Let’s first look at possible short prayers each personality may say:
iNtuitive- Thinking (NT)
ENTJ: God, help me to slow downandnotrushthroughwhatIdoAmen
INTJ: Lord, keep me open to others’ ideas, WRONG though they may be!
INTP: Lord, help me be less independent, but let me do it my way.
ENTP: God, help me follow established procedures today. On second thought, I’ll settle for a few minutes.
INTJ: Lord, keep me open to others’ ideas, WRONG though they may be!
INTP: Lord, help me be less independent, but let me do it my way.
ENTP: God, help me follow established procedures today. On second thought, I’ll settle for a few minutes.
(NT) iNtuitive—Thinking:
Thomistic Temperament
Thomistic Temperament
Thomistic prayer is mostly meditation and study mixed together. Because the NT personality tends to focus on study it is important for you to follow the steps of Lectio Divina closely. This will help ensure a real opportunity for prayer and not an exclusively intellectual exercise. It is important to Read, Meditate, Pray and Contemplate.
The emphasis will naturally fall to the Meditation time in Thomistic Prayer. In books on prayer, this is often referred to as “discursive meditation”.
Unless your discursive reflections during the prayer period result in a change of behavior, they would not be considered authentic Thomistic Prayer. “Metanoia” or conversion is an essential element of Thomistic Prayer. A logical step from the new insights into truth received during the meditation is to make the necessary changes in one’s life. This would be the practical fruit expected from each exercise of Thomistic Prayer and expressed through one or more resolutions adopted at the conclusion of the discursive meditation.
You consider a virtue, a fault, a theological truth and “walk around it”, studying it from every possible angle. To enable you to get the full grasp on the topic chosen for Thomistic Prayer, it is recommended that you use the seven auxiliary questions: What, Why, How, Who, Where, When, With what helps and apply each of them to the topic selected.
By way of example, you might take the virtue of faith as the subject of your meditation. You would then ask the following questions:
What do we mean by faith?
What is entailed in the practice of faith?
What are the reasons to justify the pursuit of faith?
Why should I have faith?
What is the value of it?
How might I practice faith?
When and where should it be practiced?
Who are some of the people in the Scriptures and in history who are examples of the practice of faith?
Finally, what aids can I use to help me practice faith?
The whole exercise should conclude with suitable resolutions of how you are going to practice the virtue of faith.
The emphasis will naturally fall to the Meditation time in Thomistic Prayer. In books on prayer, this is often referred to as “discursive meditation”.
Unless your discursive reflections during the prayer period result in a change of behavior, they would not be considered authentic Thomistic Prayer. “Metanoia” or conversion is an essential element of Thomistic Prayer. A logical step from the new insights into truth received during the meditation is to make the necessary changes in one’s life. This would be the practical fruit expected from each exercise of Thomistic Prayer and expressed through one or more resolutions adopted at the conclusion of the discursive meditation.
You consider a virtue, a fault, a theological truth and “walk around it”, studying it from every possible angle. To enable you to get the full grasp on the topic chosen for Thomistic Prayer, it is recommended that you use the seven auxiliary questions: What, Why, How, Who, Where, When, With what helps and apply each of them to the topic selected.
By way of example, you might take the virtue of faith as the subject of your meditation. You would then ask the following questions:
What do we mean by faith?
What is entailed in the practice of faith?
What are the reasons to justify the pursuit of faith?
Why should I have faith?
What is the value of it?
How might I practice faith?
When and where should it be practiced?
Who are some of the people in the Scriptures and in history who are examples of the practice of faith?
Finally, what aids can I use to help me practice faith?
The whole exercise should conclude with suitable resolutions of how you are going to practice the virtue of faith.
Guidelines:
- Follow the guidelines set for Lectio Divina
- Some suggestions for passages to use:
- Mark 15:10 or Acts 13:48
- Consider the fault of envy
- Reflect upon its meaning
- Have you ever felt envy?
- When?
- Why?
- What did you do about it?
- Have you ever suffered as a result of the envy of someone else?
- What did you do about it?
- How was envy the cause of the death of Jesus?
- Why do people experience envy?
- Why are envious people often unaware of their envy?
- How might you discover whether you still harbor secret envy towards others?
- What might you do to avoid being envious of others?
- How is love the opposite of envy?
- End the period of prayer with fervent petitions to God asking Him to help you discover your secret envy and to help you overcome it.
- Matthew 5:23-24
- Are you willing to take this command of Jesus literally?
- Do you believe that it is more important to be reconciled with your brothers and sisters than it is to go to Holy Communion on Sunday?
- At present is there anyone in your life who is not reconciled with you?
- Have you tried to become reconciled with him/her?
- Have you tried as much as you should?
- As much as God would want you to?
- Do you really love that person who is not reconciled to you?
- What more can you do to become reconciled with those that have something against you?
- Even if the “thing against you” is not real (i.e. imaginary), is there anything you should do to bring about an understanding between the two of you?1
- Matthew 13:44-46
- Where have you discovered the hidden treasure of the Kingdom of God?
- Are you willing to sell everything in order to possess it?
- Have you disposed of everything else in order to obtain it?
- Do you sufficiently appreciate the hidden treasure of God’s kingdom?
- What do you need to do to appreciate better this “hidden treasure,” “this pearl of great price”?2
- Mark 15:10 or Acts 13:48
1Taken and adapted from http://www.msgr.ca/msgr/WEBPrayerHANDBOOK_17_thomistic_prayer.htm
Highland Shepherd Episcopal Anglican Church. The Reverend Canon Jim Irvine, Canon of ChristChurch
Cathedral.
2Michael, C.P., & Norrisey, M.C. (1984). Prayer and Temperament: Different Prayer Forms for Different Personality Types. Charlottesville VA: The Open Door. (p.88)
2Michael, C.P., & Norrisey, M.C. (1984). Prayer and Temperament: Different Prayer Forms for Different Personality Types. Charlottesville VA: The Open Door. (p.88)
