Declutter Your Soul with Imaginative Prayer

To declutter one’s mind means understanding what that clutter is. Lies that I believe concerning my reality are one sort of mess. Disturbing images in my mind also clutter my soul on a regular basis.  However, I live in so much more freedom because I learned how to take thoughts captive through imaginative prayer.  I have learned to declutter my soul with Jesus.

I first read about this particular prayer exercise in Beth Moore’s book, Breaking Free.  I had recently fasted for three days because my relationship with my boyfriend was going nowhere.  I was a single mom with four girls, and I met a man that I thought was perfect. We prayed together, and we never fought. He was somewhat unemotional, which after fourteen years with a volatile husband looked a lot like safety to me.  The day I ended my fast, he broke up with me. Leaving my abusive husband was such a relief that I never really experienced a broken heart over it.  But when my boyfriend checked out of my life, I checked into the Heartbreak Hotel for what seemed like an indefinite stay.

I have always been a seeker so when I saw Moore’s book, I ordered it right away. In it, she discusses how to break free of the bondage of thought patterns.  When I first read this exercise, it seemed to me to be very simple, but in the end, it was a quite powerful experience.  Following her instructions, I imagined my mind as a room.  The walls were white, but black letters stood out like graffiti.

The big, black, crudely painted letters read, “I have missed God’s will for my life”.

I grieved this relationship so deeply because I believed that God had called us into a relationship and now it was over.  I blew it.  My chance for love was over.  So I asked Jesus to come into that room, having no idea what He would do.  He looked at the words, and then He erased them. The words just disappeared.  No more visual clutter crowded my imagination. My body relaxed deeply for the first time in months.  I was still sad, but I was no longer afraid that all my chances were gone.  And indeed God knew far better than I the wonderful husband I was to marry a year later.

I use this exercise when I need to declutter images as well. 

My memory holds on to images, and so I am very careful about what I let myself watch.  But no one has complete control over what the day holds, and so one day, I found myself in the library of the Baptist university at which I taught English.  I had a Hotmail account but I accidentally key in hot male instead.  Immediately an extreme pornographic image of a young man appears on the screen.  When I try to x out of the browser, the image repeated itself.

I was terrified of someone seeing me at the computer with this image so I unplugged the whole thing and left.  But the image really haunted me, though not in a sexual way.  I felt assaulted and dirty. Talk about unwanted clutter; I tried everything to get the man out of my head.  I prayed for him.  I asked the Lord to cleanse my mind.  I diverted my thoughts as best I could, but sometimes, though not particularly often, the image would crop up, and there I was again, feeling slimed.

It finally occurred to me to use this method.  So I dutifully went into the room that was my mind.  All across the walls was this image.  I invited Jesus to come in.  And He did, in his gentle, sometimes humorous way. He was dressed like a painter.  He took out this big roller brush and after a few minutes, the walls of my mind are clean and white, ready for beautiful, noble, uplifting thoughts.  Jesus still brings out his paintbrush for me whenever something threatens to haunt me, like an animal run over by the side of the road, or a violent video on the news.

I remember the event; I remember what it looks like.  I simply no longer am haunted by it.

I particularly recommend this method for my more sensitive readers as well as those who are very visual. Undergoing traumatic events is always difficult. But secondary trauma can be just as difficult for some to come to terms with. In prayer ministry, I often come across people who have witnessed horrific events. In fact, my own memories are filled with car accidents, wounded animals, and even images of war posted by the media. Life is filled with disturbing images.

To declutter the closet of our minds, we must take those images captive.

One person I prayed with had memories of a child getting hit by a car. Despite the fact that the child survived with a couple of broken bones and was soon up and about, the memory of the hit haunted her. I had this sort of memory myself when a young woman attempted suicide by throwing herself in front of my car. In each instance, Jesus inserted himself in that memory. For the image of the child, He put himself between the child and the car. His body slowed the car down enough to prevent the death of the child. Jesus silenced the sound of the impact. For the woman who witnessed this, her understanding of this event changed. It wasn’t one of unmitigated horror, but one of Jesus’ intervention.

For me as well, Jesus interposed himself between my car and the young woman. It wasn’t until I really took this moment to Jesus that I understood that I should have run her over. Somehow I managed to slow down enough. But as I recall this event, I realize that, in most instances, she would have not merely been hit but completely run over. Running out into the middle of a highway at night is almost a guarantee of death. She has suffered from a broken hip, but will live, and probably with a painful reminder of her act. But for me, I see Jesus, his eyes on me, pushing against my car, slowing it down.

What images paint the walls of your mind?  What lies do you believe about yourself?  Take these thoughts captive by taking some time to sit in the room of your mind.  Invite Jesus in and surrender control of these thoughts and images to Him.  He is so faithful to tear down these strongholds that attempt to assert themselves in your soul.  Begin to declutter today with the Lover of your soul.

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