Reading scripture is such a powerful foundation for prayer. Passages become so familiar that they are “written on our palms” so to speak. The stories remind us again and again to whom we belong. Scripture connects my own prayers to the followers of Christ who lived thousands of years ago. We share a common language.
Another way to experience Scripture is by using the imagination God has so joyfully placed in us. Imaginative prayer employs all your senses in contemplation of a passage. One Gospel story I return to often is that of the hemorrhagic woman. Her story is so real to me. The shame of her condition, her private suffering, her isolation is so easy for me to understand. We all feel damaged, we “bleed” continuously but continue through life as if nothing is wrong. Our sadness is often hidden.
So when I go into that story, I try to feel what it feels like to wear her clothes. How my tummy aches and how tired I feel from the blood loss. I am jogging to keep up, squinting to catch glimpses of Jesus between peoples’ shoulders. I smell dust in the air, kicked up from so many feet. It’s dry and I feel the sun hot on my head. I’m thirsty.
When I pray this way, I feel her rising desperation, in the same way I feel it in my own life sometimes. There is no way I can request an audience with this Man. He is too precious, too important. If I can just touch a thread! I reach out and feel the brush of the rough cloth. And in that very moment, He whirls around and I hear his voice – his sonorous voice – asking who touched him.
I am petrified. But I look into His eyes, I see such warmth. He calls me “Daughter”. And immediately, the gnawing pain in my belly disappears. I feel a love beyond measure, freely given, unearned.
This kind of prayer asks us to stay true to the confines of the Scripture. It’s not just a daydream that can go any direction. But it’s an intense way to experience what is written. When I pray that way, it changes my heart.
I don’t ever live up to what I want to be: I am critical, I’m bossy, I’m a mess — but rather than reading about mercy, I have lived how it feels to receive it. And I’m hoping over time that experience teaches me also how to give it. Imaginative prayer is a helpful way to experience a living conversation with Jesus that aligns with Scripture.
by Carie Grant
