Author of the very successful A Diary of Prayer: Daily Meditations on the Parables of Jesus, J. Barrie Shepherd now offers prayers for the forty days, drawing on some of the best-loved passages of Scriptures. In the tradition of John Baille’s great British classic A Diary of Private Prayer, Shepherd provides daily morning and evening reflections based on such well-known passages from the Sermon on the Mount as the Beatitudes, the Lord’s Prayer, the salt of the earth, and the lilies of the field. Each day begins with a Bible verse and is followed by prayers for morning and evening based on the verse. For example, reflecting on the passage Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, Shepherd writes: Help me this day, as I confront the poor, …help me to see them as you always knew them… brothers, sisters, fellow members of God’s family. Then encourage me to spend my time, my gifts, my self in such ways as even yet may prove a blessing to at least one other human being who is less well off than I. Amen. This is a book for anyone, clergy as well as laity, interested in recapturing the original power and challenges of Jesus’ words.