Ship of Fools: Personality and Prayer

Thread: Personality and Prayer Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

To visit this thread, use this URL:
http://forum.ship-of-fools.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=70;t=028002

Posted by balaam (# 4543) on :

I came across this.

Leaving aside the Myers-Briggs side of things, to what extent does the type of person we are determine how we pray, and is there any benefit in including those types of prayer and meditation in our time with God?

[ 06. December 2014, 17:01: Message edited by: Ancient Mariner ]

Posted by Pancho (# 13533) on :

I think for most things in life we gravitate towards the ones that fit our personality better. It's no different for prayer. I think that's fine for the most part though there's a danger that one will miss out on something that's good for oneself.

Someone who's introverted, for example, is in danger of becoming lonely or misanthropic. It could be beneficial for that person to stretch himself or herself and try a type of prayer that involves other people.

Posted by balaam (# 4543) on :

But doncha know how difficult that feels.

Posted by Pancho (# 13533) on :

quote:
Originally posted by balaam:
But doncha know how difficult that feels.

Yeah but growth hurts sometimes.

I'm not suggesting introverts must attend revival meetings or that extroverts must attend silent retreats. I'm merely saying that sometimes it's good to leave one's comfort zone. We should be open to considering types of prayer we normally might not use. There's a danger in being satisfied with where we are instead of advancing.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Still a topic of interest when the Kempistry board closed, so transferring to Ecclesiantics for further discussion.

Kelly Alves, Admin/ Kempistry Host.

Posted by MSHB (# 9228) on :

quote:
Originally posted by balaam:
I came across this.

According to that page, I should like rational and logical types of prayer because I am an NT (i.e. an intuitive thinker, not a neurotypical).

In practice, I like liturgical prayer (Morning and Evening Prayer straight out of the Daily Office) and I like Carmelite style contemplation - not "logical" meditation but wordless "gazing at God". For me Theresa of Avila is more important than (say) Thomas Aquinas - e.g. her writings about the prayer of quiet.

I think this fits in with my personality very well, because I desire closeness with God, but find words unnatural for expressing closeness, and - being "on the spectrum" - I need structure and an objective form of words which I can "plug into" and say as my own (scripted prayer).

I think the idea that - if you are a Myers-Briggs NT (e.g. an INTP) - you must like logical prayer is overly simple. People like me want peace, calmness, and not chasing for words, and all of that is the forte of the prayer of quiet. Sure I like theological (and philosophical) discussions, but they are not sufficient for my deepest needs. Wordless longing for God (gazing, perceiving - the "P" in INTP) is left out of the discussion in that article.

I wonder whether they actually surveyed real people with those temperaments, or simply extrapolated from the descriptions: "you are in a box marked 'logical', so you must like logical prayer." Howabout: "you are in a box marked 'logical', but that is not how you personally relate to God. You long for the peace which surpasses human understanding".

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Conference with various hosts leads us to decide that All Saints is a better venue for this discussion. Get ready for takeoff!

K.A., Admin.

Posted by Rossweisse (# 2349) on :

As an introvert, I can say that a revival meeting isn't that far from my idea of authentic flaming Hell. Get out of our comfort zones, yes; go over the edge, not so much.

Posted by Nicodemia (# 4756) on :

Also being an introvert, and having been dragged off to what were called "Refreshing Meetings" with lots of loud music, hallelujahs and waving arms, I used to stand with my eyes closed, what I hoped was an ecstatic look and half raised arms, preferably at the side, or even in a corner. I was left alone! [Smile]

At one of the really over-the-top sort, I found just lying down, out of the way, was a Good Thing. Again, you were left alone. Kept my ears open for meeting drawing to a close, and as they say, Robert was my mother's brother!

At the moment, find enormous difficulty in praying any way, shape or form. See "Black Dog" thread. [Frown]

Posted by Adam. (# 4991) on :

[Side note: Ross, welcome back! I hadn't noticed that you're back posting again.]

I think that in our personal prayer it's important to know where our prayer 'home base' is, the place that's most natural, comfortable and energizing for us. That's the only place to try going to when our energy is zapped or we're feeling frazzled. But, when we're feeling spiritually stronger, then that's the time to venture out into forms of prayer that are less natural for us. Sometimes some wonderful growth comes from moving out of comfort zones, but it would be foolish to deny ourselves a comforting way of praying when that's what we need.

[ETA:] If some kind of personality index helps us find that prayer home base, great, but this is always going to be a first guess, a kind of seed in our search, not a definitive solution to be rigidly adhered to.

[ 14. December 2014, 14:16: Message edited by: Adam. ]

Posted by Adeodatus (# 4992) on :

quote:
Originally posted by MSHB:
I think the idea that - if you are a Myers-Briggs NT (e.g. an INTP) - you must like logical prayer is overly simple. People like me want peace, calmness, and not chasing for words, and all of that is the forte of the prayer of quiet. Sure I like theological (and philosophical) discussions, but they are not sufficient for my deepest needs. Wordless longing for God (gazing, perceiving - the "P" in INTP) is left out of the discussion in that article.

This rings bells with me, and I'm a Myers-Briggs INTP.

A few years ago, a bit dissatisfied with the Myers-Briggs thing, I went and read Jung's own writings on psychological types. I found his writing lucid, if a bit long-winded. I think his ideas were both simpler and more subtle than Myers-Briggs as it's normally presented. For instance, he didn't use the Perceiving/Judging dimension at all, concentrating rather on describing the Sensing, Thinking, iNtuitive and Feeling dimensions in great detail. His discussion of Intraversion and Extraversion is also fascinating.

One of the most basic and important things for Jung is something that only seems to get discussed at "advanced levels" of Myers-Briggs: the Shadow. For Jung, the whole of life after the so-called mid-life crisis is about befriending, or reconciling yourself to, your Shadow, which is all the aspects of your personality you were trained to suppress in early childhood. Failure to do this can result in a frustrating feeling of imcompleteness. So, for instance, if your "primary" psychological type is Sensing, you should in later life begin to explore your capacity for intuition. Ideally, this process should be challenging without being too disturbing.

I've found this insight very helpful in the last 10 years or so.

Posted by Jengie jon (# 273) on :

Perceiving-Judging is not a dimension in the original Myers-Briggs. It is supposed to point towards which of the middle two dimensions you prefer to extrovert. Think of it as a compass needle which swivels around an axis and either aligns more closely with the N/S or F/T dimension.

This causes problems when Kiersey uses it as a dimension. Introverts often end up with J/P thing the other way around on Kiersey to what they do on strict Myers-Briggs because their preferred dimension is not the one they extrovert.

Jung, of course, does not have either.

Also, I have heard someone refer to people "spiritual personality type" which may or may not be the same as their normal one.

My conclusion is that a simple link from the letters to a prayer style is as Adam say only a starting point.

Jengie

UBB.classic^TM 6.5.0