Pray-Along. Part Three

(If you're just joining me now, I'm in the midst of a day-long intentional prayer time. Please join me.)

From  A Diary of Private Prayer by John Baille

O Lord and Maker of all things, from whose creative power the first light came forth, who did look at the world's first morning and saw that it was good, I praise You for this light that now streams through my windows to awaken me to the life of another day.

I praise You for the my life
I praise You for the bright and beautiful world into which I go
I praise You for earth and sea and sky and clouds and birds
I praise You for all the work You have given me to do
I praise You for all that You have given me to do to fill my leisure hours
I praise You for music and books and good company and pure pleasures.

O Lord, give me a tender heart towards all those to whom the morning light brings less joy than it brings me:

 - Those in whom the pulse of life grows weak
 - Those who must lie abed through all the sunny hours
 - Those who are blind, or shut off from the light of day
 - The overworked, who have no joy of leisure
 - The unemployed, who have no joy of labor
 - The bereaved, whose hearts and homes are desolate
                       Lord, grant mercy on them all.

Let no corner of my being be unilluminated by the light of your countenance.  Let there be nothing within me to darken the brightness of this day. Let the Spirit of Him whose life was the light of men rule within my heart til evening.

Amen.