What's your spiritual temperament?
For a joyful life of prayer and faith, we need to understand how we best meet with God. To help figure this out, Sarah Whittleston and Tim Alford explored an intriguing range of ‘spiritual temperaments’ in a recent Limitless leaders podcast.
Be honest – have you ever found prayer difficult? Has it ever felt like it just won’t flow or that you’re struggling to pray in the setting you’re in? Do you ever fight to concentrate while you’re reading or studying the Bible?
Could this be because you’re trying to pray or engage with God in a way that doesn’t fit the personality he has given you?
These are questions Sarah Whittleston and Tim Alford asked in a recent Limitless leaders podcast which focused on the role different spiritual temperaments play in our prayer lives.
“I was given a book called Sacred Temperaments by Gary Thomas,” says Sarah. “In it, he started to unpack this idea of spiritual temperaments.
“The idea is that we’re created differently, so why are we trying to squeeze ourselves into one way of connecting with God?
“His invitation was to discover how we’re made. Once we figure that out, it’s up to us to take ownership and be responsible for how we connect with God.”
Understanding our spiritual temperaments can help with those times when we feel our prayers are bouncing off the ceiling or when we’re trying to copy others who seem close to God and we end up feeling guilty or ashamed when our efforts don’t have the same result.
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