Imaginative Prayer for Youth Ministry: A Guide to Transforming Your Students' Spiritual Lives into Journey, Adventure, and Encounter

by Jeannie Oestreicher, Larry Warner

Overview

How often have you struggled to help your students really grasp God’s love? How often have you been frustrated by their Sunday school answers when you try to draw them into the depths of God’s story? You’re not alone. Many students (and even youth workers brave enough to admit it) are experiencing emptiness, lack of passion, and a growing inability to hear from God. But there is hope. Just use your imagination… God created our imaginations. Why not harness them to encounter our creative God in brand new ways? Try it right now: Picture yourself in a boat with Jesus as the seas grow rough, as the water crashes over the bow. Notice what’s going on…notice your emotions at this critical moment. What is your sense of Jesus’ presence in the midst of the storm? The latter is just one example of the many guided exercises within the pages of Imaginative Prayer for Youth Ministry. You’ll find tools that can help you use imaginative prayer as a means of experiencing the God who is continually reaching out to us. Invite your students to open their imaginations (and their five senses) to God’s spirit and allow God to move and speak directly to them through the 50 imaginative prayer exercises inside. They come complete with instructions, environment suggestions, and optional debrief questions—there’s even a topical/Scripture reference index so you can find just the right exercises to suit your needs. If you want to introduce your students to the God who loves them (in a way that allows them to truly experience that love), imaginative prayer is an effective means to do so—you and your students will never be the same.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780310270942
Publisher:	Zondervan
Publication date:	12/25/2006
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	7.45(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.55(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Jeannie Oestreicher has been volunteering in youth ministry for the past eighteen years. She and her husband, Mark, have two great kids, Liesl and Max. They live in California.

Larry Warner is executive director of b a ministry that provides spiritual direction, contemplative retreats, and holistic leadership development for pastors, ministry leaders, and church staffs. (Visit the b website at www.b-ing.org.) Warner is also a spiritual director and an adjunct professor at Bethel Seminary in San Diego, and he directs the training and ongoing development of spiritual directors. He spent twelve years as a youth pastor in the Los Angeles area, six years as a Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff, and another ten years as a senior pastor in San Diego.

Read an Excerpt

Imaginative Prayer for Youth Ministry

A Guide to Transforming Your Students' Spiritual Lives into Journey, Adventure, and Encounter

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By Jeannie Oestreicher Larry Warner

Zondervan

Copyright © 2006 Jeannie Oestreicher and Larry Warner
All right reserved.
ISBN: 0-310-27094-4

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Chapter One

OUR STORIES

IMAGINATION IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN KNOWLEDGE. FOR KNOWLEDGE IS LIMITED TO ALL WE NOW KNOW AND UNDERSTAND, WHILE IMAGINATION EMBRACES THE ENTIRE WORLD, AND ALL THERE EVER WILL BE TO KNOW AND UNDERSTAND. -ALBERT EINSTEIN

LARRY'S EXPERIENCE

When I became a Christian at age 17, I knew in my head that I was valued, loved, and accepted as I was; but it would take another 27 years to internalize this truth in my heart. In the fall of 2000 (now you know how old I am), the transforming power of imagination was made evident to me. I was attending a workshop called "Practicing the Presence of God" with 35 people I didn't know. We sat in a stark classroom behind uncomfortable school desks. I was one of only two men in attendance.

The workshop was progressing. Nothing new. I was thinking I could teach this rather easily. Then the leader said, "I'm going to play a movie, and I want you to imagine that the man is Jesus and the woman is you." Now for 33 of us, this would be pretty easy; but for me, and maybe for the other guy as well, this was a stretch. (I don't have the greatest imagination, believe it or not.) The good thing was that I'd watched thismovie a half-dozen times. As the leader described the clips, I knew exactly what I would see. I could even recall major parts of the dialogue.

The lights went out, the familiar clips came on, and the tears streamed down my face. I heard sobs coming from deep within me. I was suddenly alone with Jesus, and he was speaking words of love, value, and delight straight into my heart. I embraced and held the movie's life-transforming, freedom-giving, hope-inspiring words as Jesus' words to me.

I entered the room that day as one who knew of God's love-I left that room as one who personally experienced God's love. My God-given, spirit-infused imagination allowed the truth and reality of God's wondrous love to span the infinite chasm of mind and heart for the first time, and I became richer and freer for it.

