Henri Nouwen Quotes

I think prayerful meditation, being still in a space, being still with God, I don't do that enough. It's crazy, because when I do do it, I always walk away from it going, 'Why the hell am I not doing that more?'

. . . in the spiritual life you must practice. And the only way to practice is by trying to solve your problems with prayer. This develops your spiritual power and it also trains you to use that spiritual power in the most effective way.

The most holy and important practice in the spiritual life is the presence of God - that is, every moment to take great pleasure that God is with you

The essence of meditation is a period of time set aside to contemplate the Lord, listen to Him, and allow Him to permeate our spirits.

Settle yourself in solitude, and you will come upon God in yourself.

Meditation is the activity of calling to mind, and thinking over, and dwelling on, and applying to oneself, the various things that one knows about the works and ways and purposes and promises of God.

We need to attend diligently to the state of our soul, and to deal fervently and effectively with God about it.

The Word we study has to be the Word we pray.

Silence, you know, is the best place to get close to spirit for me.

About four days a week, I do pretty good at having a morning prayer time. But even at that, it's a rambling sort of thing. What I have learned to do better is to try to keep my mind turned toward God and ear inclined toward God throughout the day, and I think I'm doing better at that, but I've got a long way to go.

Every one should find some suitable time, day or night, to sink into his depths, each according to his own fashion. Not every one is able to engage in contemplative prayer.

When you're reading the Word of God, you need to let it soak in and let God speak to your heart and let the Holy Spirit work.

The mind is a great gift, but it has to be quieted down in order to feel, hear and see the presence of God.

If Jesus is to become the center of our life, we need to spend time in His presence, before the Tabernacle.

Silence is one of the deepest Disciplines of the Spirit, simply because it puts the stopper on all self-justificat ion

I feel that I need to return to the pure stillness periodically. And then, when the teaching happens, just allow it to arise out of the stillness. So the teaching and stillness are very closely connected. The teaching arises out of the stillness. But when I'm alone, there's only the stillness, and that is my favorite place.

The men that will change the colleges and seminaries here represented are the men that will spend the most time alone with God... It takes time for the fires to burn. It takes time for God to draw near and for us to know that He is there. It takes time to assimilate His truth.

A certain degree of solitude seems necessary to the full growth and spread of the highest mind; and therefore must a very extensive intercourse with men stifle many a holy germ, and scare away the gods, who shun the restless tumult of noisy companies and the discussion of petty interests.

Good praying is more easily caught than taught.

Above anything, welcome silence, for it brings fruits that no tongue can speak of, neither can it be explained.

He taught them that the purpose of a man is to make his life holy--every aspect of his life: eating, drinking praying, sleeping. God is everywhere, he told them, and if it seems at times that He is hidden from us, it is only because we have not yet learned to seek Him correctly.

Strength comes from solitude, a waiting, a communion with the best in us, which is at one with the divine spark.

When prayer fades out, power fades out. We are as spiritual as we are prayerful; no more, no less.

A satisfying prayer life elevates and purifies every act of body and mind and integrates the entire personality into a single spiritual unit. In the long pull we pray only as well as we live.

Live more quietly. Live more seeking God's presence in your own heart.