28 Sep The Awesome Power of Imagination
Blog Series:
Renew Your Mind ~ Transform Your Life
The brain does not distinguish between a real and a vividly imagined event.
That is why athletes and musicians rehearse over and over again in their minds what they want to do with their bodies. I once read the story of a prisoner of war in Vietnam who played golf in his mind to occupy his time in prison. He had several major golf courses memorized: St. Andrews, Augusta National, Pebble Beach. He played these golf courses over and over in his mind – hours a day, days a week, weeks a month, and months for years. When he got back to the United States, he was a better golfer than before he left for Vietnam. That is the awesome power of imagination.
This has profound implications for the Christian life. We can visualize what we want to become, spiritually, and review that over and over again. This mental rehearsal sends thoughts through the neurological pathways in the brain, deepening and strengthening them, strengthening our thoughts and influencing our behavior. It guides and accelerates spiritual growth as few things can. Because of this, it makes imagination, or mental rehearsal, or meditation, a powerful resource in the life of a Christian.
There are three powerful elements involved in mental rehearsal:
First, the reticular activating system (RAS) kicks in. The reticular activating system is the gatekeeper to the brain. The brain is bombarded with far more information than it can process at any given moment, simply in the living of everyday life. Therefore, in order to cope, the reticular activating system filters out most of what bombards the brain, and only allows things through the doorway that have been identified as important.
Once something has been identified as important, the reticular activating system allows additional information on that subject into the brain, enabling the brain to then decide what to do with it.
For example, I had never owned a black car before we replaced one of our cars with a black one. I didn’t buy it because it was black. I bought because it was the best deal I could find, and it happened to be black. So frankly, I had never been particularly aware of black cars.
After I bought it, however, I started seeing black cars everywhere. It seemed like half the cars on the road were black. Who knew? That was the reticular activating system letting information in that it was screening out before.
In another example, I have been amazed at times when I’ve been around a lot of kids making noise that all sounded like equal racket to me. And yet I have seen a mom suddenly alert to the sound of her child’s voice, and respond accordingly. How did she hear it above the din? The reticular activating system blocked out all the noise except the sound of her child’s voice. It came through like a siren.
When you create a clear picture of something you want, the reticular activating system will alert the brain to things that it would not have alerted the brain to before. Suddenly you see resources, options, possibilities, information, you meet people, you think thoughts, you connect dots that you didn’t before. And these are all things that will help you realize the goal you envisioned in your brain.
As you spend time feeding the brain more and more helpful information and rehearsing that information through meditation, through imagining both real and possible behavior, the RAS opens the brain to more and more additional information, putting the brain in a powerful upward spiral.
Yes, the reticular activating system is a marvel, and we can use it as a powerful resource in personal growth by clearly envisioning things in our mind and waiting for the RAS to send our way a cornucopia of information that it would have filtered out before.
The second thing that happens when you vividly imagine what you want is that that new information goes into the subconscious, where the brain ponders it, compares it with information already stored there, develops insights, makes connections, assesses importance, connects dots, and then brings those things back to the conscious brain where you can act on them. Sometimes the new insights are subtle. Sometimes they are volcanic. But the more time we spend cultivating a vision, the more powerful the brain becomes in feeding back to us new insights. We feed our subconscious, and then our subconscious feeds us.
The third powerful impact on the brain that happens when we clearly envision a goal is that the brain will also guide your behavior more directly. As I mentioned, athletes know this perhaps better than any others. All top-notch athletes are skilled in the art of mentally rehearsing their athletic activity, perfectly, over and over and over and over.
Because the brain does not distinguish between a real and a vividly imagined event, mental rehearsal can often be just as effective as actual physical rehearsal. Repetition burns deep neurological pathways in the brain allowing the body to perform that activity more and more perfectly.
However, our very versatile brain can apply this phenomenon to virtually anything, including personal attitudes and behavior. So, if you want to be more patient and loving toward your spouse, you can rehearse Bible verses, you can think through times you failed and why, and then vividly imagine responding biblically. Over time, you can automatically respond to your spouse in a way that is consistent with the Bible verses.
Of course, this principle can be applied to a vast array of issues we face in life, whether trying to overcome something negative or achieve something positive.
Mental rehearsal, vividly imagining a biblical process or goal, is one of the most powerful possibilities in the Christian life for guiding and accelerating spiritual growth.
Conclusion
So, being clear on what you want to happen in your life is a powerful force for enabling it to happen. It may be something big such as a life goal, or something smaller such as the goal of learning to be more gracious when someone irritates or offends or hurts us.
Either way, there is almost magical power released in your brain when you vividly envision a clear goal. You can use it for major life goals, or for everyday minor goals.
As you saturate your mind with Scripture, as you vividly imagine living out that Scripture, as you pay attention to the new information the RAS sends your way as a result of your mental renewal activities, a world of possibilities opens up to you to leapfrog you down the road to Christlikeness.*
We’ve covered a lot of important information since beginning our series in January on renewing our minds for the transformation of our lives. I look forward to seeing you next week as we begin to wrap things up.
*Craig Groeschel has written a book, Winning the War in Your Mind, that gives very helpful additional insight and guidance on this process.
In case you’re new here
This blog post is part of a series titled “Renew Your Mind, Transform Your Life”, introduced on January 5, 2021. As the series continues, each succeeding post will be added to and available in the blog archives at www.maxanders.com.
If you know anyone who you think might enjoy joining us in this study, please forward this blog to them and encourage them to go to my web site (www.maxanders.com) and sign up for the free video, “Master the Bible So Well That the Bible Masters You”, available there on the home page. This will put them on my regular mailing list and they’ll receive my weekly blogs on this subject.
In addition, I am creating a new online membership site, The Change Zone, that will provide information, strategies and resources to help motivated Christians renew their mind and transform their lives. If you would like to learn more about this and get updates to know when The Change Zone will be available, click here.
I look forward to going through this life-changing journey with you.
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