May 20, 2025 • 19 mins
Ever felt that creative spark and wondered where it truly comes from? Your studio isn't just a workspace—it's potentially sacred ground where divine partnership happens.
The concept of sacred creative spaces has deep biblical roots. In Exodus, we see artisans Bezalel and Oholiab filled with God's Spirit to create objects that would transmit His presence throughout their community. Like them, you've been gifted with creativity that flows directly from the Creator Himself. Whether you work in a dedicated studio or a quiet corner of your home, that space holds potential for divine encounter.
Hebrew gives us beautiful insight into creativity through two interconnected words: "yetser" (internal formation/imagination) and "yatsar" (external creation/crafting). Both spring from the same root word meaning "to form or fashion," revealing how creativity moves from inside out—just like God's kingdom operates in our lives. Your studio becomes the meeting point where internal vision takes external form through partnership with the Holy Spirit.
Transforming your creative space into holy ground can be beautifully simple: play worship music to set the atmosphere, use thoughtful lighting to create peaceful conditions, surround yourself with Scripture and inspiration, maintain organization to minimize distractions, and practice sketching as spiritual response to divine inspiration. Most importantly, assume connection with the Holy Spirit who already dwells within you—you don't need to beg for His presence, only raise your awareness of His nearness.
When you intentionally dedicate your creative space to God, something remarkable happens. Your art improves, often producing unexpected beauty, and you yourself are transformed. What you create shifts from mere decoration to powerful declaration of God's goodness. Your yielded creativity becomes a channel through which heaven touches earth.
Ready to experience this transformation? Begin today by dedicating your creative space as holy ground. Pray over it, anoint it if you feel led, and watch how God's presence elevates both you and everything you create. Share this episode with other artists who need this perspective shift, and together, let's become that army of creatives revealing God's glory through our art.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Have you ever wondered what makes your studio
more than just a workspace?
Well, what if I told you it'sactually a sacred meeting space,
sort of a thin place whereheaven meets earth, where
creativity becomes an act ofworship and a partnership with
God.
Well, that's exactly what we'regoing to dive into today, as I
share how to transform yourcreative space into holy ground
(00:22):
that changes you and everythingyou make Today on the Thriving
Christian Artist podcast.
Welcome to the ThrivingChristian Artist, the podcast
where we hope you connect withGod, to bust through the
roadblocks that have held youback for years, create the work
you love and really live thelife you know.
God created you to live as anartist in his kingdom.
I'm Matt Tommey, your host.
(00:44):
Let's get started.
Well, hey there, my friend,super glad that you're here with
me on the podcast today.
Listen, I'm so excited to talkabout this whole topic of
creating a sacred space for yourart, because it really is one
that truly can transform yourcreative process and also your
relationship with the Lord, justhow you approach your art on a
(01:05):
daily basis.
I want to kick off things inExodus, of course, exodus 31,
the seminal chapter, andchapters on artists in the
kingdom of God and thisbeautiful picture of Bezalel and
Aholiab as being both filledand skilled.
But I love Exodus 35, 35, whereit says he has filled them.
(01:27):
Talking about the artisans,he's filled them with skill to
do all kinds of work asengravers and designers,
embroiderers all of them skilledworkers and designers.
And I love this because numberone it reminds us that you know,
all of our creativity, all theskill that we have, it all comes
out of a gift of God, right?
(01:48):
And those artisans in Exodus,they just weren't making
beautiful things for the sake ofbeautiful things.
They were creating somethingsacred, something that would
hold and honor and transmit thevery presence of God in their
community.
And to me I just think that'ssuper powerful and a big
reminder for us that the thingsthat we make and the way that we
(02:11):
make and the place that we makeare really, really important
for us to keep at the top of ourmind, if we will, because it's
so easy for us to just kind ofget in the mindset of yeah, I'm
just kind of in here doing mything and this is a little hobby
.
I have no God specificallyformed you for this and you know
your creative space, whetherit's a like you know, full blown
(02:32):
studio, like I've gotten a lotof artists have, or whether it's
just a quiet corner in yourhome, or I used to work in the
garage or on the back deck or inthe spare bedroom or whatever
it is Listen, it doesn't matterwhere it is.
Wherever you're working, thatcan be a sort of sacred space
for you as well, a place whereyou meet with God and co-labor
(02:53):
with the Holy Spirit and youactually let your creativity and
the things that you're doingartistically become an act of
worship.
