Imaginative Prayer/ Ignatian Contemplation
We are told in John 17:3 that eternal life is to KNOW Jesus. Yet even though this is one of the most fundamental pieces of becoming a follower or disciple of Jesus, it can be an overwhelming or confusing concept for us. You aren’t alone if you feel like you want more to your relationship with Jesus, but aren’t sure what you are missing. How do we know Jesus? Or how can we get to know Him better? We know that we are supposed to pray and read our Bible, but sometimes prayer feels awkward. Sometimes prayer might feel more like a list of requests or confessions than an interactive dialogue with God. Then we try reading Scripture. It might help us know about Jesus, but maybe it feels more like we are reading a history than encountering Jesus for ourselves. What can we do?
Imaginative prayer gives us the opportunity to combine these two spiritual ideas (prayer and reading Scripture) in a way that allows both to become more vivid and alive for us. Imaginative prayer is sometimes called “Ignatian Contemplation” because it was popularized by Ignatius of Loyola, who was a Spanish theologian and priest from the early 1500s. You can read more about Ignatius HERE. He offers a lot of spiritual practices that can be very helpful that we may address further in future videos and blogs. But for the practice of Imaginative Prayer, Ignatius encourages us to read the Scripture by using our God-given imaginations to allow us to picture ourselves as part of the story as we read.
Imaginative prayer is frequently used with the Gospels, which is helpful because it gives us an opportunity to truly encounter Jesus in a new way. If you’d like to try this on your own, simply choose a story with Jesus from the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John). Perhaps you will start with a story that you have always loved or been curious about. If you want a place to start, you could begin with the calling of the disciples from Luke 5:1-11, or perhaps the story of Peter walking on water with Jesus from Matthew 14:22-36. Once you pick your passage, invite Jesus to show up in the story with you, and to reveal to you what He wants you to see.
Begin by reading through the passage once to get an overview of what is happening. As you read, is there someone in the story that stands out to you? If so, reread the passage now, imagining that you are the character in the story. (For example, imagine that you are Peter stepping out on the water to follow Jesus.) As you read a second time, really allow all your senses to kick in. What do you hear, taste, smell, see, or touch? How does your character feel? How does Jesus look at you? How does He speak? Perhaps you may reread the story from the perspective of Jesus or another character, or as an onlooker. Does this change what you see or feel?
When you have finished reading the story a few times, invite Jesus to speak to your heart anything that He wants you to take away from this encounter. Does Jesus want to use this story to speak into your own situation in a new way? Perhaps Jesus wants you to know something about Him that you hadn’t noticed before. Maybe you have had some wrong ideas about Jesus, and Jesus wants to gently invite you to see Him as He really is. Take some time in silence with God to listen, or journal your thoughts to help you remember how you felt and what Jesus might be speaking.
This practice might feel a little awkward at first, especially for those of us who are very black and white or literal in our understanding of God. You might feel uncomfortable using your imagination or fear that you are stepping outside of the lines of Scripture. But we can trust that God gave us our imaginations, and that this is simply a tool to encounter God. Much as the popular series “The Chosen” allows us to imagine the life of Jesus in powerful ways, this practice allows us to use the practice of reading Scripture in a more experiential way, reminding us that the same Jesus that lived in those stories long ago is still alive and active and with us in our stories today.
Perhaps this will become a practice that you regularly go to when you are feeling confused by a passage or when you long to experience Jesus in a more personal way. Or maybe, you will decide that this exercise doesn’t really speak to your personality, and that’s OK too. We will continue to bring different resources for you to explore to help you grow in your walk with Jesus in the way that you connect with best.
If you’d like to explore the idea of Imaginative Prayer more, here are some additional resources:
Audio Imaginative Prayer Guide: If you would like someone to walk you through this practice to help you become more confident in the practice, check out this audio guide by Andy Otto from his website, “God in All Things”
A short overview of Imaginative Prayer with links to additional practices by Ignatius of Loyola
When Faith Becomes Sight book by Beth and David Booram. Although there are many spiritual practices in this book which are amazing, most of the chapters also include an imaginative retelling of Scripture from the perspective of a character in the Bible. If you need a little help using your imagination or picturing yourself in the story, these creative retellings may be very helpful for you.
