On Wednesdays during September, I am facilitating a Bible study on prayer. The Lord’s Prayer, as recorded in Luke 11:1-4, is the guiding passage.  I have chosen the book Before Amen, by Max Lucado, as our tool for practical application.  Lucado takes us through a number of references to prayer in the Bible and provides the following simple prayer to help us pray throughout the day: 

Father, you are good. 
I need you. Heal me and forgive me. 
They need help. 
Thank you. 
In Jesus’ name, amen.

This “pocket prayer” is a way for us to begin and end the day in prayer.  As a group, we discussed different prayers that we have learned since childhood.  One of our members shared a prayer that he prays every night before going to sleep.  It’s the last thing he thinks of each day.  It goes like this: 

Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the 
joyous; and all for your love’s sake.  Amen. 

Book of Common Prayer

This prayer is toward the end of a larger prayer liturgy from the Book of Common Prayer called the “Compline.”  The word compline comes from a Latin word that means “completion” and, when used as a prayer, it signifies the end or completion of another day.  The member of our class who taught us this prayer pointed us to Anglican priest and author, Tish Harrison Warren, who wrote her book, Prayer in the Night. For Those Who Work or Watch or Weep, based upon this prayer.  They gave me a copy of the book and I have not been able to put it down.   

I commend to you these two simple prayers.  May the first one guide you through the day and help you to pray.  And may the second one help you find rest and solace when the day is done.   

The peace of Christ be with and within you,