You know, I love in Isaiah 64,8, it says but now, oh Lord, you
are our father, we are the clayand you are potter and all.
We are the work of your hand.
(03:13):
I mean, I love that.
Right, we?
We didn't just just happen onthis earth.
We didn't.
We didn't form out of someamoebas just randomly.
This is a beautiful picture inGod's word of what happens when
we yield our creativity to God.
He shapes us even as we'reshaping things with our hands
and with our mind, just likewe're fashioning and forming
(03:36):
things on purpose, with apurpose, in the studio.
He has done and is doing thatcontinually in our lives.
We've not only been shaped byhim, but we are being shaped by
him in his presence, as we sortof invite him in and raise our
awareness of him in the studio.
Because, listen, I think it'ssuper important to realize you
(03:59):
don't have to beg God to comeinto the studio, right?
The Holy Spirit, as believers,he's on board, he's living and
active inside of you right now.
He's not separate from you,he's not beside you, he's not
outside the room or up in heavenand you got to invite him.
No, he's on board.
And so to me, it's all aboutraising our awareness of the
(04:21):
presence of God, the kingdom ofGod that is already living
inside of us.
That's just such a powerful,powerful revelation.
Now, I love diving intocreativity and you know the
meanings of Hebrew words.
If you've listened to thepodcast for a while, you know I
love to do that.
But I love a couple ofdifferent words in Hebrew.
One is yet, sir, y-e-t-s-e-r,and one is Yatzar, which is
(04:45):
Y-A-T-S-A-R, and these are twobeautiful words.
Yatzar is actually the wordthat you see in the Bible that's
used for forming or shapingthings externally, like a potter
is shaping the clay, just likewe saw in Isaiah.
It's actually like hands-onwork, getting your hands dirty
right, actually bringingsomething into being.
(05:07):
But yet, sir, is about internalformation and you see, this
talked about a lot of times interms of imagination in the
Bible, right?
So this is our imagination, thevisions and ideas and dreams
that God is forming inside of us.
The cool thing to me and thisis really where you know, diving
a little deeper gets reallyinteresting these two words come
(05:31):
from the same Hebrew root word,which means to form or fashion.
Now, of course, one meansinternal, one means external,
but they're deeply connected andit is I kind of like to think
of it as two sides of the coin.
And in fact, you could probablysay it this way Yetzir is the
inner formation, the imagination, where God's visions and dreams
(05:52):
and all the things that he putsinside of us and that we're
putting inside of ourimagination, all those things
take shape inside of us.
And Yetzir is the outwardshaping, is the crafting and
fashioning of those things thathave been conceived in the
Spirit, in our imagination, butthey're actually brought into
something tangible.
I think for me that gives afull picture of this creative
(06:17):
process.
You know, the things that Godplants inside of us, the things
that we sow into our ownimagination.
As we're walking with the Lord,we're called to shape those
things internally with the HolySpirit, but also express those
things outwardly with the HolySpirit.
I just love that and rememberthis is not just how the
(06:40):
creative process works forartists, right?
This is how the kingdom of Godworks, right?
Whether you're looking atbusiness ideas or family ideas,
or looking for a divine solutionin your life, in marketing or
business or anything that you'refacing, we lean on the voice of
the Holy Spirit, not only inhis word, but also within us.
(07:00):
Right, the kingdom of Godwithin us.
And we allow him, we co-laborwith him.
We invite him to.
Yet, sir, right Inside of us,to form and shape and bring
these things into existence sothat they come out on the
outside.
We form them on the inside sowe can express them on the
(07:22):
outside, not apart from the HolySpirit, but with the Holy
Spirit.
That's God's plan.
Listen, you've heard me say amillion times transformation
happens how?
From the inside out.
Well, creativity happens fromthe inside out.
The kingdom gets manifested inyour life from the inside out.
Are you starting to see apattern here?
This is how the kingdom of Godworks and listen, that's exactly
(07:45):
what's happening in yourcreative space, right, your
studio.
For artists, you and me, thisbecomes that place where that
yetzer and yetzer come together,right when God has planted
these deep dreams and visionsand passions within us and they
start to take form through thework of our hands.
(08:06):
Listen, this is why it's soimportant, I think, for all of
us to get beyond this idea of ohyeah, this is my little
creative space, or I knowbecause I've been mentoring
artists for a long time a lot ofyou feel bad or even selfish
for even having a creative space, because you believe the lies
of the enemy or you've allowedother people to put their
(08:28):
impressions or opinions on yourcreative place.
