If you have never read “The Valley of Vision” I would wholeheartedly recommend it. It is a selection of prayers and meditations in the Puritan tradition. It is awesome, and humbling. Somehow, every thought I have about God, about Christ and about myself is so eloquently expressed here. The devotions in this book are amazing depictions of sincere honest submission to God. Here is one that I love it is titled “A Disciple’s Renewal.
O My Saviour, help me.
I am so slow to learn, so prone to forget,
so weak to climb;I am in the foothills when I should be in the heights;
I am pained by my graceless heart,
my prayerless days,
my poverty of love,
my sloth in the heavenly race,
my sullied conscience,
my wasted hours,
my unspent opportunities.
I am blind while light shines around me:
take the scales from my eyes,
grind to dust the evil heart of unbelief.
Make it my chiefest joy to study thee,
meditate on thee,
gaze on thee,
sit like Mary at thy feet,
lean like John on thy breast,
appeal like Peter to thy love,
count like Paul all things dung.
Give me increase and progress in grace so that there may be;
more decision in my character,
more vigor in my purposes,
more elevation in my life,
more fervor in my devotion,
more constancy in my zeal.
As I have a position in the world,
keep me from making the world my position;
May I never seek in the creature what can be found only in the creator;
Let not faith cease from seeking thee until it vanishes into sight.
Ride forth in me, thou King of kings and Lord of lords,
that I may live victoriously, and in victory attain my end.