The Valley of Vision

I highly recommend both the book and the CD titled "Valley of Vision." The book is a collection of Puritan prayers and devotions. They are my favorite thing to read for my devotions (second to the Bible) as they are like New Testament psalms! They reveal so much about the character and the glory of God in contrast with our pitiful state as humans. They pray for things I would never think to pray for, out of a truly humble sense of total depravity that I want to much to be mirrored in my life. I wanted to post a few on here so everyone can get a look.

The Valley of Vision

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly,
Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,
and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine;
let me find Thy light in my darkness,
Thy life in my death,
Thy joy in my sorrow,
Thy grace in my sin,
Thy riches in my poverty,
Thy glory in my valley.

Purification

Lord Jesus, I sin.
Grant that I may never cease grieving because of it,
never be content with myself,
never think I can reach a point of perfection.
Kill my envy, command my tongue, trample down self.
Give me grace to be holy, kind, gentle, pure, peaceable,
to live for Thee and not for self,
to copy Thy words, acts, spirit, to be transformed into Thy likeness,
to be consecrated wholly to Thee,
to live entirely to Thy glory.

Deliver me from attachment to things unclean,
from wrong associations,
from the predominance of evil passions,
from the sugar of sin as well as its gap;
that with self-loathing, deep contrition, earnest heart searching I may come to Thee,
cast myself on Thee, trust in Thee, cry to Thee, be delivered by Thee.

O God, the Eternal All,
help me to know that all things are shadows, but Thou art substance,
all things are quicksands, but Thou art mountain,
all things are shifting, but Thou art anchor,
all things are ignorance, but Thou art wisdom.

If my life is to be a crucible amid burning heat, so be it,
but do Thou sit at the furnace mouth to watch the ore that nothing be lost.
If I sin wilfully, grievously, tormentedly, in grace take away my mourning
and give me music;
remove my sackcloth and clothe me with beauty;
still my sighs and fill my mouth with song,
then give me summer weather as a Christian.

Heart Corruptions

O God,
may Thy Spirit speak in me that I may speak to thee.
I have no merit, let the merit of Jesus stand for me.
I am undeserving, but I look to Thy tender mercy.
I am full of infirmities, wants, sin; Thou art full of grace.

I confess my sin, my frequent sin, my willful sin;
all my powers of body and soul are defiled:
a fountain of pollution is deep within my nature.
There are chambers of foul images within my being;
I have gone from one odious room to another,
walked in a no-man's-land of dangerous imaginations,
pried into the secrets of my fallen nature.

I am utterly ashamed that I am what I am in myself;
I have no green shoot in me nor fruit, but thorns and thistles;
I am a fading leaf that the wind drives away;
I live bare and barren as a winter tree, unprofitable,
fit to be hewn down and burnt.
Lord, dost Thou have mercy on me?

Thou hast struck a heavy blow at my pride,
at the false god of self, and I lie in pieces before Thee.
But Thou hast given me another master and lord,
Thy Son, Jesus, and now my heart is turned towards holiness,
my life speeds as an arrow from a bow
towards complete obedience to Thee.

Help me in all my doings to put down sin and to humble pride.
Save me from the love of the world and the pride of life,
from everything that is natural to fallen man,
and let Christ's nature be seen in me day by day.
Grant me grace to bear Thy will without repining,
and delight to be not only chiselled, squared,
or fashioned, but separated from the old rock
where I have been embedded so long,
and lifted from the quarry to the upper air,
where I may be built in Christ for ever.