A Morning Prayer by John Baillie

Here am I, O God,
of little power and of mean estate,
yet lifting up heart and voice to Thee
before whom all created things are as dust and a vapour.
Thou art hidden behind the curtain of sense,
incomprehensible in Thy greatness,
mysterious in Thine almighty power;
yet here I speak with Thee familiarly
as child to parent, as friend to friend.
If I could not thus speak to Thee,
then were I indeed without hope in the world.
For it is little that I have power to do or to ordain.
Not of my own will am I here,
not of my own will shall I soon pass hence.
Of all that shall come to me this day,
very little will be such as I have chosen for myself.
It is Thou, O hidden One, who dost appoint my lot
and determine the bounds of my habitation.
It is Thou who hast put power in my hand to do one work
and hast withheld the skill to do another.
It is Thou who dost keep in Thy grasp the threads of this day's life
and who alone knowest what lies before me to do or to suffer.
But because Thou art my Father, I am not afraid.
Because it is Thine own Spirit that stirs
within my spirit's inmost room,
I know that all is well.
What I desire for myself I cannot attain,
but what Thou desirest in me Thou canst attain for me.
The good that I would I do not,
but the good that Thou willest in me,
that Thou canst give me power to do.

Dear Father, take this day's life into Thine own keeping.
Control all my thoughts and feelings.
Direct all my energies.
Instruct my mind.
Sustain my will.
Take my hands and make them skillful to serve Thee.
Take my feet and make them swift to do Thy bidding.
Take my eyes and keep them fixed upon Thine everlasting beauty.
Take my mouth and make it eloquent in testimony to Thy love.
Make this day a day of obedience,
a day of spiritual joy and peace.
Make this day's work a little part
of the work of the Kingdom of my Lord Christ,
in whose name these my prayers are said,
Amen.

(a prayer of John Baillie in A Diary of Private Prayer, Ninth Day, Morning)