Lord God . . . give me, thy handmaid, a teachable heart, so that I may know what is acceptable in thy sight; send from heaven the Spirit of thy wisdom and rule my heart with its guidance. Amen.
Elizabeth I

THIS is part of a longer Latin prayer found in a miniature prayer-book written by Elizabeth I between 1579 and 1582. I have found it to be a continual companion and guide to prayer, and have carried a copy with me for more than 12 years.

The beginning reminds me of my place in relationship to life and God: that of a "handmaid". So the difficult things I encounter, which inevitably pull my focus down on to them - lost in worry, or stung with the feeling of helplessness - are put into the context of my position as a servant. Here, my face is lifted, and, amid life, I am asked to look to-wards the God whom I serve.

The moment that I take my place as handmaid, I am reminded of the many others kneeling with me - not least, of course, Mary, who describes the experience of a handmaid so vividly in her encounter with God through Gabriel. This reminds me not to be so afraid of God that I cannot kneel alongside all those who kneel; that I am not alone.

The request that then comes for a "teachable heart" invites me further into relationship. When I think that Elizabeth I wrote this in the midst of continual threats to her life, and the difficulties of rule, I marvel at her courage. Once reminded that my heart must be focused on God, I am shown that it is not simply a surrender of responsibility, but a relationship that asks me to change and learn.

For this, I must attend regularly and listen. The word "heart", of course, had a different interpretation at the time of Elizabeth. Along with love, it was also the place of understanding and will - all that is needed for a dedicated student.

Then the words "acceptable in thy sight" bring me further into partnership. They remind me of marriage vows, where we accept each other and the life that will follow, in the sight of God. And because of the hand that wrote the prayer, I am also reminded of the coronation service, where the new sovereign kneels in front of the altar, and makes his or her vows; so that we are shown how to kneel, each one of us, with the same dedication.

In the heart of Westminster Abbey is the shrine of St Edward the Confessor, often called "the gateway of Heaven", where Edward's re-mains have been a place of pilgrimage since he died in 1066. Placed behind the high altar by Henry III, the shrine has been visited by most kings and queens during the coronation ceremony, after they are crowned, for a private moment of prayer.

Here, they surrender St Edward's Crown, and find a place where, as the rest of us must, they surrender their will to God privately, and can ask to be taken in partnership with him, with all their frail humanity. It can be a moment of complete surrender.

This prayer shows that to surrender is to find divine life, as the words ask that we be taught from heaven; that we may be brought into the body of Christ. Many pilgrims over the centuries have knelt deep inside arches within the shrine of St Edward the Confessor to pray, and this can give the sensation of a marriage of worlds.

The old stone, so close to silence, can remind us that from the resurrected body of Christ comes wisdom, who "goes about seeking those worthy of her and she graciously appears to them in their paths, and meets them in every thought" (Wisdom 6.16). By the end of the prayer, I find that to be ruled by God in such a way is surely to be loved.

The Revd Marie-Elsa Bragg is Assistant Curate of St Mary's, Kilburn, and St James's, West Hampstead, and a Duty Chaplain at Westminster Abbey.