Prayers of Nouwen

 

Lord, give me faith, faith in your endless mercy, your boundless forgiveness, your unfathomable goodness.

Let me not be tempted to think that my sins are too great to be forgiven, too abominable to be touched by your mercy….Let me never run away from you...Take me under your wings, O  Lord. Perhaps my doubt in your forgiveness is a greater sin than the sins I consider too great to be forgiven,.. Lord, look at me, accept my prayer as you accepted Peter’s prayer.

 

Dear Lord, show me your kindness and your gentleness, you who are meek and humble of heart.

The fact that I get so easily upset because of a disappointment, so easily angered because of a slight criticism, and so easily depressed because of slight rejection, shows that your love does not fill me….

What can people do to me when I know that you love, care for, protect, defend, guide, and support me? What does a small -or even a great failure mean, when I know you are with me in all my sorrows and turmoil? Yet time and again,  I have to confess that I have not let your love descend fully from my mind into my heart.

God’s mercy is greater than our sins.  There is an awareness of sin that does not lead to God but to self-preoccupation. Our temptation is to be so impressed by our sins and failings and so overwhelmed by our lack of generosity that we get stuck in a paralyzing guilt.It is the guilt that says, “ I am too sinful to deserve God’s mercy. It is the guilt that has become an idol and therefore a form of pride. 

Lent is the time to break down this idol. Are we like Judas who did not repent or like Peter who repented?

Dear Lord, thank you for the beginning of spring. In the midst of Lent, I am made aware that Easter is coming again. The days are getting longer, the snow is fading, and the sun is bringing new warmth.

Anyone who drinks the water I give...what words… the water that you give turns into a spring. Therefore, I do not have to be stingy with your gift, O Lord. I can freely let the water come from my center and let anyone who desires drink from it.

Let the spring of this year and the spring of water in me give me joy.

Listen, Lord, to my prayers. Listen to my desire to be with you,to dwell in your house and to let my whole being filled with your presence.But none of this is possible without you. When you are not the one who fills me I am soon filled with endless thoughts and concerns that divide me and tear me away from you.

Every day I see again that only you can teach me to pray, only you can set my heart at rest, only you can let me dwell in your presence.

Lord,let me at least remain open to your initiative, let me wait patiently and attentively for that hour when you will come and break through all the walls I have erected.Teach me Lord to pray.

O Lord, let me praise you,bless you,worship you. So, often my prayer turns into introspective ruminations regarding my own confused feelings and emotions. You are the source of all goodness beauty and love. You have shown me your mercy by coming to me and lifting me up into your own life through the life of your Church.

Lord, let me understand that in and through you all my little concerns will be taken care of.

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O Lord, grant me a pure heart so that I can see You and hear you in the splendor of the holy liturgy.

My heart is not pure. I am filled with morbid introspection. Lord, I really want to see

but my struggle to come to any degree of purity of heart seems so futile...take me by the hand and lead me to the top of the mountain. Purify my heart and show me your light.

You are my lord,Lord of my heart,mind and soul. You know me through and through. You embrace all that exists and care for it with divine love….why do I keep looking for popularity,respect from others,success,acclaim, and sensual pleasures.

Help me Lord to let my old self die, to let die the thousand big and small ways in which I am still building up my false self and trying to cling to my false desires.

You alone can reach out to me and save me.

Thank you Lord for every day that you give me to come closer to you.Thank you for your patience and goodness.

Come,Lord Jesus,come.do not just come to our understanding,but enter our hearts---our passions,emotions and feelings and reveal your presence  to us in our inmost being.

p.66

Dear Lord, show me your kindness and gentleness. What does a small or even a great failure mean,when I know that you are with me in all my sorrows and turmoil. Yet time and again I have to confess that I have not let your love descend fully from my mind into my heart…

p.68

o Lord, your abundant love became visible today in the abundant beauty of nature. Refers to his mother’s death who was always fascinated by the spring.

I believe that her death will yield fruits.The day of your resurrection for which I am preparing  myself is also a sign that there is hope for all who die. So let my sadness be a sorrow that makes me eager to follow you on the way to the cross and beyond it, to that easter morning with its empty grave.

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Dear Lord,help me keep my eyes on you.You are the incarnation of divine love,you are the expression of God’s infinite compassion.

 

you are beauty,goodness,gentleness,forgiveness and mercy.In you all can be found.why should elsewhere or go elsewhere/you have the words of eternal life.You are the light that shines in darkness,the lamp on the lamp stand, the house on the hilltop.

To you I want to give all that I am.let me be generous, not stingy otrhesitant.Let me give you all –all I have ,think,do and feel.Please accept it and make it fully your own.