Do you ever become bored with familiar passages of Scripture?
I confess it happens to me.
To help combat that boredom and familiarity, today we’re going to try something different. It’s called Imaginative Prayer.
Imaginative prayer is a way of connecting with God over a passage of Scripture using our sanctified imagination that’s inviting the Holy Spirit to make the passage come alive to us.
In this video, we’ll start out by asking God to lead us by surrendering our time and our imagination to Him, and allowing him to lead us. It’s not like an Eastern mystic “empty your mind” type deal — it’s a surrender to the Holy Spirit, asking God to connect with us in this way, and to help us understand Him through the passage.
Then we read a passage of Scripture several times over and reflect on it. I’ll give you some questions to ponder, and we’ll spend some time in silence thinking on these questions. Then we’ll respond to Jesus regarding what we saw about Him, what we learned about God in the text, and spend some time in rest and in worship. Finally, you’ll have an opportunity to live it out.
Your Next Steps:
Step 1: Pray, asking God to lead you and inviting Him to reveal Himself to you through His Word.
Step 2: Read the passage of Scripture.
Step 3: Pick a character to help you enter the scene. You could be one of the people in the crowd. You could be one of the disciples. You could be the main character. Enter the scene through one of the characters.
Step 4: Read again, more slowly. Reflect on the words. Picture the scene. What do you see? What do you hear? What would you taste, touch, and smell if you were right there?
Step 5: Be curious as you ask questions about the scene: What emotions arise? What surprises you?
Step 6: Respond to God; What did you notice about Jesus? What did you see for the first time? What comes off the page and into your life? Connect with Him in prayer. Take a moment to rest in the quiet, and to worship Jesus for who He is.
Step 7: Reflect; What is God inviting you to know, to understand, or to do because of this passage?
Scriptures to Read:
Luke 8:42-48
Recommended Resources:
Imaginative Prayer (intro to lectio divina video from Creative Devotions Collection)
Meeting God in Scripture: A Hands-On Guide to Lectio Divina, by Jan Johnson
Quiet Time Journal: 90-Day Bible Study and Prayer Journal
Quiet Time for Busy Women: 6 Weeks to Becoming Consistent in Your Daily Devotions