Sunday, September 06, 2015

A Diary of Private Prayer


Author:  John Baillie

First Publication:  October 2014

Publisher:  Scribner

Source:  Netgalley

From Goodreads:  In this book of personal devotions, noted theologian Dr. John Baillie offers personal prayers for people who are seeking a better understanding of God and themselves.  Intermingling adoring and meditative thoughts about God with a concern for the social and individual good, these daily invocations help and inspire us to search within our inner selves and find the deep religious beliefs that lie within.

Editor Susanna Wright has updated it by using modern language to capture the spirit of the origin edition.  Baillie wrote prayers for morning and evening with special ones for Sundays.

Baillie does a great job of giving you a morning prayer that guides you to focus on God each day.  In the hectic pace of day to day living it is easy to let our focus drift away from what God wants us to do.  His prayers are a good way of starting the day off on the right foot.

The evening prayers give thanks for the day and guidance for others in your life.    Due to the events of the average day, we tend to not always remember to give thanks.  Even when it seems like something happened that is not what we thought it would be, we should still thank God.  He is in control.  Baillie helps us to remember that.


I would recommend this book to everyone to read.  If you have friends who need help with their prayer life, it would make an excellent gift.