But listen, your studio isabsolutely a creative place.
It's not just a place to getthings done, it is holy ground.
And so when you dedicate yourspace to the Lord, right, you
invite him in there on anintentional basis to move
through you and create anatmosphere of his presence in
(08:50):
your studio where you can flowwith him freely.
Listen, he's transforming notonly the things that you're
creating, he's transforming you.
In the process, you gettransformed, your art gets to be
transformed.
You become a sign and a wonder.
Your art becomes a sign and awonder.
Your life manifests the kingdomof God.
Your art manifests the kingdomof God.
Listen now, I think that isjust incredible and it raises
(09:16):
our awareness of what the HolySpirit wants to do in and
through our lives when we'reshowing up faithful in the
studio every day.
Now you might be sitting therethinking, okay, matt, I get it,
I get it, I get it, I love theidea.
But how do I actually do this?
Like, give me the practicalsright.
My wife is a practical, she'slike Matt, you know, give me the
(09:40):
one.
Like, give me the practicalsright.
My wife is a practical, she'slike Matt, you know.
Give me the one, two, threeright.
What are the steps?
So let me give you somepractical and, I think, simple
steps to start making yourstudio feel like a sacred space.
All right, one of the things Iwould say is put some worship
music on, maybe worship musicwith songs, sometimes
instrumental soaking music whileyou work.
This to me, just helps set thetone, if you will, the presence
of God in the atmosphere.
Many, many times you've heardme say I've got my keyboard in
(10:02):
my studio, in my office in here.
I'll come in and just play alittle bit.
I'll turn on worship music.
I'm really loving right nowhouse fires and if you go on
Apple Music and look up housefires essentials um, oh my gosh,
that playlist is just like takeme in the glory, right.
And so I'll just turn that onand I'll just worship a little
(10:23):
bit as I'm, as I'm gettingstarted, and just I'm praying in
the spirit, I'm just invitingthe holy spirit just to raise
the water level right in in thestudio to me.
I I love lighting, right.
I think all of us artists we'reaesthetically oriented and so I
love when I can use, you know,especially as I'm getting
started in the morning sort ofsoft light, natural light, you
(10:43):
know, just to make a creativesort of peaceful environment for
myself.
I love to surround myself withinspiration too.
You know scripture verses,prophetic words, vision boards.
I have a vision wallinspiration wall, I call it in
my studio where I've got allsort of just neat things, that
beautiful things that I'vecollected over the years that
(11:03):
just inspire me creatively andit helps me to keep myself in
that place of wonder as I'm inthe studio.
You know scripture verses onthe walls reading God's word in
in the studio.
It just helps to keep yourheart focused on the presence of
God, god's promises and andpurposes for your life and art,
and and and keep the the focusof your heart on him.
(11:27):
Now, listen, some of you aregoing to resist me on this, but
I think it's just true.
If you, if you really get downto it, working in a clean and
organized space just makes youfeel better.
It really does me, in fact,years ago I used to just work in
a rat's nest and listen whileI'm working.
I know I can get messy, butevery day, at the end of the day
, I've covenanted with myself toclean off my work table and
(11:51):
sweep the floor and make it amore organized space.
I just think it.
It opens up the space to say,hey, you're ready, you're open
to the things God wants to do.
You're not coming in trying toclean up a mess, you're out,
you're in there in the morningbeing able to give it your best.
The other thing that I do a lotnot every day, but I really um
sketch a lot with, with ideas,especially as I'm, you know,
(12:14):
thinking of new commissions ornew projects, and I really try
to treat that just like I treatmy normal prayer journaling sort
as a uh sort of a spiritualpractice, if you will.
You know, I believe, and I hopeyou believe, that these ideas
that you're getting, they're notjust separate from the Lord,
they're not just because they'recoming out of your natural mind
.
These are things that God isbirthing in and through you, and
(12:36):
so I think it's incumbent uponus, as artists, to write those
things down, right.
Habakkuk said what?
Write the vision down, make itplain so the runner can run with
it.
And I think, sketching for youand me, doodling and drawing and
sketching out things of ideasthat we have, it's just a
beautiful, god-centered responsethat says, hey, I'm listening,
(12:57):
I'm paying attention, I'mwriting down the things that
you're giving me and I'm goingto let these marinate and
percolate inside my spirit untilthey come into formation, that
yatsar part of that, until itcomes into formation with my
hands.
