Imaginative Prayer
/“I became conscious of the fact that the only way to live was to live in a world that was charged with the presence and reality of God.”
Imaginative Prayer is a contemplative way of praying with scripture. This practice has certainly been around for as long as people have, for our imagination is a special and unique function of being human.
Within the Christian tradition, Imaginative Prayer has been made popular by Ignatius of Loyola who founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in the mid 16th century. Most notably, the “Spiritual Exercises of Loyola” are a series of deliberate and particular passages of scripture and area of focus where people are encouraged to use this method of imaginative prayer to understand themselves and God better.
By allowing our imagination to be used by God, scripture is enlivened as you place yourself in a passage of scripture imagining all of your senses engaged in the scene. Without being concerned about how your imagination may be “playing” with the story, you discover new insights about yourself, and the scripture story yourself, making your time in prayer a very personalized and powerful experience with God.
Here are a few tips to consider:
Before you begin, take time to “dispose” yourself to God. Bring your attention and awareness to the present moment and present to God. Consider the particular grace you are looking for in this prayer time and ask God for it.
Read a passage of scripture a number of times slowly. There is no need to rush the reading, and as you do, take all the details in. Consider a short to medium length passage. Often people find the Gospels particularly powerful because of the evocative stories full of people, places, and events with Jesus.
Begin the prayer by gently allowing yourself to “be found” in the passage. Set the scene. Consider what the sights, sounds, smells are, and where you are located in the passage. Are you a particular person? Are you an onlooker?
As you continue praying, do not worry if things emerge in your prayer that are not a part of the formal story in scripture. What are you saying and doing in the story? What is Jesus saying and doing in the story? What are others saying and doing in the story? And, how does all of this feel? What emotions are arising for you?
If your mind wanders, see if you can stick with it. Try and return to an “energetic” part of the story - the place where you found the most energy and animation. Give yourself time to let your imagination pick back up again.
Let your prayer come to its natural end. Then, take some time to review what happened in your prayer? What is standing out to you? What questions remain? What are the predominant emotions?
To begin, make sure you have no distractions, take a couple of deep centering breaths, invite the Holy into this time and begin. Take about 20-30 minutes to go through all the steps outlined above – take your time not to rush!
