Discover Your Soul's Path to GodSýnishorn

Contemplative Christians feel closest to God through adoration. They want to enjoy God and learn to love him in ever deeper ways—not as obedient but dispassionate servants, but with a passionate love that is so strong it burns all other bonds. 

Often, we think that Christianity is about being obedient and whether we end up in heaven or hell. But Christianity is about intimacy with the Father, and obedience flows from passionate love. Unfortunately, some people have failed to grasp the depth and calling of this love relationship with God, preferring instead to turn faith into ethical lists of do's and don’ts. This rote obedience apart from adoration is not the faith that Jesus represented.

To enter the devotion of contemplatives, Christians must begin by emptying their lives of those things that choke out our desire for God. In the study of Christian spirituality, real contemplation is actually an experience with a beginning and an end that Christians pass through. Contemplation is not generally considered a life state that one exists in, so the word is adapted somewhat when used as a label for a spiritual temperament.

Christian contemplation is not mystical experience, it has to do with adoration. Jesus was emphatic that the spiritual life is based on love and relationship, not laws (see Mark 12:30 and John 15:15). Contemplatives want nothing more than some privacy and quiet to gaze at the face of their heavenly lover and give all of themselves to God. Without hesitancy, with no sense of obligation, contemplatives appreciate Jesus with unadulterated adoration. 

Secret acts of devotion—giving an anonymous gift, helping someone out “behind the scenes,” sending a card—allows you to show the love of God for God only. Part of intimacy with God is sharing secrets with only him. On our end, it could be a service we perform that no one will ever know about. 

Intimacy with God can also come by allowing God to lead in our prayers—allowing God to speak and place requests before us. God may lead us to repentance, celebration, intercession, introspection, or any number of things. The important element is to be still enough so that God can lead. Another helpful way to pray is to repeat a word that helps you focus on God. As thoughts drift, you simply repeat the word in your heart, bringing you back to focus. Believers through the ages have found this helpful and less distracting than anxious, wordy prayers. 

Sometimes a prayer of the heart is what we need. While this doesn’t replace a prayer of the mind, it is an essential ingredient of a full life of prayer—engaging both the intellectual and emotional elements of our being. Sometimes praying through Scripture, or events such as the stations of the cross can help us picture the truth of God’s Word. This concrete structure can also allow spontaneous insight and petitions.

There are many benefits gained from incorporating contemplative elements into our faith expressions. Contemplatives can help us see the importance of loving God, not just doing the work of God. Only you can give God your personal love and affection—a love that he wants very much.

Respond

What does it mean to you to rest in God’s presence?

What distractions in your life keep you from personal time with God?

What tools can you use to help you focus on God and give him your personal love and affection?