Pray without Ceasing

Scripture

1 Thessalonians 5:17, King James Version

Subject

Prayer as a line that stays open all day

Style

Modern abstract, painted in color and light; no lettering on the canvas

Painted

2019, by Mark Lawrence

Theme

Prayer

Shape

Square

Sizes

20 × 20, 32 × 32, 48 × 48, 53 × 53 inches

Price

$189 to $1349

Canvas

Giclée on 340 gsm poly-cotton, matte so it does not glare, UV-resistant HP Latex inks, on solid wood bars 1.5 inches deep

No frame

That stretched canvas on its own, the painting wrapped round the wooden sides

Framed

The same stretched canvas inside a solid wood floater frame: oak, dark oak, white or black

Hanging

Sawtooth hanger fitted on the top bar, rubber bumpers on the bottom corners. One hook.

Made in

United States

Shipping

Free to all 50 states, tracked

Suits

Modern, mid-century, coastal, farmhouse and traditional rooms; it hangs as a painting first

Delivery

Made in 1 to 2 business days, up to 5 at busy times, then 3 to 7 in transit. About two weeks in all

If damaged

Replaced free or refunded in full, with photos within 30 days

Rooms

Bedroom or prayer corner

Given for

A baptism or a christening, or a mother, a wife or a daughter

Edition

Open edition, printed on demand. The signed limited edition is at marklawrencegallery.com

Three words, one of the shortest verses in the Bible. Paul is writing to a young church in Thessalonica and he sets it between rejoice evermore and in every thing give thanks. Read together they are not three heavy commands but one settled posture. Praying without ceasing has never meant kneeling without stopping. It means the line stays open. You are not calling God long distance and hoping He picks up. You are talking to someone already in the room, all day, about everything.

It comes in four sizes. 20 × 20 inches ($189, or $259 framed) suits a shelf, a desk, or hanging as one of a pair. 32 × 32 inches ($469, or $589 framed) is right over a console, a side table or a chimney breast. 48 × 48 inches ($799, or $919 framed) takes the wall that defeats everything else, and holds it alone. 53 × 53 inches ($1199, or $1349 framed) is the largest we make, and it needs a wall of its own. A square centers easily and hangs alone well, which is why it suits the walls nothing else fits. Hang it so the center of the painting sits about 57 to 60 inches from the floor, which is eye level for most people standing.

Yes. Take a photo of the wall, straight on and in daylight if you can, with the furniture under it in the shot. Email it to hello@christianmodernart.com with the name of the painting and roughly how wide the wall or the sofa is. Mark places the painting on your wall at the size that fits and sends the picture back, so you see it there before you buy it. There is no charge and no obligation. It is the surest way to get the size right, and he would rather do it than have you guess.

It hangs from a sawtooth hanger, already screwed to the center of the top bar when it leaves the workshop, so there is no wire to fit and nothing to assemble. One picture hook or a nail in the wall is all it needs, and the sawtooth lets you nudge it level once it is up. Two rubber bumpers on the bottom corners hold it off the wall, keep it square and stop it marking the paint. For the largest size, put the hook into a stud or use a proper wall anchor rather than trusting drywall alone. Take it out of the box, find the hanger, and it is on the wall in a minute.

Yes, and most often for a baptism or a christening, and for a mother, a wife or a daughter. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 is the kind of verse people want to put in someone else's house rather than keep, and a painting says it without preaching. It arrives ready to hang, and it can ship straight to the recipient's address with no prices or paperwork in the box. If you do not know their walls, the 32 × 32 inch ($589 framed) is the size that fits almost anywhere.

That is the most common reason people find this store, and it is a fair worry. Most Christian wall art goes one of two ways: traditional to the point of looking borrowed from a church, or so washed out and beige that the faith drains out with the color. Mark paints the other direction. These read as contemporary abstract paintings on the wall, alive with color, and the verse is there for anyone who looks. No lettering across the canvas, no ornament, nothing that announces itself before the art does.

More than you would think. Because there is no lettering and no picture of a church on it, it hangs as a painting first. It sits well in a modern room with white walls, where it is the one thing alive; in a mid-century room, where the color picks up the wood; in a farmhouse or coastal room, where it warms the neutrals; and in a traditional room, where a modern abstract beside old furniture looks like a choice. The rooms it was made for are listed under Details. If you are unsure, send a photo of the wall.

Mark Lawrence, in 2019. Mark Lawrence painted the original. He has painted Scripture since 2008 and works one verse at a time, in color and light, which is the part most Christian wall art leaves out. Every painting in this store is his own work, dated to the year he painted it, and his signature is in the paint rather than added to the print afterwards. The signed limited edition of each painting is at marklawrencegallery.com. What you are buying here is the open edition of that same work.

A giclée print on a heavy 340 gsm poly-cotton canvas with a matte finish, so there is no glare from a window or a lamp, in water-based HP Latex inks that are UV-resistant so the color holds in a bright room. The surface is scratch, crack and warp resistant. It is stretched over solid wood bars an inch and a half deep. Every option starts as that same stretched canvas. Choose no frame and you get it on its own, with the painting wrapped round the wooden sides, the way canvases hang in a gallery. Choose oak, dark oak, white or black and the same canvas sits inside a solid wood floater frame, with a fine shadow gap all the way round. Either way it arrives ready to hang, with a sawtooth hanger already fitted and rubber bumpers on the back to protect the wall and keep it straight. Production takes one to two business days, occasionally up to five, and delivery inside the United States takes three to seven business days after that, tracked, with the tracking link emailed to you. US shipping is free. It is printed, stretched and framed in America, and the box carries no printer's branding. It comes from the artist.

Not yet. Today the store ships inside the United States only, where shipping is free at every size. The printer does have presses abroad, so it is a question of opening it properly rather than a question of whether it can be done. If you are outside the United States and one of these paintings is the one you want, write to Mark at hello@christianmodernart.com with the painting and the country you are in, and he will tell you honestly what he can do and what it would cost.

Ask. The sizes on the page are the ones we sell every day, but the printer makes others in the same shape, and if one of them fits your wall Mark can put it on the page for you. Write to hello@christianmodernart.com with the wall's width and the painting's name, and he will tell you what is possible and what it costs. No charge for asking.

Every canvas is made to order, so there is no stock to return it to, and a change of mind after delivery cannot be refunded. Please check the size and the frame before you order; the size question above is there to help. If it arrives damaged, or with a fault in the print or the frame, send a photo of the problem, one of the packaging and one of the shipping label to hello@christianmodernart.com within 30 days of delivery, and it is replaced free or refunded in full. Orders go into production soon after they are placed, so if you need to cancel, write immediately and we will do what we can.