Henri Nouwen Quotes

You're always trying to feel confident and to feel good about yourself, but what it comes down to is really giving up to someone else. Having faith.

A great many people are trying to make peace, but that has already been done. God has not left it for us to do; all we have to do is to enter into it.

Peace requires us to surrender our illusions of control.

I think sometimes we think faith is about having all the answers. It isn't. But it's the thing that keeps you steady and in peace in the midst of storms.

Surrender is a gift that you can give yourself. It's an act of faith. It's saying that even though I can't see where this river is flowing, I trust it will take me in the right direction.

Let go and let God. Let Him take over your life and run it. He knows how.

I'm fairly convinced that the Kingdom of God is for the broken-hearted. You write of 'powerlessness.' Join the club, we are not in control. God is.

When we have done our best, we should wait the result in peace.

I'd realize it's not worth our time to worry. You do your best, and God will put the right people in your path.

I know that for me I have to get out of the way and let God take control.

Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is too small to be made into a burden.

I used to think religion was just more of the same thing. Dump responsibility on the big guy. Now I see an importance in that. It's a relief to accept that not everything is under your control.

You think you're in control, and you're trying to get that square peg in that round hole. You're frustrated, and you realize that you're not in control of everything. You need to just step back and let God.

I have to keep reminding myself: If you give your life to God, he doesn't promise you happiness and that everything will go well. But he does promise you peace. You can have peace and joy, even in bad circumstances.

And the attitude of faith is the very opposite of clinging to belief, of holding on.

More than anything, praying just helps me to concentrate and let go of things that don't matter in that moment. It gives me peace knowing I'm in good hands.

We must stop planning, plotting and scheming, and let Infinite Intelligence solve the problem in its own way.

When you accept that you are not in charge of everything, you can begin to work with the one who really is in charge. This has been my experience; when I accepted that I was not in charge and started to work with someone else's plan, the Boss showed up. Now we are a team and I have less to be concerned about. He organizes my schedule. I just follow it, and when He is taking a day off my wife steps in.

Prayer begins where our power ends.

I will not try to run my own life or the lives of others; that is God's business.

In order to have a peace that surpasses all understanding, you have to give up your right to understand

You are accepted. You are accepted, accepted by that which is greater than you, and the name of which you do not know. Do not ask for the name now; perhaps you will find it later. Do not try to do anything now; perhaps later you will do much. Do not seek for anything; do not perform anything; do not intend anything. Simply accept the fact that you are accepted!

Let God work in you, give the work to God, and have peace. Don't worry if He works through your nature or above your nature, because both are His, nature and grace.

Sannyas means dropping the fight with the river, going with the river, allowing the river to take you, learning the art of let-go. Those two small, simple words 'let', 'go', define the very spirit of sannyas. Then one can say 'Let thy kingdom come, thy will be done.' Then one withdraws one's will, and the moment you withdraw your will your life becomes immensely rich. Suddenly the whole is with you, and we can be victorious only when the whole is with us.