Short Prayers
I have been greatly affected by my reading of Henri Nouwen’s book, The Way of the Heart. I’ve been taking a short excerpt from each chapter daily and have attempted to truly digest the truth that Nouwen writes. This morning as I read Nouwen he quoted St. John Climacus who lived in the Seventh century, Climacus offers this advice to those who pray, “When you pray, do not try to express yourself in fancy words, for often it is the simple, repetitious phrases of a little child that our Father in heaven finds most irresistible. 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. Wordiness in prayer often subjects the mind to fantasy and dissipation; single words by their very nature tend to concentrate the mind.” In light of this, I offer a prayer for us today, “Christ be found by those of us who seek you.”-
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