The Prayer of the Heart

We have noticed that solitude is not a place. It is, more particularly, a state of being. But this state of being needs to be maintained. Inner peace and resolve can easily become dissipated. Similarly, prayer is not simply attending the place of prayer. Prayer is not simply maintaining a certain discipline where we tell God all that we desire or need. Prayer can also be a state of being. This is the prayer of the heart. This is the prayer that Nouwen tells us “continues to pray within me.” This is a prayer that becomes a part of me. The prayer that I cannot continue to live without. It is the prayer that reverberates within my being. It is a prayer that grows within me, just like a baby within a mother’s womb, and that knows no rest until it has come to resolution. The prayer of the heart is sometimes as basic as “Please God, don’t let me go.” Sometimes it is hunger to know God more fully and His ways more truly. At other times, the prayer of the heart is an intercessory prayer where we consistently carry someone with needs in our heart. While the prayer of the heart can take on many forms and may center on particular concerns, its abiding characteristic is that it is with us whether we pray, work, eat, or sleep. It is a prayer that is maintained not by an act of the will, but by our very being.

—Charles Ringma, Dare to Journey with Henri Nouwen