Only Necessary Thing : Living a Prayerful Life

“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.