That's just really, reallygreat.
And, again, just a beautifulway to both center your spirit
(13:18):
but also remind yourself aboutwhat God is doing.
And, again, just the simplicityof asking the Lord, dedicating
your space to the Lord, in fact,one of the things that I've
chosen to do and you may thinkthis sounds kind of cheesy or
whatever, but I've just recentlygotten myself an old vintage
(13:39):
street sign that's a yield signwith a big red reflective signs,
and I put it over the door ofmy studio.
So every time I walk in it'ssort of this visual reminder to
yield to the voice of the HolySpirit in everything I do.
I don't know, for me it's likethis simple thing, but every
time I see it it just sort oftriggers something in me and it
(14:00):
reminds me that this isn't justabout me coming in and doing
things in my own strength.
It's not me just coming in andrecording podcasts and writing
books and mentoring artists inmy own strength, making art in
my own strength no way.
It's about me partnering withthe Holy Spirit and letting him
lead the way.
All right, I think all of thatyou know.
(14:23):
The enemy, of course, would wantto make it a lot more
complicated for you.
But listen, all this doesn'thave to be complicated.
They can work together insimplicity to help you create
and cultivate this beautifulstudio practice in space where,
when you come in, you'reexpecting God to meet with you.
And here's the thing and youmay have heard me say this
(14:44):
before but you don't have towait, for, like you know, these
like big, fancy feelings of, ofinspiration you know to strike
or whatever.
I want you to assume connectionright.
You're a son of the King,you're a daughter of the King.
The Holy spirit is alreadyliving inside of you, moving
inside of you.
He's ready to work, he'salready speaking, he's ready to
(15:04):
pour out any time that youchoose.
To activate that through walkinginto your studio every time you
create, and so, before yournext creative session, I really
want to encourage you to pauseand pray.
Just, you know something simpleto say like Lord, I thank you
that you're here with me.
Help me to be aware of yourpresence.
God, let your presence rise inthis place today as I'm
(15:27):
listening to your voice andlooking for the clues of your
spirit today, guide my hands,guide my heart, help me as I
create.
God, give me words of wisdomand words of knowledge, again
just inviting the Holy Spiritinto that process.
And then just step in right,boldly, believe that God is with
you.
Right, trust that spirit-ledintuition that you have in the
(15:49):
creative process.
Feel free to experiment and playwith things and and just watch,
listen, because when you invitethe Lord into these processes
in anything you're doing, butespecially in your art.
I don't know about you, butevery time, the things that I'm
creating always come out better,right.
They always come out inunexpected beauty.
Listen, your art is not justdecoration for decoration sake,
(16:12):
right.
It's a declaration of God'sgoodness and presence that come
into the world through yourhands, because you chose to say
yes to him in the creativeprocess.
So I want to encourage you, myfriend, this week, even today,
dedicate your creative space tothe Lord as a holy place, right,
(16:33):
praying over it, playingworship music, anointing it with
oil.
You know, whatever you do,right, be intentional about that
and set it apart for the Lord,so that when you walk in there,
you expect to meet with him, allright, well, hey, let me pray
as we get through today, father,I thank you that, for every
(16:53):
listener that's listening rightnow, god, all across the globe,
god, the many thousands andthousands of artists that are
leaning in, loving you,listening to your voice, and,
Father, I thank you for thisgift of creativity that you've
placed within each of us.
Lord, I pray today that, as weare thinking about making our
creative space, lord, a holyplace, a sacred place for you,
(17:14):
god, I pray that you would stirup fresh vision and passion and
faith in our hearts that you'dremind us of how you want to
move and dwell in our creativespace.
God, raise our awareness ofyour presence as we're in our
studios, god, let our work, god,be filled with your life and
with your light and with yourlove and God, I pray that our
(17:36):
creative spaces and our livesand the work of our hands, god,
will bring glory to you in everyway, beyond what we could ever
ask or imagine.
We thank you for that, lord inJesus' name, amen.
Hey friend, again, thanks forbeing here today.
I hope this episode encouragedyou.
If it did, would you do me aquick favor?
You know we're trying to getthis year to 2 million downloads
(17:59):
.
