Customer Reviews

The Only Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life

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4 star:		(1)
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The Only Necessary Thing is not the usual book on how to pray and what makes prayer so important. It is a collection of a man's writings on his passionate believe in the Savior, and therefore, his conversations with Him. It gives a glimpse of how Henri Nouwen himself prayed and what is prayer to him. But never one time in the book does he come across as didactic. Instead, the book weaves together the essence of prayer and life in a contemplative and meditative manner. One can almost chew and "re-chew" through Nouwen's sober, frank and yet deep contemplation on his God and his conversations with Him.

Definitely, the credit of this book must also go to Wendy Greer, who has an excellent grasp of Nouwen's writings, and undoubtedly, her same passion for his God. She has put together Nouwen's best essays and writings in categories and ways that enables one to walk through each day reading snippets of the writings with a sense of continuity as well as of substance to meditate and chew for the day.

The Only Necessary Thing is a journey to the core of prayer, and that prayer is journey to the core of life.

Nouwen's work is always worthwhile, even when it is not his best effort. This book is his very best work on the most important topic he consistently addressed- prayer. Much thanks need to be given to Wendy Greer who gleaned these excerpts from his many books. She has done an admirable job. This book, due to it's format, is very conducive to being read over a course of time, maybe for one's devotions. The wisdom in it makes for a book that I will return to over and over again. I have given this book to my closest christian friends, who like me have a conviction that the prayerful life, a life lived always in the awareness of our relationship with Christ, is the only life worth living.

Outstanding. This was written by a close friend of Henri Nouwen. She has done a wonderful job of collecting & editing. This book is a tribute to Nouwen, and will be a joy to read and use for meditation, perhaps during Lent.

As an avid reader of Henri Nouwen, I appreciate the care and integrity used in this compilation. I feel it gets at the sense of who Nouwen was and the sense of his spiritual journey. His compassion and humility shine through.

What an incredible, intimate, and loving writer. Prayers, as the book highlighted, lead us not to dwell on self-pity and struggles of life, but to a new dwelling place, God's Heart, where all wounds can be healed and hopes for the brokenhearted. Your new name is God's Beloved, not Failure, not I Can't; even when our heart and strength fail, this book will lift us up to the unconditional love of God and the power given by Him to live a meaningful and peaceful life! There is so much more to be explored and experienced with the power of God in life. Henri Nouwen lived his life well and has left us a wonderful legacy of how to depend on God and not be afraid to pray for everything.

I love this book. I found it in the midst of "a dark night of the soul" and I found it to be very inspirational. I was struggling with relationships and feeling hurt. Henri's writing helped me through that very difficult time. My friend and I joked that I was "working my Henri." I love that Henri is so real and so human. I love his passion. I give this book as a gift to people when I think they might need a little Henri.

Be attentive to God

All I will add to the list of glowing reviews is to say that I typically don't enjoy books that are a compilation of selected writings from other books. So if you're like me in that regard, I will say that it shouldn't discourage you from reading this book. The passages selected are excellent and flow together nicely. The Only Necessary Thing reads like it was written all at once and has become one of my favorite Henri Nouwen books. The book is full of foundational life-changing-truths that will speak to you whether you are just beginning to pray or if you have been living a prayerful life for many years. May you blessed in your journey into Christ!

One of the most life changing and thought provoking books I've read to draw me closer to God.

This book really helped me when I was feeling depressed and discourged. I only wish that I could have to talked to the author in person

This book is amazing! It explains just how simple it is to have a relationship with Loving Creator. I would recommend this book to anyone who is searching for a closer connection to God. Ann