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The Only Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life

henri j.m. nouwen wendy wilson greer

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"Henri Nouwen is the most inspiring spiritual guide of our time."—Dan WakefieldThroughout the forty some books that Henri Nouwen wrote and the hundreds of talks that he gave, the subject of "Prayer" runs through them all and unites them. For him a life of faith is a life of prayer. He remained faithful to the commitment to pray daily through the times of abundance and during the dark periods in the spiritual desert.Drawn from many decades of his life, this compilation of Henri's thoughts, feelings, and the struggle with prayer, reveal the core of the man and his belief that "prayer is the only necessary thing."This volume is organized thematically. The topics What is Prayer? Solitude, Listening, Hindrances, and Forgiveness. The book concludes with a collection of thirty-five prayers written by Nouwen, several of which have never been published before.Following is an excerpt from the Preface by Wendy Wilson Greer, President, Henri NouwenHenri Nouwen has been and continues to be a beloved spiritual guide to countless people around the world. Though I was deeply moved by Henri's books, it took me over fifteen years to write him a letter to express my gratitude. A few weeks after mailing the letter, I received The Return of the Prodigal Son beautifully inscribed to me by Henri, and we began to correspond on a regular basis. I met him the following year at a conference in North Carolina, and a few weeks later he began to visit us in our apartment in New York City.What I remember most about praying with Henri is how his compassionate heart embraced the suffering world with a radical inclusivity. When he prayed with us, he would always begin by praying for our families, for his L'Arche community, and for close friends in need. Then his prayers would expand to include people all over the world. His prayers were very simple but very profound.

null pages, Hardcover

First published October 1,1999

This edition

Format
null pages, Hardcover
Published
February 21, 2000 by Gardners Books
ISBN
9780232523553
ASIN
023252355X
Language
English

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About the author

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henri j.m. nouwen

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Henri Jozef Machiel Nouwen (Nouen), (1932–1996) was a Dutch-born Catholic priest and writer who authored 40 books on the spiritual life.

Nouwen's books are widely read today by Protestants and Catholics alike. The Wounded Healer, In the Name of Jesus, Clowning in Rome, The Life of the Beloved, and The Way of the Heart are just a few of the more widely recognized titles. After nearly two decades of teaching at the Menninger Foundation Clinic in Topeka, Kansas, and at the University of Notre Dame, Yale University and Harvard University, he went to share his life with mentally handicapped people at the L'Arche community of Daybreak in Toronto, Canada. After a long period of declining energy, which he chronicled in his final book, Sabbatical Journey, he died in September 1996 from a sudden heart attack.

His spirituality was influenced by many, notably by his friendship with Jean Vanier. At the invitation of Vanier he visited L'Arche in France, the first of over 130 communities around the world where people with developmental disabilities live and share life together with those who care for them. In 1986 Nouwen accepted the position of pastor for a L'Arche community called "Daybreak" in Canada, near Toronto. Nouwen wrote about his relationship with Adam, a core member at L'Arche Daybreak with profound developmental disabilities, in a book titled Adam: God's Beloved. Father Nouwen was a good friend of the late Joseph Cardinal Bernardin.

The results of a Christian Century magazine survey conducted in 2003 indicate that Nouwen's work was a first choice of authors for Catholic and mainline Protestant clergy.

One of his most famous works is Inner Voice of Love, his diary from December 1987 to June 1988 during one of his most serious bouts with clinical depression.

There is a Father Henri J. M. Nouwen Catholic Elementary School in Richmond Hill, Ontario.