We are so close, we're so close, and so make sure that you're
subscribed to the podcast so youdon't miss any future episodes.
But also, if you know anotherartist or group of artists that
you think could use someencouragement, like I'm giving
every week here on the podcast,would you do me a favor and
share it with them?
Share it on your social media,send them an email, send them a
text, whatever you need to do,that would mean a lot to me.
(18:21):
It would help us again.
Just do what God's called me todo of raising up this army of
artists to reveal his glory inthe earth.
All right, hey, I love you, myfriend.
Thanks for being with me andremember till next time you were
created to thrive.
Bye, hey, my friend.
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(18:42):
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(19:02):
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All right, love you.
Bye.
Have you ever wondered what makes your studio
more than just a workspace?
Well, what if I told you it'sactually a sacred meeting space,
sort of a thin place whereheaven meets earth, where
creativity becomes an act ofworship and a partnership with
God.
Well, that's exactly what we'regoing to dive into today, as I
share how to transform yourcreative space into holy ground
(00:22):
that changes you and everythingyou make Today on the Thriving
Christian Artist podcast.
Welcome to the ThrivingChristian Artist, the podcast
where we hope you connect withGod, to bust through the
roadblocks that have held youback for years, create the work
you love and really live thelife you know.
God created you to live as anartist in his kingdom.
I'm Matt Tommey, your host.
(00:44):
Let's get started.
Well, hey there, my friend,super glad that you're here with
me on the podcast today.
Listen, I'm so excited to talkabout this whole topic of
creating a sacred space for yourart, because it really is one
that truly can transform yourcreative process and also your
relationship with the Lord, justhow you approach your art on a
(01:05):
daily basis.
I want to kick off things inExodus, of course, exodus 31,
the seminal chapter, andchapters on artists in the
kingdom of God and thisbeautiful picture of Bezalel and
Aholiab as being both filledand skilled.
But I love Exodus 35, 35, whereit says he has filled them.
(01:27):
Talking about the artisans,he's filled them with skill to
do all kinds of work asengravers and designers,
embroiderers all of them skilledworkers and designers.
And I love this because numberone it reminds us that you know,
all of our creativity, all theskill that we have, it all comes
out of a gift of God, right?
(01:48):
And those artisans in Exodus,they just weren't making
beautiful things for the sake ofbeautiful things.
They were creating somethingsacred, something that would
hold and honor and transmit thevery presence of God in their
community.
And to me I just think that'ssuper powerful and a big
reminder for us that the thingsthat we make and the way that we
(02:11):
make and the place that we makeare really, really important
for us to keep at the top of ourmind, if we will, because it's
so easy for us to just kind ofget in the mindset of yeah, I'm
just kind of in here doing mything and this is a little hobby
.
I have no God specificallyformed you for this and you know
your creative space, whetherit's a like you know, full blown
(02:32):
studio, like I've gotten a lotof artists have, or whether it's
just a quiet corner in yourhome, or I used to work in the
garage or on the back deck or inthe spare bedroom or whatever
it is Listen, it doesn't matterwhere it is.
Wherever you're working, thatcan be a sort of sacred space
for you as well, a place whereyou meet with God and co-labor
(02:53):
with the Holy Spirit and youactually let your creativity and
the things that you're doingartistically become an act of
worship.
You know, I love in Isaiah 64,8, it says but now, oh Lord, you
are our father, we are the clayand you are potter and all.
We are the work of your hand.
(03:13):
I mean, I love that.
Right, we?
We didn't just just happen onthis earth.
We didn't.
We didn't form out of someamoebas just randomly.
This is a beautiful picture inGod's word of what happens when
we yield our creativity to God.
He shapes us even as we'reshaping things with our hands
and with our mind, just likewe're fashioning and forming
(03:36):
things on purpose, with apurpose, in the studio.
He has done and is doing thatcontinually in our lives.
We've not only been shaped byhim, but we are being shaped by
him in his presence, as we sortof invite him in and raise our
awareness of him in the studio.
Because, listen, I think it'ssuper important to realize you
(03:59):
don't have to beg God to comeinto the studio, right?
The Holy Spirit, as believers,he's on board, he's living and
active inside of you right now.
He's not separate from you,he's not beside you, he's not
outside the room or up in heavenand you got to invite him.
No, he's on board.
And so to me, it's all aboutraising our awareness of the
(04:21):
presence of God, the kingdom ofGod that is already living
inside of us.
