How healthy would your relationship be? Chris Tiegreen asks this question in his new book, Creative Prayer. For me, I had never thought about prayer other than talking to God - maybe if I was feeling especially contemplative, I would spend time in meditation, but mostly, talking at God.
In reading Mr. Tiergreen's book, I was able to see a different perspective, than I had seen before. God has divine creativity and uses that creativity everyday to communicate with us - and very seldom does he ever use audible words.
My wife and I will be celebrating our 5th anniversary this coming weekend & if I were to just say, I love you and I am glad I married you, she would appreciate that, but words, like they say, are cheap. I all I ever did was talk to her, but never did any other expression of love, she might not feel loved .
Mr. Tiergreen uses that same comparison in Creative Prayer. God goes all out, everyday, and we (sometimes) offer words, and those more times than not express our displeasure with him, or the way he does things.
Throughout the book Mr. Tiergreen offers suggestions of creative ways we can show our love and appreciation to our Creator. The last chapter - Full Contact Prayer - is a wonderful idea starter for the reader to engage all his senses and more in our communication with our Father. One thing that struck me as I was reading was the concept of our praise being a pleasant aroma to God (I heard this many times in church growing up, but never really understood it). In thinking through Mr. Tiergreen's book, I think I understood that a bit more. But I think the reason I never understood it was because every time I heard it used it was before singing or preaching. There was never anything that would smell pleasant (literally, the sense of smell). But in thinking about using all senses and creative avenues, we can offer God offerings which look, smell, taste, sound and feel pleasant. Get creative!