Afterward I was somewhat perplexed. In all my training and with all of my background experience, I'd never learned anything about the use of imagination. In fact, I typically would've resisted and been suspicious of someone promoting such a practice. But my experience was undeniable-not only that day, but as a transforming, spirit-shaping event.

Yet for a number of months, I still hesitated to share what happened to me. I did begin investigating the foundation for the use of imagination as a tool in spiritual formation. And what I discovered surprised me. The use of imagination was not something new and innovative, but it had been used in the church for centuries. This came to me not as an "Aha!" realization, but as a "Duh!" realization. All the images of the Bible flooded my mind-the parables of Jesus, the feasts of the Israelites, the bread and the cup. All of these encouraged-perhaps even demanded-the use of my imagination as a vehicle to embrace God and God's truth.

I began to use imagination as I spoke to groups of varying sizes and ages, and I did so in a number of different settings. In each instance God has used imaginative prayer to bring a deeper awareness of God's self and God's truth. I believe imaginative prayer helps create safe environments for people to bypass an overemphasis on their minds and freely open up their hearts to God.

Now when I enter situations that may tap into my sense of unworthiness or insecurity, I imagine God speaking words of love over me: "You are my beloved one, chosen, holy, uniquely valued in all the world; there is nothing that can ever separate you from my love, and there is nothing that can bring my condemnation upon you. I love you, and I am with you." These words empower me to go forward because not only are they God's words from the Bible, but they're also God's words to me.

Imaginative prayer brought to life God's love for me-and in a way that all my years of training during Bible college and seminary failed to do. My life, how I view myself, how I am with others, and how I do what I do have been forever changed.

JEANNIE'S EXPERIENCE

I entered middle school as an overweight, scared, lonely kid from a family struggling to find its way. We'd just moved from Orange County, California, to a Detroit suburb. I didn't have the right clothes or know the appropriate slang, and kids made fun of my accent. My imagination became a place of escape where I embraced my deepest desires to be known, loved, and worth rescuing. But when I left my imagination and returned to my reality, I was left feeling ugly, sad, and alone.

I sometimes wonder how my young teenage heart might have responded to imaginative prayer. What if I'd been encouraged to picture and experience God's smile of delight when God gazed at me? What might Jesus have whispered in my ear if I'd been encouraged to sit at his feet and listen? Perhaps I would have seen the truth of my beauty and value. Maybe I would have experienced God as my rescuer, lover, and friend, and viewed myself as beloved. And maybe those experiences would have helped heal my broken picture of myself.

Unfortunately, I never connected God with my imagination until about three years ago. While on a weeklong spiritual retreat, I was invited to live inside the biblical story of blind Bartimaeus:

Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you." Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

"What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him. The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see."

"Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. (Mark 10:46-52)

During the remainder of my retreat week, I thought a lot about Bartimaeus. I identified my own deep longing to call out to Jesus and my equally deep fear of being rebuked, rejected, or ignored. Then while I was considering the question Jesus posed, "What do you want me to do for you?" I was stunned. I always thought the goal was to figure out what Jesus wanted me to do and then dutifully obey. "What did I want?" I sat with that question for some time and wrote my answer the last day of the retreat: "Take me with you. Hold me close as your beloved child in whom you are well pleased."

Later I reread Mark 10:46-52. I considered how at the end of the passage, Jesus told Bartimaeus to go, but Bartimaeus chose to follow Jesus instead. Suddenly (and imaginatively) I was there. I was in Bartimaeus' place-a newly healed four-year-old child. The following is my journal entry:

I see myself following Jesus as a child. Holding his hand, skipping at his heels, nearly tripping him up, climbing onto his back ... and then that's not enough, and he senses this. He pulls me around front. I say, "I want to stay with you, and I don't want you to ever leave me." He smiles, kisses my forehead, and says, "I won't ever leave you." I'm in his arms, tummy to tummy, with my legs wrapped around his back, and my arms around his neck. I lay my head on his shoulder and snuggle my face into his neck. I pull my head back up and look straight into his face. I ask, "Do you promise you won't leave?" He answers, "I promise I won't leave." I almost lay my head back down, but raise it again and ask, "Do you really, really promise?" He smiles so gently and lovingly. His eyes hold mine as he answers, "I really, really promise." I lay my head back down. I kiss his neck and snuggle in. I fall asleep as we travel.