That's just such a powerful,powerful revelation.
Now, I love diving intocreativity and you know the
meanings of Hebrew words.
If you've listened to thepodcast for a while, you know I
love to do that.
But I love a couple ofdifferent words in Hebrew.
One is yet, sir, y-e-t-s-e-r,and one is Yatzar, which is
(04:45):
Y-A-T-S-A-R, and these are twobeautiful words.
Yatzar is actually the wordthat you see in the Bible that's
used for forming or shapingthings externally, like a potter
is shaping the clay, just likewe saw in Isaiah.
It's actually like hands-onwork, getting your hands dirty
right, actually bringingsomething into being.
(05:07):
But yet, sir, is about internalformation and you see, this
talked about a lot of times interms of imagination in the
Bible, right?
So this is our imagination, thevisions and ideas and dreams
that God is forming inside of us.
The cool thing to me and thisis really where you know, diving
a little deeper gets reallyinteresting these two words come
(05:31):
from the same Hebrew root word,which means to form or fashion.
Now, of course, one meansinternal, one means external,
but they're deeply connected andit is I kind of like to think
of it as two sides of the coin.
And in fact, you could probablysay it this way Yetzir is the
inner formation, the imagination, where God's visions and dreams
(05:52):
and all the things that he putsinside of us and that we're
putting inside of ourimagination, all those things
take shape inside of us.
And Yetzir is the outwardshaping, is the crafting and
fashioning of those things thathave been conceived in the
Spirit, in our imagination, butthey're actually brought into
something tangible.
I think for me that gives afull picture of this creative
(06:17):
process.
You know, the things that Godplants inside of us, the things
that we sow into our ownimagination.
As we're walking with the Lord,we're called to shape those
things internally with the HolySpirit, but also express those
things outwardly with the HolySpirit.
I just love that and rememberthis is not just how the
(06:40):
creative process works forartists, right?
This is how the kingdom of Godworks, right?
Whether you're looking atbusiness ideas or family ideas,
or looking for a divine solutionin your life, in marketing or
business or anything that you'refacing, we lean on the voice of
the Holy Spirit, not only inhis word, but also within us.
(07:00):
Right, the kingdom of Godwithin us.
And we allow him, we co-laborwith him.
We invite him to.
Yet, sir, right Inside of us,to form and shape and bring
these things into existence sothat they come out on the
outside.
We form them on the inside sowe can express them on the
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outside, not apart from the HolySpirit, but with the Holy
Spirit.
That's God's plan.
Listen, you've heard me say amillion times transformation
happens how?
From the inside out.
Well, creativity happens fromthe inside out.
The kingdom gets manifested inyour life from the inside out.
Are you starting to see apattern here?
This is how the kingdom of Godworks and listen, that's exactly
(07:45):
what's happening in yourcreative space, right, your
studio.
For artists, you and me, thisbecomes that place where that
yetzer and yetzer come together,right when God has planted
these deep dreams and visionsand passions within us and they
start to take form through thework of our hands.
(08:06):
Listen, this is why it's soimportant, I think, for all of
us to get beyond this idea of ohyeah, this is my little
creative space, or I knowbecause I've been mentoring
artists for a long time a lot ofyou feel bad or even selfish
for even having a creative space, because you believe the lies
of the enemy or you've allowedother people to put their
(08:28):
impressions or opinions on yourcreative place.
But listen, your studio isabsolutely a creative place.
It's not just a place to getthings done, it is holy ground.
And so when you dedicate yourspace to the Lord, right, you
invite him in there on anintentional basis to move
through you and create anatmosphere of his presence in
(08:50):
your studio where you can flowwith him freely.
Listen, he's transforming notonly the things that you're
creating, he's transforming you.
In the process, you gettransformed, your art gets to be
transformed.
You become a sign and a wonder.
Your art becomes a sign and awonder.
Your life manifests the kingdomof God.
Your art manifests the kingdomof God.
Listen now, I think that isjust incredible and it raises
(09:16):
our awareness of what the HolySpirit wants to do in and
through our lives when we'reshowing up faithful in the
studio every day.
Now you might be sitting therethinking, okay, matt, I get it,
I get it, I get it, I love theidea.
But how do I actually do this?
Like, give me the practicalsright.
My wife is a practical, she'slike Matt, you know, give me the
(09:40):
one.
Like, give me the practicalsright.
