Discipling the Diseased Imagination: Spiritual Formation and the Healing of Our Hearts

by Justin Ariel Bailey

How does the imagination affect our spiritual growth and discipleship? Is it possible for our imaginations to cause harm in the world?

In his search to understand how the imagination works and how theology can nurture it for cultural discipleship, Justin Ariel Bailey realized the limitations of common discipleship The pursuit of spiritual growth often devolves into information transfer and behavior modification. Bailey argues that imagination is at the heart of discipleship, influencing our choices, behaviors, and beliefs about God, ourselves, and the world. But it needs both healing and training--a diseased imagination can result in harm to self and others.

Bailey examines the imagination's role in spiritual life, from perception and attention to hope and emotion, while diagnosing its diseases, including hypocrisy, distraction, control, and self-deception. Each chapter ends with an orienting prayer, culminating in a longer prayer that captures the book's themes.

With theological depth and pastoral wisdom, Bailey invites readers to reclaim their imaginations as a vital part of discipleship, shaping a life of deeper love and justice.

192 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 10, 2026

About the author

Justin Ariel Bailey works at the intersection of Christian theology, culture, and ministry. Having served as a pastor in a number of diverse settings, his research seeks to bridge gaps between church and academy, and the formational spaces where they overlap. He is the author of the book Reimagining Apologetics (IVP Academic, 2020) and the forthcoming volume Interpreting Your World (Baker Academic, 2022). He serves as associate professor of Theology at Dordt University and is the host of the In All Things podcast.

Reviews

[Rylan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Henri Nouwen has a line that I wrote in the margins and thought of often as I read: "Prayer is the martyrdom of those who live" (cf. pg.42). When the Spirit prompts a human to pray, he bids them come and die. Such is the risk of real encounter with the living God. Diseases need to eradicated. Dragons undragoned. As Bailey writes, "Prayer is more than placebo, most of all because it places us in contact with God" (37). I found myself asking, when I pray, do I pray only to soothe my anxieties? Or to learn new things to be concerned about?

When you first start lifting weights, you are often advised to perfect your form before trying to lift as much as you can. Heavy weight with poor form does more harm than good. Intense training without first healing will not achieve what you hope it will. This book is one instruction manual in proper form so to speak--the prayers that anchor each chapter a kind of physical therapy for the heart.

"Lord, whether I feel empty or full, let me walk in the way of loyal love."

[Nicholas · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much to appreciate about the beauty of prayer and how God desires to form our imagination in accordance with the story of Scripture. Bailey is definitely reliant on contemporary study (and though it serves as a heavy emphasis within his work), his overall hope of proving imagination as a driving factor for how man functions is valuable. Some chapters make an important claim, but can end prematurely. This is no more evident than his afterword having - what I believe to be - one of the most important connection points of why the imagination of an embodied soul must be properly understood. His use of the incarnation, Scripture, the Table, and the church are rightly incorporated, but can still be much more thoroughly treated.

However, if you are looking for a book on prayer in the Christian life and its purpose…you can’t go wrong with Bailey’s presentation and practices.


“What makes Christian prayer unique is that our asking always happens as part of a larger story in which God has already given himself and is constantly giving himself in a way that keeps on multiplying more than we know. To say it another way, prayer places us imaginatively in a story that is defined by God’s self-giving. The story calls us to offer gifts, to lay our lives down, to put our ‘whole self’ in. But we can give because God has given; God has also put his whole self in” (162).

^Having this as a framework for how he treats his purpose for writing about the imagination, its need forward healing, and its relationship to prayer will help you see what Bailey hopes for his audience.

[Brady Hornstra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the pleasure of having Dr. Bailey as a college professor, and he was one of the most beloved professors at Dordt during my time there, and with good reason. He is insightful, intelligent, compassionate, pastoral, and relatable, and each one of those traits comes through in this book.

He demonstrates how our imaginations can be idolatrous, hypocritical, distracted, inattentive, self-deceiving, controlling, entitled, triumphalist, and/or cliched. While exploring these various imaginative maladies, his tone is never legalistic nor condemning, but always pastoral and compassionate, because he knows that he is no stranger to these maladies as well.

And a thematic remedy for these maladies that he explores is prayer. Not because prayer is some silver bullet or foolproof magical incantation, but because it connects with the God who created, loves, sustains, and redeemed us, and won't let even our diseased imaginations separate us from His unfailing love.

I cannot recommend this book enough.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an important element of spiritual formation and I was looking forward to reading Bailey's perspectives on it.

Having read the acknowledgements at the end I came to appreciate how this book got written and it read like an academic textbook for me. Accordingly, it didn't work for me and I'm struggling to reflect on the key takeaways, ie, I'm really none the wiser as to how to discipline my diseased imagination.

This is one of those books that could have a 80-100 page shorter version that is snappier, using layman's language with shorter paragraphs. Such an abbreviated version could provide a clear snapshot with some exercises helping the reader to gain greater understanding how they can use prayer to discipline their diseased imaginations.

I was fortunate to receive an early ebook copy from the publisher via NetGalley but this has had no influence on my review.

[James Houck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bailey writes with the heart of a Pastor, the mind of a scholar, and engages the topic of imagination with the skill of an artist. Here is a book by someone in the Reformed tradition who is draws from various disciplines including psychology, apologetics, and biblical hermeneutics in order to speak about the spiritual life and specifically prayer in a helpful and insightful way.

[Joel Wentz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had some misconceptions of what the book would be about, but once I shifted my thinking I really appreciated what Bailey is doing here. It's also, in my opinion, his best writing so far.

Video review here: https://youtu.be/dLI-sJpID-4

[Hannah Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

“How does the imagination affect our spiritual growth and discipleship? Is it possible for our imaginations to cause harm in the world?” I’ve never read anything like this, but I loved it! Very well written, insightful, and thought-provoking. Highly recommend!

[Shawn Kanz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Bailey carefully examines an important and often overlooked aspect of spiritual life- the imagination. This book helped me see how prayer requires opening the eyes of our mind and heart to truly unravel what is diseased. Bailey’s wise, kind, reformed, and pastoral care helps readers to undragon the imagination and pursue true healing of the heart by examining the imagination in a way that is important for the church to consider.