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 – for us. And calling us to share in God’s 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 sky is my prayer, the birds are my prayer, the wind in the trees is my prayer, for God is all in all.
Each temple building is an inspiration, magnificent and beautiful in every way, but the temple building alone does not bless. The endowed blessings and divine functions—come through obedience and faithfulness to priesthood authority and covenants made.
If we do not abide in prayer, we will abide in temptation. Let this be one aspect of our daily intercession: "God, preserve my soul, and keep my heart and all its ways so that I will not be entangled." When this is true in our lives, a passing temptation will not overcome us. We will remain free while others lie in bondage.
May we all make the journey to Bethlehem in spirit, taking with us a tender caring heart as our gift to the Savior.
We are never alone when we stand with our Father in Heaven.
A triune God would call us to converse with him . . . because he wants to share the joy he has. Prayer is our way of entering into the happiness of God himself.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.