My wife is a practical, she'slike Matt, you know.
Give me the one, two, threeright.
What are the steps?
So let me give you somepractical and, I think, simple
steps to start making yourstudio feel like a sacred space.
All right, one of the things Iwould say is put some worship
music on, maybe worship musicwith songs, sometimes
instrumental soaking music whileyou work.
This to me, just helps set thetone, if you will, the presence
of God in the atmosphere.
Many, many times you've heardme say I've got my keyboard in
(10:02):
my studio, in my office in here.
I'll come in and just play alittle bit.
I'll turn on worship music.
I'm really loving right nowhouse fires and if you go on
Apple Music and look up housefires essentials um, oh my gosh,
that playlist is just like takeme in the glory, right.
And so I'll just turn that onand I'll just worship a little
(10:23):
bit as I'm, as I'm gettingstarted, and just I'm praying in
the spirit, I'm just invitingthe holy spirit just to raise
the water level right in in thestudio to me.
I I love lighting, right.
I think all of us artists we'reaesthetically oriented and so I
love when I can use, you know,especially as I'm getting
started in the morning sort ofsoft light, natural light, you
(10:43):
know, just to make a creativesort of peaceful environment for
myself.
I love to surround myself withinspiration too.
You know scripture verses,prophetic words, vision boards.
I have a vision wallinspiration wall, I call it in
my studio where I've got allsort of just neat things, that
beautiful things that I'vecollected over the years that
(11:03):
just inspire me creatively andit helps me to keep myself in
that place of wonder as I'm inthe studio.
You know scripture verses onthe walls reading God's word in
in the studio.
It just helps to keep yourheart focused on the presence of
God, god's promises and andpurposes for your life and art,
and and and keep the the focusof your heart on him.
(11:27):
Now, listen, some of you aregoing to resist me on this, but
I think it's just true.
If you, if you really get downto it, working in a clean and
organized space just makes youfeel better.
It really does me, in fact,years ago I used to just work in
a rat's nest and listen whileI'm working.
I know I can get messy, butevery day, at the end of the day
, I've covenanted with myself toclean off my work table and
(11:51):
sweep the floor and make it amore organized space.
I just think it.
It opens up the space to say,hey, you're ready, you're open
to the things God wants to do.
You're not coming in trying toclean up a mess, you're out,
you're in there in the morningbeing able to give it your best.
The other thing that I do a lotnot every day, but I really um
sketch a lot with, with ideas,especially as I'm, you know,
(12:14):
thinking of new commissions ornew projects, and I really try
to treat that just like I treatmy normal prayer journaling sort
as a uh sort of a spiritualpractice, if you will.
You know, I believe, and I hopeyou believe, that these ideas
that you're getting, they're notjust separate from the Lord,
they're not just because they'recoming out of your natural mind
.
These are things that God isbirthing in and through you, and
(12:36):
so I think it's incumbent uponus, as artists, to write those
things down, right.
Habakkuk said what?
Write the vision down, make itplain so the runner can run with
it.
And I think, sketching for youand me, doodling and drawing and
sketching out things of ideasthat we have, it's just a
beautiful, god-centered responsethat says, hey, I'm listening,
(12:57):
I'm paying attention, I'mwriting down the things that
you're giving me and I'm goingto let these marinate and
percolate inside my spirit untilthey come into formation, that
yatsar part of that, until itcomes into formation with my
hands.
That's just really, reallygreat.
And, again, just a beautifulway to both center your spirit
(13:18):
but also remind yourself aboutwhat God is doing.
And, again, just the simplicityof asking the Lord, dedicating
your space to the Lord, in fact,one of the things that I've
chosen to do and you may thinkthis sounds kind of cheesy or
whatever, but I've just recentlygotten myself an old vintage
(13:39):
street sign that's a yield signwith a big red reflective signs,
and I put it over the door ofmy studio.
So every time I walk in it'ssort of this visual reminder to
yield to the voice of the HolySpirit in everything I do.
I don't know, for me it's likethis simple thing, but every
time I see it it just sort oftriggers something in me and it
(14:00):
reminds me that this isn't justabout me coming in and doing
things in my own strength.
It's not me just coming in andrecording podcasts and writing
books and mentoring artists inmy own strength, making art in
my own strength no way.
It's about me partnering withthe Holy Spirit and letting him
lead the way.
All right, I think all of thatyou know.
