Ian here!

Before I come to this month’s post, I wanted to thank all you prayers who have been bringing me before the Lord on this healing adventure as I’ve dubbed it. I cherish everyone and knowing the chemo continues to be working and my neuropathy is manageable now, I now your prayers are being answered. Thank you. I’ve still got a long way to with a stem cell transplant at some point in this adventure and I will continue to covet every prayer you pray! Big love.

“For me, reason is the natural organ of truth, but imagination is the organ of meaning.” – C.S. Lewis.

Increasingly using my imagination in my spiritual walk has led to an increasing intimacy with God. It is said that it was after Lewis began to use his imagination that he finally discovered God as a relational being and surrendered his many years of resistance to give his life to God.

We use our imaginations all the time every day. Some of it or even a lot of it can be used for not so positive purposes. For example, our fantasy life. This is something that I must continually surrender to the Lord as it can be a distraction focusing on my self-ruling mind. Letting go of our self-rule is one of the great challenges of our spiritual walk and it is a daily surrender. Stepping into a positive use of my imagination is one way I turn my eyes to the Lord and let go of my self-rule.

How I use my Imagination

• About 10 years ago I came across Imaginative Meditations. I love listening to a soothing voice invite me to put myself into a Biblical story and use my senses to imaginatively interact with Jesus.
• In times of solitude and silence I will typically invite Jesus to come into my room in my imagination. We will sit together and simply be still. Sometimes Jesus will say things to me, sometimes he doesn’t. But simply being in his presence allows me to let go of some my distractions in my thought life. When a distraction pops its head up, I might simply say, “Jesus” or “Come Holy Spirit” that knocks it down and switches me back to Jesus.
• Recently, I’ve been meeting Jesus on a boat on a beautiful lake. I imagine I’m on Lake Jasper or similar in Canada. Look it up if you’re not familiar with it. Funnily, I’m not really a water-guy. But I hop in the boat and we sit, we fish (he’s a very good fisherman!) and sometimes we even head to shore and Jesus shows me how to build a fire, how to de-scale any fish we’ve caught, cook it over the fire and then enjoy a meal together. Once again, it’s not about talking so much but simply being together.
• Some of the drugs I’m taking make getting to sleep a challenge, so I use a nighttime mediation from the Dwell app to help me fall asleep. Viv and Trevor alternate each night and use a short verse to help us move on from our day and focus on God’s goodness, his peace, his constant caring for us, or similar to help us relax and then music takes us into sleep. I did mention that I love listening to a soothing voice, didn’t I?😘 I picture Jesus speaking these words over me and even sitting in my bedroom quietly praying over me the night’s verse.

Over to you. What imaginative practices do you use to help you step into the Lord’s presence? Do you have concerns using your imagination to ‘see’ the Lord?

We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Big love, dear SUMites.