I had known in my head that God would never leave me, but apparently I hadn't experienced that truth. My imaginative prayer took my sense of knowing to a deeper level where I could begin to possess it as my own personal word from God. The picture of Jesus holding my four-year-old body while we journey together is a powerful image that continues to speak peace and courage into my spirit.

Through imaginative prayer God is rewriting some of the old, unhealthy images I've had of myself and of God. When I picture myself as the one sitting at Jesus' feet, I can feel Jesus' delight in me. I sense his gentleness and compassion for me in the midst of my weaknesses, fears, and sadness. Feeling fully known, accepted, and loved has freed me to begin letting go of my fears of failure and rejection and just "be" with the one who loves me most. Out of this place of savoring myself as Jesus' beloved, I see myself, God, and the world around me with new eyes. These eyes tend to live with more hope than fear nowadays, and as they look right back in the eyes of God, they seem to trustingly ask, "What's next, Papa?" (Romans 8:15, MSG).

I've led small groups of middle school girls for nearly 20 years. I think one of the reasons I'm drawn to this age group is because my middle school years were so difficult. Through their eyes I watch as the little girl disappears and the woman is born. It's a fragile time, and a time when I want to emphasize their belovedness above all else. I became convinced that imaginative prayer would be a wonderful way for these girls to more fully know their value and beauty to God. So I began to introduce imaginative prayer in those groups. It's been amazing to see how God meets them right where they are and gives them just what they're ready to hear.

Chapter Two

BEGINNINGS

THE CHRISTIAN IMAGINATION PLAYS A GREAT ROLE IN THE SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOUL -ST JOHN OF THE CROSS

Imagination is often dismissed as childish, a waste of time, worthless, or even evil. Yet we use our imaginations every day. Imagination is part of our daily planning, decision-making, and discernment processes. It's through imagination that we decide what to buy or eat, where to go on vacation, how to plan birthday parties, what classes to take in school, how to invite someone to the prom, or how to write a paper. Our imaginations give us the ability to dream, hope, learn from our pasts, and apply those discoveries to the present and future. They help us move ahead in big and small ways. We all use our imaginations. It's how we live life.

Again, according to Webster's, imagination is "the act or power of forming a mental image of something not present to the senses or never before wholly perceived in (physical) reality." Such as "seeing" the face of a child as she opens the gift you're planning to give her or picturing yourself in the career you've chosen to pursue.

As we discuss imagination throughout this book, we would add an additional component to the definition. It's what C. S. Lewis calls "baptized" imagination, or what Bruce Demarest refers to as the "sanctified" use of imagination. In other words, using imagination in a God-focused way, functioning within the framework of God's revealed character and truth. It's using imagination as guided and directed by the Spirit of God and informed by the living Word of God. As we intentionally use our imaginations in this way, it gives us the ability to experientially enter into the stories, symbolism, and images of the Bible. It empowers us to hold the present with both the past and future and to see and embrace the seen (physical) and the unseen (eternal). The Spirit-infused imagination moves us from sterile head knowledge to life-transforming, heart-healing, biblically informed ways of being and doing life. It's as we embrace and employ the use of our God-given, Spirit-infused imaginations that we can enter the wonder and mystery of God and God's Word.

The use of imagination plays a critical role in the holistic spiritual development of Christians. This has always been true. In the next few pages, we'll introduce you to voices from the past and present that affirm the importance and benefits of imagination for spiritual formation. In addition, we hope you'll be excited to discover the greatest literary work that we believe affirms and even demands the use of imagination-the Bible.

SCRIPTURE

The opening words of the Bible, "In the beginning," could easily have been, "Once upon a time." The Bible is story. It encourages us-even incites us-to enter its pages in imaginative ways.

In the opening chapters of Genesis, the earth is formless and void, and the Spirit of God moves across its surface. Sunlight, sky, mountains, valleys, and all of life are created through God's imagination. The final book of the Bible, Revelation, bursts with dramatic images and descriptions of Jesus, heaven, the turmoil of the world, and the birth of a new heaven and earth. The whole of Scripture demands our fully engaged imaginations to enter into and embrace this amazing story of creation and redemption, of good versus evil, of power, love, grace, and hope.