(14:23):
The enemy, of course, would wantto make it a lot more
complicated for you.
But listen, all this doesn'thave to be complicated.
They can work together insimplicity to help you create
and cultivate this beautifulstudio practice in space where,
when you come in, you'reexpecting God to meet with you.
And here's the thing and youmay have heard me say this
(14:44):
before but you don't have towait, for, like you know, these
like big, fancy feelings of, ofinspiration you know to strike
or whatever.
I want you to assume connectionright.
You're a son of the King,you're a daughter of the King.
The Holy spirit is alreadyliving inside of you, moving
inside of you.
He's ready to work, he'salready speaking, he's ready to
(15:04):
pour out any time that youchoose.
To activate that through walkinginto your studio every time you
create, and so, before yournext creative session, I really
want to encourage you to pauseand pray.
Just, you know something simpleto say like Lord, I thank you
that you're here with me.
Help me to be aware of yourpresence.
God, let your presence rise inthis place today as I'm
(15:27):
listening to your voice andlooking for the clues of your
spirit today, guide my hands,guide my heart, help me as I
create.
God, give me words of wisdomand words of knowledge, again
just inviting the Holy Spiritinto that process.
And then just step in right,boldly, believe that God is with
you.
Right, trust that spirit-ledintuition that you have in the
(15:49):
creative process.
Feel free to experiment and playwith things and and just watch,
listen, because when you invitethe Lord into these processes
in anything you're doing, butespecially in your art.
I don't know about you, butevery time, the things that I'm
creating always come out better,right.
They always come out inunexpected beauty.
Listen, your art is not justdecoration for decoration sake,
(16:12):
right.
It's a declaration of God'sgoodness and presence that come
into the world through yourhands, because you chose to say
yes to him in the creativeprocess.
So I want to encourage you, myfriend, this week, even today,
dedicate your creative space tothe Lord as a holy place, right,
(16:33):
praying over it, playingworship music, anointing it with
oil.
You know, whatever you do,right, be intentional about that
and set it apart for the Lord,so that when you walk in there,
you expect to meet with him, allright, well, hey, let me pray
as we get through today, father,I thank you that, for every
(16:53):
listener that's listening rightnow, god, all across the globe,
god, the many thousands andthousands of artists that are
leaning in, loving you,listening to your voice, and,
Father, I thank you for thisgift of creativity that you've
placed within each of us.
Lord, I pray today that, as weare thinking about making our
creative space, lord, a holyplace, a sacred place for you,
(17:14):
god, I pray that you would stirup fresh vision and passion and
faith in our hearts that you'dremind us of how you want to
move and dwell in our creativespace.
God, raise our awareness ofyour presence as we're in our
studios, god, let our work, god,be filled with your life and
with your light and with yourlove and God, I pray that our
(17:36):
creative spaces and our livesand the work of our hands, god,
will bring glory to you in everyway, beyond what we could ever
ask or imagine.
We thank you for that, lord inJesus' name, amen.
Hey friend, again, thanks forbeing here today.
I hope this episode encouragedyou.
If it did, would you do me aquick favor?
You know we're trying to getthis year to 2 million downloads
(17:59):
.
We are so close, we're so close, and so make sure that you're
subscribed to the podcast so youdon't miss any future episodes.
But also, if you know anotherartist or group of artists that
you think could use someencouragement, like I'm giving
every week here on the podcast,would you do me a favor and
share it with them?
Share it on your social media,send them an email, send them a
text, whatever you need to do,that would mean a lot to me.
(18:21):
It would help us again.
Just do what God's called me todo of raising up this army of
artists to reveal his glory inthe earth.
All right, hey, I love you, myfriend.
Thanks for being with me andremember till next time you were
created to thrive.
Bye, hey, my friend.
Before you go, make sure thatyou're signed up for the
thriving Christian artists.
Weekly, it's my free newsletter, full of spiritual
(18:42):
encouragement, creativeinspiration and practical tips
to help you thrive in everythingthat God's called you to do as
an artist in his kingdom.
Every issue is absolutely freeand it includes the latest
podcast episode, featured artistspotlights, a worship song of
the week and, again, tons oftips and encouragement and
inspiration for you to keep youinspired and encouraged in
(19:02):
everything that God's got foryou as an artist in the kingdom.
You can click the link righthere in the show notes to join
us, and it's a great way to stayconnected.
All right, love you.
Bye.
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