There were a lot of questions generated by our recent Animate series, which explored the role that imagination plays in our spiritual lives. One question that came up frequently was, “Are we just making all this up when we practice imaginative spirituality?” 
This sermon was part of our Animate adventure series that ran from April 19 to June 14, 2009.
The supplemental content that accompanied the series was designed to be gone through in groups.
You can download the entire booklet here.
As people reflected on the process of using their imagination as a meeting place for God, the following questions arose:
- Is the Jesus who appears in my “inner sanctuary” real or is it just me imagining him?
- Am I just pretending?
- I enjoy imagining Jesus saying things he says about me in Scripture, but I’m aware that I’m doing this; isn’t there something wrong with this?
Greg responded by reminding us that nothing in our lives is totally our doing or totally God’s doing. If it’s in our lives, it involves us, if it’s in God’s creation, it involves God and others in creation. I Cor. 12:3 reminds us that no one can confess Jesus as Lord except by the power of the Holy Spirit. And Phil. 2:12-13 says we are to work out our salvation in fear and trembling for it is God who is at work in us to will and to act. From both of these passages we can see that it is always both God and us at work. This is true for our prayer life as well.
Sometimes it may feel as if it’s “all me” trying to be faithful in prayer and at other times it may feel like God is powerfully present and you are just along for the ride. In both situations you are present personally, and obviously, so is God.
Our role in this form of prayer is laid out by passages like 2 Cor. 10:5, Phil. 4:7-8,Rom. 12:2, and Heb. 4:22-24. We are to be intentional about what happens in our hearts and minds in-so-far as we have control over these things. To that
extent, there is a task for us to do.
But, there are also times when it seems clear to us that it is no longer us who are “driving” the process. It is at times like this we experience prayer and communion with God as a gift. We can’t force this to come about, God just moves as God
moves. Sometimes there’s a prompting to take an action we hadn’t thought of, other times it is simply a reassuring presence and a deep sense of peace.
Phil. 2:12-13 captures both the task and the gift aspects of our life with God. Greg closed by saying we shouldn’t “try” to have experiences with God, but rather we just need to yield to God and allow it to happen.
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Might have been ‘The Littlest Hobo’.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051870/soundtrack
Yes, here’s the lyrics: (‘Road Without End’)
http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/t/themefromthelittlesthobo.shtml
By the Way, it’s Canadian!
Also, I wanted to say that I used to do a lot of introspection, examining my thoughts and feelings but I stopped because I thought maybe it was too self-centered. It was/is helpful sometimes but often left me running in circles. I have recently started writing again about my thoughts and feelings and am happy to hear you say it’s a good thing to do.
I have your book about imagination, Seeing is Believing, which I enjoyed much. This was so inspiring and helpful. I am glad to say that at least three women at our fellowship really want to read your book and are very interested in this topic–not afraid of it. In fact, one friend did read your book and thought it was very biblical–I was concerned because she is very concerned about things taught–they are in alignment with biblical truth, and she knows her bible. Thanks for sharing so vulnerably.