Rediscovering prayer

I'm beginning a new teaching series this weekend called rediscovering prayer. I love the profound simplicity of some children's prayers. Take for example, God is great, God is good. Need we say more?

One of my favorite books of prayer was written by a British author named John Baille. His prayers are not as simple as a child's prayers but they take me to a depth I rarely achieve on my own. This is one of my favorites:

Teach me, O God, so to use all the circumstances of my life today that they may bring forth in me the fruits of holiness rather than the fruits of sin: Let me use disappointment as material for patience. Let me use success as material for thankfulness. Let me use trouble as material for perseverance. Let me use danger as material for courage. Let me use reproach as material for long suffering. Let me use praise as material for humility. Let me use pleasures as material for temperance. Let me use pain as material for endurance.

Amen and amen.