Prayer: Moving from Mind to Heart
Solitude and Silence can never be separated from the call to unceasing prayer. The desert fathers did not think of solitude as being alone, but as being alone with God. They did not think of silence as not speaking, but as listening to God. Solitude and silence are the context within which prayer is practiced. ~ Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Way of the Heart
Henri Nouwen echoes the thoughts of Stanley Grenz on prayer in this aspect. We all know the importance of prayer. The only problem is that people like me are either too lazy or too busy to put it to practice.
Very few ministers will deny that prayer is important. They realize that they should not forget to pray, that they should take time to pray, and that prayer should be a priority in their lives. But all these “shoulds” do not have the power to carry them over the enormous obstacle of activism. There is always one more phone call, one more letter, one more visit, one more meeting, one more book, and one more party. The contrast between the great support for the idea of prayer and the lack of support for the practice of it is so blatantly visible.
One problem that we face in prayer is to think of it primarily as an activity of the mind that involves above all else our intellectual capabilities. This prejudice reduces prayer to speaking with God or thinking about God.
Prayer therefore requires hard mental work and is quite fatiguing. Since we already have so many other practical and pressing things on our minds, thinking about God becomes one more demanding burden. How can we possible expect anyone to find real nurture, comfort, and consolation from a prayer life that taxes the mind beyond its limits and adds one more exhausting activity to the many already scheduled ones? ~ Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Way of the Heart
Prayer must move from the mind to heart, Nouwen says. He quotes the Russian mystic Theophan the Recluse: “To pray is to descend with the mind into the heart, and there to stand before the face of the Lord, ever-present, all-seeing, within you.” There God’s Spirit dwells and there the great encounter takes place. There heart speaks to heart. I think what Nouwen says here is that prayer should go beyond our words and contemplation. Instead of speaking to God and thinking about God, we should allow our hearts to encounter the heart of God. Instead of having to think about what we should pray about, or having to think about what words to use, we should just let our hearts speak to God, allowing the Spirit of God to intercede for us through groanings that cannot be uttered.
Nouwen then gives 3 biblical characteristics of prayer of the heart:-
· The prayer of the heart is nurtured by short, simple prayers.
Do not strive for verbosity lest your mind be distracted from devotion by a search for words. One phrase on the lips of the tax collector was enough to win God’s mercy; one humble request made with faith was enough to save the good thief. ~ John Climacus
· The prayer of the heart is unceasing.
How can I pray without ceasing while I am busy with many other things? The answer involves my neighbor. Through my charity, my neighbor becomes a partner in my prayer and makes it into unceasing prayer. ~ Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Way of the Heart
· The prayer of the heart is all-inclusive.
Prayer of the heart includes all our concerns. When we enter with our mind into our heart and there stand in the presence of God, then all our mental preoccupations become prayer. Through prayer we can carry in our heart all human pain and sorrow, all conflicts and agonies, all torture and war, all hunger, loneliness and misery, not because of some great psychological or emotional capacity, but because God’s heart has become one with ours. ~ Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Way of the Heart
In the prayer of the heart, we see the connection between prayer and ministry. Prayer becomes more than a means by which our ministries become successful. It becomes a ministry in itself. And it is one way in which people are ministered.
The discipline of leading all our people with their struggles into the gentle and humble heart of God is the discipline of prayer as well as the discipline of ministry. As long as ministry only means that we worry a lot about people and their problems; as long as it means an endless number of activities which we can hardly coordinate, we are still very much dependent on our own narrow and anxious heart. But when our worries are led to the heart of God and there become prayer, then ministry and prayer become two manifestations of the same all-embracing love of God. ~ Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Way of the Heart
Henri Nouwen echoes the thoughts of Stanley Grenz on prayer in this aspect. We all know the importance of prayer. The only problem is that people like me are either too lazy or too busy to put it to practice.
Very few ministers will deny that prayer is important. They realize that they should not forget to pray, that they should take time to pray, and that prayer should be a priority in their lives. But all these “shoulds” do not have the power to carry them over the enormous obstacle of activism. There is always one more phone call, one more letter, one more visit, one more meeting, one more book, and one more party. The contrast between the great support for the idea of prayer and the lack of support for the practice of it is so blatantly visible.
One problem that we face in prayer is to think of it primarily as an activity of the mind that involves above all else our intellectual capabilities. This prejudice reduces prayer to speaking with God or thinking about God.
Prayer therefore requires hard mental work and is quite fatiguing. Since we already have so many other practical and pressing things on our minds, thinking about God becomes one more demanding burden. How can we possible expect anyone to find real nurture, comfort, and consolation from a prayer life that taxes the mind beyond its limits and adds one more exhausting activity to the many already scheduled ones? ~ Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Way of the Heart
Prayer must move from the mind to heart, Nouwen says. He quotes the Russian mystic Theophan the Recluse: “To pray is to descend with the mind into the heart, and there to stand before the face of the Lord, ever-present, all-seeing, within you.” There God’s Spirit dwells and there the great encounter takes place. There heart speaks to heart. I think what Nouwen says here is that prayer should go beyond our words and contemplation. Instead of speaking to God and thinking about God, we should allow our hearts to encounter the heart of God. Instead of having to think about what we should pray about, or having to think about what words to use, we should just let our hearts speak to God, allowing the Spirit of God to intercede for us through groanings that cannot be uttered.
Nouwen then gives 3 biblical characteristics of prayer of the heart:-
· The prayer of the heart is nurtured by short, simple prayers.
Do not strive for verbosity lest your mind be distracted from devotion by a search for words. One phrase on the lips of the tax collector was enough to win God’s mercy; one humble request made with faith was enough to save the good thief. ~ John Climacus
· The prayer of the heart is unceasing.
How can I pray without ceasing while I am busy with many other things? The answer involves my neighbor. Through my charity, my neighbor becomes a partner in my prayer and makes it into unceasing prayer. ~ Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Way of the Heart
· The prayer of the heart is all-inclusive.
Prayer of the heart includes all our concerns. When we enter with our mind into our heart and there stand in the presence of God, then all our mental preoccupations become prayer. Through prayer we can carry in our heart all human pain and sorrow, all conflicts and agonies, all torture and war, all hunger, loneliness and misery, not because of some great psychological or emotional capacity, but because God’s heart has become one with ours. ~ Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Way of the Heart
In the prayer of the heart, we see the connection between prayer and ministry. Prayer becomes more than a means by which our ministries become successful. It becomes a ministry in itself. And it is one way in which people are ministered.
The discipline of leading all our people with their struggles into the gentle and humble heart of God is the discipline of prayer as well as the discipline of ministry. As long as ministry only means that we worry a lot about people and their problems; as long as it means an endless number of activities which we can hardly coordinate, we are still very much dependent on our own narrow and anxious heart. But when our worries are led to the heart of God and there become prayer, then ministry and prayer become two manifestations of the same all-embracing love of God. ~ Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Way of the Heart
posted by sojourner @ Friday, August 19, 2005
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