Make Your Personality Work for You in Prayer--The Contemplative
You’re here! Cue the party music! Welcome to the first installment of the Prayer Personality breakdown. (If you’re new, check out this post for a quick intro.) In this series, I want to encourage you to lean into the way God has uniquely designed you, and help you learn to use those very strengths to connect more with God through prayer.
Why do we need to pray more (or at all)? Is it because we’re supposed to? Because it’s what “good Christians” do? While those things are true, I don’t know if you feel this, but I feel this so deeply—without prayer we’re missing out on so much with God. Daily, we’re under attack from a very real enemy, and we need the powerful, sustaining, steadying presence of God actively at work in us. That’s what pursuing God in prayer is all about; knowing him deeply so we can serve him faithfully.
“That’s what pursuing God in prayer is all about; knowing him deeply so we can serve him faithfully. ”
But sometimes praying is hard. And our best intentions fall flatter than our hair in the summer humidity (or if you’re like me it just turns into a poofy mess—but that’s a whole different story)! That’s where this series comes in, it’s one simple tool to help you talk with God regularly—especially if that’s something you struggle to actually do. This is meant to take the struggle out! Praise be—let’s dive in…
This blog post is all about The Contemplative. (If you haven’t taken the Prayer Personality quiz yet, you can do that right here or find it at the end of this post.)
Let’s begin with an overview of The Contemplative:
If you’re a Contemplative, you’re the thoughtful, quiet type. The one who likes to sit back and soak it all in. At a party you might like to sit by yourself and people watch (because who has time for small talk, yuck!). Or you might find one person that you can have a deeper conversation with. Or you might be asking yourself why you came to the party in the first place (lol).
Your gift for contemplation extends to most areas of your life and you like to take your time and not rush through life. Because of this, you’re very perceptive and easily pick up on other people’s moods and feelings. You are also usually quite in tune with your own feelings.
Things to Look Out For
Because you typically spend a lot of time inside your head, thinking, you can tend toward anxiety and overthinking. Philippians 4:8 can make an excellent filter for your thoughts. When you’re tempted to give in to anxiety, ask yourself:
Is this true?
Is this honorable?
Is this right?
Is this pure?
Is this lovely?
Is this admirable?
Is this excellent?
Is this worthy of praise?
If the answer is no, choose to consciously redirect your thoughts toward something that will let you answer yes! (2 Cor. 10:5)
How to Make it Work for You in Prayer
I’m a firm believer that if you struggle to do something (like praying) the best thing to do is start small. You don’t need a million things to try, you just need one simple thing to try that will get you moving in the right direction, and then it seems to snowball from there.
For you, dear Contemplative, because you spend a lot of time in your thoughts, it can be good to turn your thoughts into concrete prayers by journaling. Otherwise, you can spend all your time thinking about what you want to pray about and never get around to actually praying and laying those things before God.
So today, use your strength of deep thinking to present God with one thought. Just one. Choose the one that you just can’t seem shake, and write it down. Spill out every detail about that one thought. Don’t hold anything back. And remember as you write that God is present and listening. And after you’ve fully unpacked that one thought, take a moment to quiet your mind and listen for his voice.
Don’t forget to come back and let me know how it goes!
Next up on the Prayer Personality breakdown is the Free Spirit.
check out my new book on prayer
My new book, Praying is (not) Hard: Finally Let Go of the Baggage that Keeps You From Talking with God, is here! Within its pages you’ll find practical tips and tools that will help you lay down guilt and shame and find freedom and joy in your conversations with God! You can find out more about the book here.
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