The Way of the Heart: Connecting with God Through Prayer, Wisdom, and Silence

by Henri J.M. Nouwen

Since its most memorable distribution, The Method of the Heart has assisted huge number of people with pushing off the annoyance and ravenousness that inconvenience the world — and track down adoration, empathy, and harmony in the core of God.

Motivated by the antiquated lessons of St. Anthony and the Desert Fathers,The Method of the Heart clears before us an otherworldly way comprising of three venturing Isolation (learning not to be distant from everyone else except to be separated from everyone else with God); Quietness (the discipline by which the inward fire of God is tended and kept alive); and Supplication (remaining within the sight of God with the psyche in the heart).

Separated scholar Henri Nouwen splendidly enlightens every one of these disciplines. In reflections that are delightfully clear and pragmatic, as elevating on the fourth perusing as on the first, he assists us with isolating the good product from the waste in our profound lives-and reconnects us with the main thing.

Inside this one little book lies the most applicable and moving test that we will at any point to give up the habitual clamor of the world for the method of the heart that drives us to God.

82 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 10, 2023

About the author

Henri Jozef Machiel Nouwen was a Dutch Catholic priest, theologian, psychologist, professor, and spiritual writer whose work profoundly shaped contemporary Christian spirituality. Born in Nijkerk, the Netherlands, in 1932, Nouwen pursued religious studies and was ordained a priest in 1957. His intellectual curiosity led him to study psychology at the Catholic University of Nijmegen and later at the Menninger Clinic in Kansas, where he explored the connection between faith and mental health. Throughout his life, Nouwen remained committed to integrating pastoral care, psychology, and spiritual theology in a way that addressed the emotional and existential needs of believers.
Nouwen held teaching positions at prestigious institutions including the University of Notre Dame, Yale Divinity School, and Harvard Divinity School. He authored over three dozen books and hundreds of articles, with notable works such as The Wounded Healer, The Return of the Prodigal Son, Life of the Beloved, and The Inner Voice of Love. His writing, often rooted in personal vulnerability and spiritual struggle, resonated with readers across denominations. Nouwen openly explored themes of loneliness, identity, intimacy, and the human desire for love and belonging, making his voice especially relatable and influential.
Though he was a gifted academic and popular speaker, Nouwen found his deepest calling later in life through his involvement with L’Arche, a network of communities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. After a transformative stay at the original L’Arche community in France, Nouwen accepted an invitation to become the pastor of L’Arche Daybreak in Richmond Hill, Ontario. There he developed a close bond with Adam Arnett, a core member with severe disabilities, which inspired the book Adam: God’s Beloved. At Daybreak, Nouwen discovered a deep spiritual home and a community that helped him embrace his humanity in profound ways.
Throughout his life, Nouwen wrestled with issues of identity, including his sexuality and his longing for connection, though he remained faithful to his vows. His openness about depression and inner conflict gave depth to his pastoral message, and his ability to turn personal struggle into shared spiritual insight made him one of the most beloved spiritual writers of the 20th century.
Henri Nouwen died in 1996 of a sudden heart attack, but his legacy endures through his writings, the Henri Nouwen Society, and the continued global reach of his message of belovedness, vulnerability, and compassionate community. His books remain bestsellers, widely read in seminaries, churches, and among individuals seeking a more intimate walk with God.

Reviews

[Ken Peters · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book for this moment for me. It's not the sort of book I'd normally read, but after hearing about it, finding it available at a store, and then ending up on a personal retreat all in a very short span of time, I figured I was meant to read it. I'm glad I did, but not because it's about exactly what the publisher's subtitle describes. The book is about solitude, silence, and prayer, according to lessons learned from the Desert Fathers. And in each section of the book, Henri Nouwen is quick to ask, "What does all this mean for us in our daily life?" After all, we're not monks living in a desert. We live busy and crowded lives. Henri Nouwen understands that, and he helped me to see the value of what the Desert Fathers meant by solitude, silence, and prayer.

He explained that by solitude, he means fashioning our own "desert where we can withdraw every day, shake off our compulsions [that feed our insecurities], and dwell in the gentle healing presence of our Lord." I need that, and I needed to be reminded of my own need for a specific time and place where I can regularly dwell in "a desert" of such solitude.

He explained that by silence, he means waiting and abiding with Jesus in that place of solitude so that we hear the voice of Jesus. Our world is full of words, and I need to be intentional about sometimes shutting out the sources of so many earthly words so that I can hear the words of God that really matter.

And as he explained prayer, he described prayers of the heart rather than our typically intellectual prayers of the mind that don't really foster true communion with God.

All of this felt like a message I needed in this moment. And though I'd have loved for Nouwen to have based his thoughts more on the Word of God than on the words of the Desert Fathers, what he expressed in this little book were words I needed to hear.

[John Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Way of the Heart led me to a place in my heart and soul that I always knew existed, yet was unable to stand in awe and wonder of. Not only did it teach me how to connect with deeper places of the heart, but it also taught me that there are places in this universally cosmological realm that we can only reach through the imagination and spirit alone. I can now stand in awe of the creator alone and receive only a crumb of the infinite wisdom our creator wishes to bestow upon humanity. For this blessing, I can only but listen to the LORD in silence and reply to his creation with the words, "Thank you."

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parts of the book fail to go beyond theological discussion into practical application, and while Fr. Nouwen emphasizes the practice silence, solitude, and prayer does not involve isolation from the world, it can seem like that is what he's suggesting at times.

I would still recommend "The Way of the Heart" as a fresh perspective on the disciplines of silence, prayer, and solitude and how one may minister to others through them.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has many useful instruction on how to connect our mind to our heart to connect it to God through Prayer, Wisdom, and Silence. God speaks to us in the silence of our minds and hearts. In today’s world, it is very hard to maintain silence for long as we are always on the go and needing to feel we are accomplishing many things. However, I am finding, that sometimes in the quiet and aloneness now in my life, I am finding that I seem to accomplish more through Him and with Him.

[Taber · Rating 4 out of 5]

So good! Quick, albeit complex, read. Beautifully written. Contemplative spirituality - less practical, boundless approach to prayer.

[Erin Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was helpful to me because it expressed in words things I had experienced but didn’t know how to communicate. Solitude has always been something that has nurtured me, and that I crave when it is not readily available.