What do you pray in your own “private prayer”? After World War II, John Baillie, a Scottish pastor, published A Diary of Private Prayer, a month of his morning and evening prayers. Private, yes—but not isolated from his world, the public square, or the needs of “the other.” His prayers called him to love others, often expressed through compassion for the suffering and just, generous practices toward the sick, blind, and prisoners—including those oppressed by injustice.
We learn to pray best when we are in the presence of pray-ers and prayers. Baillie’s diary becomes a classroom of instruction on prayer. Listen first to his posture before God—and then to his four petitions.
“Oh, divine love who dost everlastingly stand outside the closed doors of the souls of humankind, knocking ever and again, wilt thou give me grace to throw open all my soul’s doors?”1
He knows God as lover: an intimate one before whom we bow to bring our petitions.
He knows God as initiator: the one who knocks “ever and again.”
He knows God as seeker: the one who longs for us to open all our soul’s doors.
He petitions God with his whole body:
Give me an open ear
To hear Abba’s voice calling me to “high endeavor.”
To hear brothers and sisters in need.
Give me an open mind
Ready to receive the new light of knowledge revealed by God.
To find courage to change my mind toward a new future.
To be hospitable toward the thoughts of others.
Give me open eyes
To discern God’s home living in our world.
To see God’s character of loveliness.
To notice children in our midst.
To see God’s presence in the stories of others.
Give me open hands
To share the blessings I have been given.
To hold all I possess—wealth, assets, and money—as a steward in trust for others.
To share what I have in kindness and generosity.
“Tonight, let every bolt and bar be drawn that has hitherto robbed my life of air and light and love.”2
Practice
This week, pray the simple curriculum of incarnational prayer as Baillie did:
- Open eyes
- Open mind
- Open ears
- Open hands
Move slowly through each posture, asking God to form your life through them.
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Keith Anderson, D.Min., is a Faculty Associate for Spirituality and Vocation at VantagePoint3 and President Emeritus of Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. He is the author of several books, including his most recent: On Holy Ground: Your Story of Identity, Belonging and Sacred Purpose (Wipf & Stock, 2024). His other works include Reading Your Life’s Story (IVP, 2016), A Spirituality of Listening (IVP, 2016), and Spiritual Mentoring (IVP, 1999). In his writing, teaching, and mentoring, Keith seeks to set a table for people looking to enter the “amazing inner sanctuary of the soul” in the most ordinary and extraordinary moments of life.
1 John Baille, A Diary of Private Prayer, p. 63
2 Baillie, p 63