by Jordan Crump
Six months ago, Midtown member Jennifer Kramer felt God calling her to turn her personal art practice public with Home Without Walls. Acting on this call, she reached out to Sojourn Arts about creating a prayer painting for the church.
For years, Jennifer’s painting process has been infused with prayer and practices from her training as a licensed art therapist. The finished artworks are visual forms of her prayer, emotions, and experiences.
Now, Jennifer is collaborating with people to bring their prayers, hopes, and longings to canvas so they can have “a physical reminder of prayers prayed and answered. A visual cue, prompting [them'] to return to God's presence again and again.”
Below, Jennifer shares about The Way the Spirit Moves, a prayer painting for Sojourn Midtown’s mission and vision as a church.
The Way the Spirit Moves (2026) by Jennifer Kramer. Acrylic on canvas, 36” x 48”
“I created this painting to serve as a visual reminder of prayers prayed and answered. In the Old Testament, we see God direct his people to create stone monuments as a reminder of the miracle that He performed on that ground. My hope is that your prayer painting points you to God’s goodness and faithfulness to see His ten year vision for Sojourn Midtown come to completion.
The Way the Spirit Moves is a product of much discussion, prayer, and intuitive painting. I collected prayers from Midtown staff both online and through an in person meeting, which gave me guidance on imagery and meaning. Then I followed an art process of prayer and spontaneous mark-making and color application until deeper symbolism began to emerge.
The end result is an abstract representation of ripples in water, with golden highlights and almond blossom branches emerging in an unexpected way.
As you continue to read the story behind the painting, you’ll see that the symbol of ‘ripples’ representing circles of influence was present from the start. We pray that each child, teen, and adult at Sojourn Midtown will grow in their confidence to share the gospel with those in their immediate surroundings and trust God to carry it even further.
The canvas began with a base of blue paint, but then was covered in yellow and red, followed by blue shades added back in. The yellow you see on the finished surface is the underneath layer shining through. This color in the painting represents God’s presence in our lives and in our efforts to make ripples. We pray for deeper rootedness in the gospel, a deep sense of God’s presence in our lives, and faith to let the Spirit move.
As I added layers of paint, I chose to tilt the canvas to allow watered-down yellow paint to drip from the center, toward the upper left corner of the piece. Once this layer of paint had dried, I used an acrylic paint pen to trace over the lines that the drips had created. In the following days, every time I looked at these outlined shapes, I saw the suggestion of branches, leaves, and flowers. ‘Is this going to be a painting of water ripples and branches?,’ I wondered out loud to God.
I trusted the process and began researching different plants and flowers mentioned in the Bible as having symbolic, spiritual meaning. The Holy Spirit led me to God’s use of an almond branch to speak to Jeremiah.
Then the word of the Lord came to me, asking, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”
I replied, “I see a branch of an almond tree.”
The Lord said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I watch over my word to accomplish it.”
— Jeremiah 4:11-12 (CSB)
I added to the existing shapes that resembled branches, leaves, and flowers to make them more closely resemble almond branches. God is with us. He is watchful. He sticks around to see his promises fulfilled. We pray for discernment to hear God’s Spirit directing us as we accomplish the work he has called us to, and we thank God for his presence and protection.”
— Jennifer Kramer
You can view the painting and read more about Jennifer’s prayer and art process for the painting in the small gallery at Sojourn Midtown now through November 15, 2026. Afterwards, the painting will be on display at the Meridian Building.
If you or someone you know would be interested in a prayer painting, visit Jennifer’s website Home Without Walls for more information.