The Bible is filled with imagery and metaphor. We find God portrayed as rock, eagle, mother, and father (Deuteronomy 32:4, 11, 18). Jesus is referred to as the Bread of Life (John 6:35), the True Vine (John 15:1), and the Lamb (John 1:29). The Holy Spirit is pictured as a dove (Matthew 3:16), as fire (Acts 2:3), and as streams of living water (John 7:38-39). Jesus speaks of the kingdom of heaven as a mustard seed (Matthew 13:31) and a treasure hidden in a field (Matthew 13:44). The church is imaged as a body (1 Corinthians 12:12-27), bride (Revelation 19:7), and flock (Acts 20:28).

The Bible is written imaginatively because we're imaginative. These dramatic pictures exist to help us enter into the living Word of God, to gaze upon the Lord (Psalm 27:4), to look beyond the seen to the unseen (2 Corinthians 4:18), and to fully embrace the truth that in God we live, move, and have our being (Acts 17:28).

Imagination gives us wings to soar into the wonder, mystery, and truth of God and God's Word.

SYMBOLS

Historically Christians and churches have drawn upon symbols to express the wonder and mystery of the Christian faith. Many of us pay special attention to the cross and crucifix, bread and wine, baptism, oil, and light, but the list can also include anything from church-sanctioned icons to sunsets or an empty seat at the table. Each symbol calls us to do more than cognitively understand it. They invite us to employ our imaginations and explore the depths of the symbols, experiencing the meaning and transforming power resulting from our interaction with the truth they represent.

WISDOM FROM THE PAST

Using imagination within the church is not a recent invention. Throughout church history people have used their imaginations and taught others to do the same to help experience and internalize the life-healing, soul-enriching, hope-sustaining truths of God. Those associated with the use of imagination include Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Origen of Alexandria, St. Augustine, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Francis de Sales, and Julian of Norwich.

But the figure who most significantly elevated the use of imagination was St. Ignatius of Loyola. This isn't surprising, since it was Ignatius' imagination that introduced him to Jesus Christ in a spiritually transforming way. The turning point in his life came after a cannonball broke his leg during a battle (that'll leave a mark). Throughout the long hours of recovery, he spent time imagining his future exploits as a soldier (once he was fully recovered), as well as reading a book about the lives of the saints. Initially Ignatius' imagined military exploits excited him, but they were quickly replaced with feelings of restlessness and dissatisfaction. Then one day he imagined what it would be like to live as the saints in that book. As he did this, he noticed feelings of excitement and transformation in his heart and soul, leaving him at peace and satisfied. God used Ignatius' imagination to transform him into a follower of Christ.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Imaginative Prayer for Youth Ministry by Jeannie Oestreicher Larry Warner Copyright © 2006 by Jeannie Oestreicher and Larry Warner. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Three (Count'Em-Three!) Introductions     9
Why?
Our Stories     14
Beginnings     19
Concerns and Responses     24
How?
Any Takers?     28
Developing the Environment     32
The Basics     40
What?
Images of God
God as Eagle     52
God as Mother     54
God as Potter     55
God as Rescuer     57
God as Shepherd     59
O.T. Time
God Sees Hagar     61
Hannah's Cry     63
Elijah Rests and Eats     64
God Whispers to Elijah     67
Esther's Courage     68
The Desperate Cry     70
A New Name     72
Daniel and the Lions' Den     73
Gospel Time-Advent
Mary's Pregnant     76
Shepherds in the Field     78
Gospel Time
Names (Images) of Jesus     80
God with Us     83
The Lord's Prayer     85
"I Never Knew You"     88
Rest     90
"Who Do You Say I Am?" (Jesus)     93
"Who Do You Say I Am?" (Us)     96
Coming to Jesus     98
Woman with the AlabasterJar     100
Good Samaritan     102
Martha     103
The Prodigal     105
John's Disciple Follows Jesus     108
Woman Caught in Adultery     110
Death of Lazarus     113
Gospel Time-Miracles
Jesus Walks on Water     115
Peter Walks on Water     117
Jesus Calms the Storm     120
Resting with Jesus     122
She Touches His Robe     125
The Blind Beggar     127
Healing the Leper     129
Resurrection of Lazarus     132
Gospel Time-Holy Week
Foot Washing     134
Garden of Gethsemane     136
The Crucifixion     138
N.T. Time
Peter and Cornelius     142
Temple of God     144
Beyond the Narrative
Blanket Walk     146
Bubbles     148
The Feast     150
The Letter     152
Playing in the Leaves with Dad     155
Hide-and-Seek     157
Sunrise     160
Get Creative! More Imaginative Prayer Ideas     163
Additional Resources     169
Index by Scripture Reference     170
Index by Theme     174