Breaking Strongholds: The Realm of Imagination

Bible Study Notes – 31/07/2025

Welcome to another week in our series on breaking strongholds and rewiring our thinking as we embrace the divine transitions the Lord is leading us into. This week, I've experienced a rather unusual range of breakthroughs—unexpected encounters and the joy of stewarding divine moments for the people of God. In the midst of all this, the realm of the imagination became undeniably vivid in my heart. That will be our focus this week. 

The Heart Goes Where the Head Cannot 

There’s a saying: 

“You can go with your heart to places your head can’t take you.” 

This points to a profound truth: our intellectual mind, grounded in logic and past experience, is often incapable of perceiving or embracing the supernatural realms of God. In contrast, our heart—which Scripture speaks of as the seat of spiritual perception (Ezekiel 36:26)—can receive, conceive, and navigate the realms of the divine more readily. 

On my instagram live this week, I quoted French philosopher Émile Coué: 

“When the imagination and the will are in conflict, the imagination invariably wins.” 

This quote speaks to the power of imagination in shaping belief and behavior. Even when we will ourselves to act or change, if our imagination paints a different picture—especially one of fear, failure, or limitation—our actions will align with that inner imagery instead of what we think or declare that we want. Our lives are going in the direction of our strongest imagination.

The Hebrew Concept of 'Yetzer': The Conception Center 

Scriptural Reference: Genesis 6:5 – "The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become… and that every inclination (‘yetzer’) of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time."  Psalm 2:1 – "Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?" (Here "plot" again relates to imaginative meditation.) 

The Hebrew word “yetzer” often translated as imagination or inclination—can be understood as the conception center of the soul. Just as physical conception occurs when sperm and egg unite in the womb, so spiritual conception happens when spiritual vibrations (thoughts, impressions) collide with the Word of God in the imagination. This womb of the soul produces fruit (either godly or ungodly) depending on what is sown. 

The imagination, then, is not child's play. It is a spiritual battleground and a creative center for our lives. We imagine before we manifest. 

How Fear Gains a Foothold 

Fear often begins as a mere suggestion, a spiritual vibration (a feeling, a whisper, an unease). Initially, it’s manageable. But once that feeling fuses with past memories or negative thoughts, it can gives brith to mental images that can become crippling. 

Imagine walking home at night and suddenly sensing unease. If your imagination seizes that feeling and links it with trauma or memory, the unease morphs into palpable fear. Your body reacts: sweating, panicking, fleeing, not from reality, but from an imagined threat.  It wasn't the spirit of fear that stopped us, but the spirit of fear partnering with our out of control memories and emotions did.

Job 3:25 – "What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me." 

Fear becomes real when it takes root in the imagination. 

Imagination and Perfect Peace 

Isaiah 26:3 – "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You."  (Note: “mind” here can be rendered “imagination” or “frame.”) 

Peace is the result of anchored imagination. What your imagination consistently dwells on shapes your emotions, expectations, and spiritual atmosphere. The Bible speaks to the heart, and its truths are intended to transform your inner imagery, leading you into deeper spiritual realms and realities. 

Matthew 13:3–9 – The parable of the sower emphasises that the condition of your heart determines the level fruitfulness.  A heart dominated by godly imagination becomes fertile ground for divine encounters. 

We can only produce what we first imagine.  Our imagination is our meditation.  Our meditation becomes our victory. 

Perfect Peace and the Imagination

What you behold, you become.What you meditate on, you magnify.

Philippians 4:8 – “Whatever is true… noble… lovely… think on these things.”

Meditation is the art of focused imagination.

The Word is meant to dominate the imagination—not just be understood intellectually, but envisioned experientially. This is why Scripture is filled with vivid imagery: mountains skipping, seas clapping, angels in fiery chariots. God wants us to see as well as hear.

Taking Every Thought Captive 

2 Corinthians 10:4–5 

"The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 

Every stronghold begins as a thought especially one that exalts itself above the Word of God. When left unchecked, these thoughts form imaginations that give birth to false identities, fears, or hopelessness. 

Ask yourself: 

What am I thinking about?  What narrative is dominating my imagination?  If it’s not aligned with the truth of God’s Word, it must be cast down. 

Humility: The Gateway to Revelation 

“Humility is teachability.” 

I heard a preacher say recently, “To the degree that you are teachable is the degree to which you can be transformed.” Pride, by its nature, resists change. It cannot imagine another way, especially God’s way. 

📖 Proverbs 3:7 "Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil." 

Revelation will almost always: 

• Shock you, 

• Challenge your worldview, 

• Expose your ignorance, 

• Illuminate hidden wickedness. 

It will offend your current comfort to bring about divine reformation. 

Are Your Opinions Final? 

Can you imagine that God still has more for your life? 

Many of us live with a settled mindset, forming conclusions about our future based on our past. But the life of the Spirit is meant to be fluid, unpredictable, and led by divine breath. 

📖 John 3:8 – "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." 

The walk of faith requires the flexibility of imagination to follow God into unknown lands. 

Closing Prayer 

Take some time to pray over your imagination and that God would illuminate it with his powerful light

Recommended reading 

•  Gregory Boyd – Seeing is Believing: Experience Jesus through Imaginative Prayer

• Dr. Caroline Leaf – Switch On Your Brain