Praying Upside Down

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.

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.

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.

Prayer. It can seem so . . . burdensome, time-consuming, one-sided, and complicated with all those flowery, eloquent words that we think should be the launching pad in our conversations with God. So, we choose not to pray, going through our days mute to the One who desires to, not only hear from us, but also speak to us. But in her book Praying Upside Down Kelly O’Dell Stanley takes us by the hand and challenges and equips us to see prayer from a whole new perspective, erasing what we thought prayer to be and painting a beautiful picture of what it’s meant to be.

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.

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.

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.

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!”

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.

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.