Reflecting on Scripture exercises your mind. You use your intellect to understand the passage and ponder the meaning it conveys. But your mind is not only analytical.
Your mind possesses great powers to imagine and empathize.
Do you ever wonder what it would have been like to follow along at Jesus’ side, to hear his voice, and to see what he did first-hand?
Use your imagination to enter into the events of Christ’s life. Put all five of your senses at the disposal of the Holy Spirit to make the event more real to you.
Entering the scene with your imagination allows God to open up new insights and inspirations in your mind and heart.
Your imagination brings the stories to life and allows the Holy Spirit to place you in Jesus’ presence in prayer. The words he speaks become words spoken to you.
Use the following process to pray with a Scripture passage using your imagination.
1. Prepare and Read
Prepare for prayer as usual. Invite the Holy Spirit to guide you. Choose a passage to read. A narrative passage works best for this.
2. Picture the Scene
Prayerfully imagine the scene and any details noted in the passage. Where does the event take place? Does the passage mention any details about the setting? What other details do you picture? How is the weather? Is it dry? Dusty? Humid? Cold? Who are the different people present for this event?
Place yourself in the scene. Choose one of the people in the narrative and see the scene through their eyes. Are you someone interacting with Jesus? A member of the crowd? Jesus? One of his disciples? How close or far are you from Jesus?
Use your imagination to extrapolate. What do you see, smell, feel, taste, hear? What emotions stir within you? What do you want to do or say? What do you see Jesus do? Hear him say? How do other people in the story interact with you? What do you see them do or hear them say? How do these imaginings affect you? What do they show you about yourself or Jesus or someone else?
3. Respond
Talk to God about whatever emerged in your prayerful imagining.
Want to download this prayer exercise to print or use offline? Click here.
Andrea Jackson is a Content Creator and Ministry Consultant at the Evangelical Catholic. The Evangelical Catholic’s mission is to equip Catholics to live out the Great Commission.
