Celtic Prayer

This week we read a selection from The Path of Celtic Prayer: An Ancient Way to Everyday Joy by Calvin Miller, which focused on prayers to the Trinity. Miller says when we pray, we usually give our big concerns to God the Father and thank him for the good things that happen in our lives. When we pray to Jesus, it's the more personal things, like our wishes to do well on exams, or the health-problems in our families. We hardly acknowledge the Holy Spirit because we have a hard time distinguishing Him from an It.

The Celts, according to Miller, directed their prayers to each member of the Godhead. One example Miller gives is:
"I lay me down in the love of my Father. 
I surrender my body to rest in the love of my Savior.
I trust my life in sleep to the Spirit who fills me with life." 

 I love the parallelism here that draws equal attention to each member of the Trinity. To acknowledge God, Miller says, one should acknowledge Him as he is, a triune being. No matter what flavor, each church service prayer I've participated in focused on one or two members of the Trinity, but never all three at the same time. The Holy Spirit is the one I personally hear the least about. When I do hear about Him, it sounds like He's some sort of force rather than a personal being. When we pray, it's rarely to the Holy Spirit, but about him, and the topic focuses on something like evangelism. Shouldn't we acknowledge the Holy Spirit in other areas of the Christian life?
 
In practice, Miller suggests we write down our own prayers, like some of the Christian Celts did. Honestly it was a concept I had never considered before. I grew up in a church where none of our prayers had ever been written down, and probably never will be. Writing down my prayers always felt a bit formulaic and forced. Most of the time it's hard enough to keep my attention focused on God long enough to get a sentence out, let alone an entire poem! I've kept a prayer journal in the past, but never for an extended period of time.

Despite my spotted history of "composing" prayers, here's my shot at an exercise from the chapter (bolded/italicized words are mine):

God of all that is and was and shall be,
for this day and its fullness I give you thanks; 
Thank you Father for the Earth and for its endless beauty.
Thank you especially for time alone and for time with friends.

Thank you, Son, for, your example of obedience
to your Father which taught me faithfulness this day
as I endeavored to be kind to newcomers at church.

Thank you, Spirit, for your infilling of my life,
I especially thank you for your presence today
as you walked with me through my loneliness and anxieties

Father, give me sleep tonight, so that my praise in the morning may
be a good example of Corban to visiting high schoolers tomorrow. 

Son, wake me in obedience tomorrow so that I may
love every person I come into contact with, offline or online 

Spirit, offer me your presence tomorrow so that I may
 be a light to those that don't know or acknowledge you.

Amen. 

Okay, maybe it wasn't so much as a poem as a structured prayer. Writing out this exercise did remind me of my daily devotions, where I do write out short prayers based on what passage I read. (I follow the SOAP Model: Scripture, Observation, Application, & Prayer.)  Perhaps the concept wasn't as foreign as I thought.