Prayer, Creativity & Faith

A CHANGE IN PERSPECTIVE MAY BE EXACTLY WHAT YOUR PRAYER LIFE NEEDS

When you talk to God, do you ever wonder if He hears? Do your prayers feel uninspired or routine? Do you sometimes feel like you don’t even know how to pray?

Try praying upside down.

Let artist and author Kelly O’Dell Stanley show you what white space, sketching, point of view, and other artistic ideas reveal to us about how to pray—and experience a deeper connection with God than ever before. Praying Upside Down will move your prayers away from the preconceived and expected, allowing you to encounter God in a brand new way. It’s a fresh chance to add passion to your prayers and notice answers you never anticipated.

Jesus was known for turning situations upside down . . . and He will do the same in your prayer life. And because God is the ultimate creator and the original artist, when you incorporate this unique approach to prayer, you will encounter more of Him.

Available for purchase through my website; in Crawfordsville, IN at the Carnegie Museum and In His Time Books & Gifts; or through numerous online book retailers. Contact me to inquire about discounts for purchases of 10 or more copies.

May 2023: NEW RELEASE of ebook on Amazon!

The rights reverted back to me so I was able to re-release the book with an updated cover. The book contains all of the original content plus a new foreword. Currently available through Amazon—and free through Kindle Unlimited!

Signed copies available in my online shop: https://kellyostanley.com/product/praying-upside-down/
Contact me about bulk order discount for 10 copies or more.

Also available in Crawfordsville, IN at the Carnegie Museum and In His Time Books & Gifts.

Reviews

Elizabeth Berg

Like the books of Anne Lamott, full of honest and soulful searching...

Elizabeth Berg

Like the books of Anne Lamott, so full of honest and soulful searching, Kelly Stanley’s Praying Upside Down takes as its launch pad the precepts of the Christian faith. But what is offered here can apply to anyone, regardless of their faith—or lack thereof. What this book does is offer ways to learn and practice a humble kind of self-inventory, leading to forgiveness and generosity toward others as well as toward oneself. I found Kelly’s spiritual journey compelling and her voice clear, engaging, and irresistible.
~ELIZABETH BERG, Author of The Handmaid and the Carpenter and The Dream Lover

Emily Freeman

This is unlike any book on prayer I've ever read.

Emily Freeman

In her book, Praying Upside Down, Kelly O’Dell Stanley brings something entirely new for the soul to consider: What can the elements of art teach us about faith, prayer, and God? Through personal stories on family, grief, and vocation, Kelly doesn’t introduce a new kind of praying as much as a new kind of seeing, which is what my faith really needs. This is unlike any book on prayer I’ve ever read.
~EMILY P. FREEMAN, Author of A Million Little Ways: Uncover the Art You Were Made to Live

Stasi Eldredge

Kelly O’Dell Stanley invites us to see and pray through God’s right-side-up/upside-down view.

Stasi Eldredge

I love to learn from people who are willing to let God pull back the curtain from their lives and reveal His startling perspective. Kelly O’Dell Stanley does that and invites us to see and pray through God’s right-side-up/upside-down view.
~STASI ELDREDGE, New York Times bestselling author of Captivating and Becoming Myself

Philip Gulley

A spiritual primer on practicing the presence of God.

Philip Gulley

It requires no spiritual sensitivity to see God at work in a miracle, but to see God work in the everyday circumstances of our lives is another matter. Praying Upside Down gives us eyes to see and ears to hear the Divine Presence in the ordinariness of life. A spiritual primer on practicing the presence of God.
~PHILIP GULLEY, Quaker pastor and author

Jennifer Dukes Lee

This book is CPR for your prayer life.

Jennifer Dukes Lee

This book is CPR for your prayer life. Kelly’s upside-down approach to prayer is—in all the best ways—right-side up, by pointing you straight to our sovereign God. This book will help you unleash the power of heaven in a fresh, joyful, invigorating new way.
~JENNIFER DUKES LEE, Author of Love Idol: Letting Go of Your Need for Approval—and Seeing Yourself through God’s Eyes

Addie Zierman

Prayer as a kind of art? What a beautiful concept.