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Community Reviews

Rating(3.9 / 5.0, 60 votes)
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wsouza797
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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This is a book to savor and ponder, as you delight in taking sections at a time as you meditate on what it means to live a life of prayer. I would make it known to the browsing reader that this edition is a compilation of many of Nouwen's works taken in paragraphs based on theme in prayer--themes such as community, hindrances, death and dying.
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lilanus
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Every time I read another Nouwen bk, my aching soul is filled in a way that no other author can. One particular prayer about listening to Jesus brought on such a healing release
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Omegaax
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Such a deep well of insight for a life of prayer. I've seen a lot of growth in my intimacy with the Lord as I've applied these practices, especially silence and solitude. I appreciate the paradigm shifts that are also presented like Nouwen's interpretation of how to "pray without ceasing", which can seem oh so elusive. Finally, big props to the editors because it's crazy that this actually is a compilation of Nouwen's various works because it does for the most part come off as incredibly cohesive and if anything has me excited to look deeper into the individual references. Nouwen continues to be a role model and inspiration in my discipleship!
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Teckmeister
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Some 25 years ago I read the title of this book and thought, "Really? The only necessary thing? This guy must be mistaken!" I did not know anything about Henri Nouwen, and I did not know nearly enough about prayer (though I clearly thought I knew enough about what is necessary in life).

Through the years, I've seen this book over and over. I began to think, "Maybe he's on to something?"

I finally got a copy and read it, slowly - savoring it and soaking in the wisdom of Nouwen regarding the intersection of prayer and life.

When you truly understand prayer, it's source and outcomes, it truly is the only necessary thing, for it permeates all of life (when done correctly).

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and wish I had read it all those years ago when I first saw it. Grab a copy. Read it slowly and carefully. Enjoy the spiritual growth you will experience by growing in prayer!
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Kria2x
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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This is a gathering of Nouwen's writings around fourteen themes, and then the fifteenth, and last, chapter is a brief collection of his prayers. This is a fine book, good for getting the essence of Nouwen's writings and good for serious thinking, and praying, about the themes addressed in the book.
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Brondi
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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What a timely book. It was initially very different from what I anticipated. This book is a compilation of all of Nouwen’s books/manuscripts/journals and organized into different categories around living a prayerful life. Part of the book for me was hard to engage in because at points I felt the choppiness of it. But the quality of Nouwen’s thoughts and writing overcame some of the disjointedness for me. Nouwen has a way of speaking to the most broken parts of me, exposing them, and ultimately comforting me. I cannot think of another author who has done that more consistently for me, and in multiple books, the way Nouwen has. Get your hands on every book you can by him, including this one!
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Sasukemkz
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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I started reading this book this past spring and was off and on with it for a while until I started incorporating it into my morning readings. Once I did (and to be honest, I did so because I wanted to slowly read and digest Nouwen's wisdom), I would read an excerpt a day and be refreshed and renewed with new truths and reminders about God. It sustained me through a crisis of faith and depression that I went through this past summer, with a fresh daily reminder that God truly and really loves me.

The book itself is broken into topical chapters with little paragraph excerpts from Nouwen's vast collection of writings. Well condensed and expertly edited, it is an easy read to get through quickly, but in doing so, you would miss all the true wisdom that Nouwen has to impart about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and real Christian living and loving. You don't want to rush through this book.

I wish I could properly convey the wisdom, knowledge, and genuineness that Nouwen imparts in his writings. All I can say is that it changed my life in sustaining my faith by deepening and strengthening it. It spoke clearly to my heart and my head, and through his words, helped me to gain a little more understanding and a lot more love for the Lord that I passionately love and adore.
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Koszmarek
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Every once in awhile you come across a book that hits you at just EXACTLY the right time on just EXACTLY the right topic at just EXACTLY the right depth. I tried to read this book a few years ago and just couldn't muddle through, but last week I picked it up with the thought, 'Either I read this book or I donate it - no sense continuing to store & dust it!' and it ended up being a divine appointment.

Henri Nouwen is relatively unknown to me, but he smacks of an old-school style of writing that I find easy enough to read but incredibly challenging (in the best sense of the word) to digest. There is depth to his work that reflects a connection with God that I have never experienced.

This particular book is a compilation of excerpts from something like 29 of his books - all small snippets on the practice if prayer. And perhaps that was my fatal flaw a few years ago when I attempted to read. I wasn't even at a level of prayer that could comprehend the things Henri alludes to. But my depth has grown immensely in this past year and the words that stumped me before are now whispers of invitation into the next level of prayer.
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