Top 5 reasons to incorporate Imaginative Prayer into your current RE unit design

1. Imaginative Prayer engages students in reading the Bible.

There is no doubt that teaching Scripture to disengaged students is tough! But as the foundation of religious education students need to understand Scripture. This means students need to learn not only the contents of the Bible, but also the meaning that God' Word holds for their own lives. If we don't spend time engaging students in Scripture within the classroom environment, then how can we possibly expect them to do it for themselves at home?

2. It provides students with an opportunity to meditate and be still.

We all know how difficult it is to be still in todays world, and as adults how much we crave a moment of peace and quiet. The benefits of meditative practices have long been established in the literature, positively influencing students mentally, physically and even academically. By using the imaginative prayer approach students are not only deepening their understanding of Scripture, but also allowing their bodies to be still and spend time in meditation.

3. The process encourages student discussion and dialogue.

The importance of dialogue within religious education has long been highlighted by prominent researcher Didier Pollefeyt, creator of the hermeneutic-communicative model for religious education. By engaging in open dialogue about personal religious experiences, students not only develop a clearer sense of their own spirituality, but also a more informed and respectful view of one another.

4. It allows students to interpret the Scripture passage for themselves.

One of the biggest criticism of text-book approaches to scriptural education is that, more often than not, biblical passages are removed from their context (meaning passages are not read directly from the Bible) and presented to students with a singular, simplified interpretation of the text (Carswell, 2018). This not only fails to do justice to the Scripture passage being explored, but it has been suggested that such practices lead to the promotion of a fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible (Pollefeyt & Bieringer, 2005; Carswell, 2018). Therefore, by encouraging students to not only read Scripture directly from the Bible, but also to independently reflect upon the passage and its meaning in their lives, the process of Imaginative Prayer could help to reduce the likelihood of a child developing a fundamentalist view of the Bible.

5. Encourages a personal encounter with Jesus.

There are not many methods of biblical instruction that provide students with an opportunity to see, touch and talk with Jesus (well not that I'm aware of anyway). One of the most incredible aspects of Imaginative Prayer is the potential for a true spiritual encounter with the Lord. I guarantee that if you dedicate the time and provide the space for students to engage with this practice, that you will be amazed at the depth to which students can enter into the Imaginative Prayer experience.

#ImaginativePrayer #EncounterJesus

References:

Carswell, M. (2018). Promoting fundamentalist belief? How scripture is presented in three religious education programmes in Catholic primary schools in Australia and England and Wales. British Journal of Religious Education, 40(3), 288-297. https://doi.org/10.1080/01416200.2018.1493271

Pollefeyt, D. (2020). Religious education as opening the hermeneutical space. Journal of Religious Education, 68(2), 115–124. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40839-020-00105-7

Pollefeyt, D., & Bieringer, R. (2005). The Role of the Bible in Religious Education Reconsidered: Risks and Challenges in Teaching the Bible. International journal of practical theology, 9(1), 117-139. https://doi.org/10.1515/IJPT.2005.007