Prayer of imagination with stories of Jesus
Helpful guidelines
Getting started:
- Get comfortable and quiet-attentively ask God to open your heart to this prayer time.
- Read a chosen story once to get the general unfolding of events
Using your senses to engage the story:
- Begin to imagine the setting of the story using all of your sense to create a picture.
- Where are you? Who else is there? What do you hear, small, taste, etc? Let yourself imagine it freely. Use the details to become emotionally engaged.
- Become a participant in the story: a spectator, on of Jesus’ friends, or as the person jesus encounters. Let the story unfold.
Encountering Jesus in the story:
- Pay close attention to what Jesus is doing and saying. Pay attention to what demeanor he has.
- Allow yourself to be drawn in to the experience of being there and actually encountering Jesus yourself.
- Allow Jesus to interact with you as you are in the scene. How does Jesus come to you? What does he do our say? Respond and see what happens next. Let the story come to a natural conclusion.
Responding to the prayer experience:
- Pay attention to the symbolic connections: what is the storm in my life? How am I lame or blind?
- Reflect on how Jesus interacted with you in light of these connections. How does Jesus want to be present to those things in your life at present?
- Have a conversation with Jesus or write Jesus a letter honestly expressing your response
- Together with Jesus reflect on what action this experience might free you or encourage you to take.
Suggested Jesus stories to read:
- Behold I stand at the door and knock…
- Jesus walking on the water…
- On the road to Emmaus…
- Jesus healing the paralytic…
- And more… pick a favorite story and try it.
