Praying Daily

Thanks to some lovely Christmas presents, I have some new additions to my prayer corner. It's a simple little place, really--just my bedside table (thus the clocks, tissues, etc.). Elizabeth gave me the small olive wood crucifix on the right wall, and my former neighbor, Sheri, who now lives in the Philippines, sent me a lovely wooden rosary from her new country.

My Anglican prayer beads (made of polished stones) hang from the bedpost, and my two icons are on the wall between the rosary and the gold cross that Benjamin gave me two Christmases ago. A framed Old Masters print that I use for All Saints' Day hangs beside my bed, and various candles illuminate the corner when I pray in the evenings.

This morning I knelt here after my Lenten devotions downstairs and prayed from one of my favorite prayer books, John Baillie's classic A Diary of Private Prayer (available used for under a dollar at this link to Amazon). Baillie was the chaplain to the Queen of Scotland and wrote this devotional classic in 1936. Baillie's note at the beginning of the book informs us:

Here are prayers for all of the mornings and evenings of the months; and at the end of the book two prayers which, when any day falls on a Sunday, may be substituted for the others or else added to them. These prayers are to be regarded as aids; they are not intended to form the whole of a morning's or evening's devotions or to take the place of more individual prayers for oneself and others.... 

As today is the 6th of the month, the Morning Prayers for the Sixth Day are given here:

O God, who hast proven Thy Love for mankind by sending us Jesus Christ our Lord, and hast illumined our human life by the radiance of His presence, I give Thee thanks for this Thy greatest gift. 

For my Lord's days upon earth:For the record of His deeds of love:For the words He spoke for my guidance and help:For His obedience unto death:For His triumph over death:For the presence of His Holy Spirit with me now:I thank Thee, O God. 

Grant that the remembrance of the blessed Life that was once lived out on this common earth under these ordinary skies may remain with me in all the tasks and duties of this day. Let me remember --His eagerness, not to be ministered unto but to minister:His sympathy with suffering of every kind:His bravery in the face of His own suffering:His meekness of bearing, so that, when reviled, He reviled not again:His steadiness of purpose in keeping to His appointed task:His simplicity:His self-discipline:His serenity of spirit:His complete reliance on Thee. His Father in Heaven.And in each of these ways give me grace to follow in His footsteps. 

Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, I commit all my ways unto Thee. I make over my soul to Thy keeping. I pledge my life to Thy service. May this day be for me a day of obedience and of charity, a day of happiness and of peace. May all my walk and conversation be such as becometh the Gospel of Christ. Amen.

Prayer in the peace and silence of my prayer corner this morning lifted my spirits and brought me closer to the Spirit of the One who loves us all with an everlasting love, thanks be to God!

Wishing you all a blessed and holy Lent,