The crisis of our prayer life is that our minds may be filled with ideas of God while our hearts remain far from him.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the disconnect between intellectual understanding of God and an emotional or spiritual connection with Him.
Henri Nouwen's quote emphasizes that many individuals may have a wealth of knowledge and ideas about God, yet still feel emotionally distant from Him. This disconnect indicates that mere intellectual comprehension is not sufficient for a genuine, heartfelt relationship with the divine. The crisis in prayer life arises when thoughts about God overshadow the actual practice of connecting with Him on a deeper, more heartfelt level.
In practice
During a sermon emphasizing the need for deeper spiritual connection, this quote illustrates a common struggle.
The Christian leader of the future is called to be completely irrelevant and to stand in this world with nothing to offer but his or her own vulnerable self. God loves us, not because of what we do or accomplish, but because God has created and redeemed us in love.
The immense joy in welcoming back the lost son hides in the immense sorrow that has gone before....our brokenness may appear beautiful, but our brokenness has no other beauty but the beauty that comes from the compassion that surrounds it.
Suffering invites us to place our hurts in larger hands. In Christ we see God suffering β for us. And calling us to share in Godβs suffering love for a hurting world. The small and even overpowering pains of our lives are intimately connected with the greater pains of Christ. Our daily sorrows are anchored in a greater sorrow and therefore a larger hope.
To listen is very hard, because it asks of us so much interior stability that we no longer need to prove ourselves by speeches, arguments, statements or declarations. True listeners no longer have an inner need to make their presence known. They are free to receive, welcome, to accept.
Waiting is a dry desert between where we are and where we want to be. (Finding My Way Home)
Becoming the beloved is pulling the truth revealed to me from above down into the ordinariness of what I am, in fact, thinking of, talking about and doing from hour to hour.
The inattentive, slovenly way we drift into the presence of God is an indication that we are not bothering to think about Him. Whenever our Lord spoke of prayer, He said, "Ask." It is impossible to ask if you do not concentrate.
If you want to talk to God, pray. If you want him to talk to you, read your scriptures.
Prayer, as a means of drawing ever new strength from Christ, is concretely and urgently needed.
A servant of the Lord stands bodily before men, but mentally he is knocking at the gates of heaven with prayer.
In using all means, seek God alone. In and through every outward thing, look only to the power of His Spirit, and the merits of His Son. Beware you do not get stuck in the work itself; if you do, it is all lost labor. Nothing short of God can satisfy your soul. Therefore, fix on Him in all, through all, and above all...Remember also to use all means as means-as ordained, not for their own sake.
We can be tired, weary and emotionally distraught, but after spending time alone with God, we find that He injects into our bodies energy, power and strength.
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