Addie Zierman

As a person who has always struggled with prayer, I am so grateful for Kelly O’Dell Stanley’s fresh perspective, honest confessions, and grace-filled invitations. Prayer as a kind of art? What a beautiful concept.
~ADDIE ZIERMAN, Author of When We Were on Fire

Matt Appling

Transforms prayer into a fresh, vibrant act of creativity that refreshes the spirit.

Matt Appling

Praying Upside Down offers an invaluable antidote to the prayer life that has gone stale. We can forget the one-dimensional prayers we have been praying before bedtime all these years. Kelly O’Dell Stanley literally turns prayer on its head, transforming it into a fresh, vibrant act of creativity that refreshes the spirit. Take Kelly at her word, and you will never look at prayer the same way again.
~MATT APPLING, Teacher, pastor, and author of Life after Art: What You Forgot About Life and Faith Since You Left the Art Room and Plus or Minus

Sarah Kovac

A fresh perspective on not only our prayers, but also the God who answers them.

Sarah Kovac

In Praying Upside Down, Kelly O’Dell Stanley offers us a fresh perspective on not only our prayers, but also the God who answers them. Art has a way of moving and stretching us. Of making us consider our experiences in a new light. Stanley utilizes her first-hand knowledge of the artistic process to shine new truth on what it means to commune with God and the full spectrum of ways we can see His answers manifest in our lives, if our eyes are open. Praying Upside Down will rejuvenate any prayer life, and I believe this work is truly a gift to the body of Christ.
~SARAH KOVAC, Author of In Capable Arms

Timothy Botts

This book is an invitation to pray so much more richly in so many new ways.

Timothy Botts

This book is an invitation to pray so much more richly in so many new ways. Kelly O’Dell Stanley expands our horizons about conversing with God not with more instructions but through one experience after another. If you are an artist-type, you will quickly find that she speaks your language. Even if you do not consider yourself an artist, you will be opened up to the Master Artist’s point of view, which, in Kelly’s words, “is quite a view!”
~TIMOTHY BOTTS, Calligrapher and author of Doorposts

Dr. Alec E. Rowlands

Demonstrates great vulnerability in asking the hard questions and inspires confidence in the God who is always with us.

Dr. Alec E. Rowlands

Kelly does an amazing job in Praying Upside Down of drawing from her rich background in graphic design and art to offer the reader fresh perspectives on an intimate relationship with God . . . perspectives that will, I believe, make us want to pray. Each chapter is wrapped around personal stories from her own pilgrimage in prayer that demonstrate great vulnerability in asking the hard questions and will inspire confidence in the God who is always with us. Each chapter ends with very practical advice that will add vitality to and increase faith for our communion with God. I had to set the book down on several occasions and marvel at the wonder of a God who offers immediate access for us all, in every circumstance of life, and welcomes us into an intimate and dynamic relationship through Christ Jesus.

SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT #PRAYINGUPSIDEDOWN

The power of prayer is dependent not on our own abilities but on the One who has all power. #prayingupsidedown

All prayer is good and valid and helpful—whether tilted, upside down, sideways, or right-side up—as long as it’s real. #prayingupsidedown

Even in the lowest times, God never condemns. He doesn’t want my disappointment in myself to keep me away. #prayingupsidedown

A change in perspective might be exactly what your prayer life needs. #prayingupsidedown

Simplicity is about finding more, not less. You might even say that’s upside down. #prayingupsidedown

We need to keep our eyes on Jesus when we’re praying. Working. Helping. Doubting. Loving. Hurting. Dreaming. Living. #prayingupsidedown

Faith means believing that being in it with God is better than being anywhere else without Him. #prayingupsidedown

God turns things around, and His ways aid healing, bring forgiveness, and soothe the hurting places. #prayingupsidedown

There are no limits to the ways God will solve our problems or the lengths He will go for one lost or hurting soul. #prayingupsidedown

In God’s world, the blessings come from serving rather than being served. From loving rather than just being loved. #prayingupsidedown

Resources

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