A Puritan Prayer

I am currently on vacation. A much needed break for both my husband and me. So while I am gone I would like to share a prayer from the book: “The Valley of Vison.” It is a collection of Puritan prayers and devotions. These are wonderful reminders of our faith throughout time and that the people who came over from Europe had many of the same hopes and dreams, fears and failings that we have today. Please know that since these prayers were written during the 17th century the language is archaic. At the same time it is also comforting in its own way as it takes us back to the hardships born by these pioneering men and women who got their strength and perseverance from God through their practice of prayer and meditation.

God the Source of All Good

O Lord God, who inhabitest eternity, the heavens declare thy glory, the earth thy riches, the universe is they temple; they presence fills immensity, Yet thou hast of they pleasure created life, and communicated happiness; Thou hast made me what I am, and given me what I have; In thee I live and move and have my being; they providence has set the bounds of my habitation, and wisely administers all my affairs. I thank thee for thy riches to me in Jesus, for the unclouded revelation of him in thy Word, where I behold his Person, character, grace, glory, humiliation, sufferings, death, and resurrection; Give me to feel a need of his continual saviourhood, and cry with Job, “I am vile”, with Peter, “I perish”, with the publican, “Be merciful to me, a sinner”. Subdue in me the love of sin, let me know the need of renovation as well as of forgiveness, in order to serve and enjoy thee for ever. I come to thee in the all-prevailing name of Jesus, with nothing of my own to plead, no works, no worthiness, no promises. I am often straying, often knowingly opposing thy authority, often abusing thy goodness; Much of my guilt arises from my religious privileges, my low estimation of them, my failure to use them to my advantage, but I am not careless of thy favour or regardless of thy glory; impress me deeply with a sense of thine omnipresence, that thou art about my path, my ways, my lying down, my end.*

Amen.

Peace,

Pastor Beth

*I hope you enjoyed this prayer. If you would like to read more It came from the book, “The Valley of Vision, A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions” edited by Arthur Bennett and published by The Banner of Truth Trust. Sixteenth printing.