Henri Nouwen -- Our Inner Room
“Listening to the voice of love requires that we direct our minds and hearts toward that voice with all our attention. How can we do that? The most fruitful way -- in my experience -- is to take a simple prayer, a sentence or word, and slowly repeat it. We can us the Lord’s Prayer, the Jesus Prayer, the name of Jesus, or any word that reminds us of God’s love and put it in the center of our inner room, like a candle in a dark space.
Obviously we will be constantly distracted. We will think about what happened yesterday or what will happen tomorrow. We will have long, imaginary discussions with our friends or enemies. We will plan our next day, prepare our upcoming talk, or organize our next meeting. Still, as long as we keep the candle in our dark room burning, we can return to that light and see clearly the presence of the One who offers us what we most desire.”
Keep returning over and over again to that “inner room” where we shut the door, even if only for a moment, and sit in God’s presence.
Nouwen, H. J. M. (1994). Here and Now. New York: Crossroads. p. 23-24.