As children, our imaginations were very vivid and creative. Children live in a world of mental imagery. We took journeys in our minds and created new worlds. A vivid imagination was one of the joys of childhood. Somewhere along the path of life, we were told to stop dreaming and get to work because mature people don’t have time to waste on dreaming. Many of us chose to believe that lie and left behind the very thing that can provide us with a life of adventure and joy. An abandoned imagination is a very sad thing.

C.S. Lewis said, “All my seven Narnian books, and my three science fiction books, began with seeing pictures in my head.” I agree with Lewis. In my own writing and prophetic ministry, I see before I write and speak. I have a lot of friends who do the same. I can tell when imagination and imagery are absent in my life and in the lives of other people. When this happens, the writing and speaking we do become a stale academic exercise where facts take precedence over imagery.  When I find myself in that place, one of my best friends is the delete button on my keyboard.

Jesus used imagery in His parables. When He spoke people saw what He was saying. They entered an image and discovered the truth. Jesus said to come to Him as a child, and the storehouse of heavenly revelation would be made known to us. Some of us have feared a return to the vivid imagination we enjoyed as a child. We can be afraid to discover the sad reality that we wasted so many years wandering in a practical place of religious duty without dreaming with God. 

It is time to dream again. Open your mind to the Spirit. Let God flood your thinking with the unexplainable images of heaven. From that childlike place of imagination, the most creative things are waiting to be discovered if we are willing to dream again.