Devotionals: The Valley of Vision

O DIVINE LAWGIVER, I take shame to myself     for open violations to thy law,   for my secret faults,   my omissions of duty,   my unprofitable attendance     upon means of grace,   my carnality in worshipping thee,   and all the sins of my holy things. My iniquities are increased over my head: My trespasses are known in the […]

O LORD, Thou knowest my great unfitness for service,       my present deadness,       my inability to do anything for thy glory,       my distressing coldness of heart. I am weak, ignorant, unprofitable,   and loathe and abhor myself. I am at a loss to know what thou wouldest     have me do,   for I feel amazingly deserted by thee, […]

LORD JESUS, I am blind, be thou my light,     ignorant, be thou my wisdom,     self-willed, be thou my mind. Open my ear to grasp quickly thy Spirit’s voice,   and delightfully run after his beckoning hand; Melt my conscience that no hardness remain,   make it alive to evil’s slightest touch; When Satan approaches may I flee […]

INCOMPREHENSIBLE, GREAT, AND GLORIOUS GOD, I adore thee and abase myself.     I approach thee mindful that I am     less than nothing,       a creature worse than nothing. My thoughts are not screened from thy gaze. My secret sins blaze in the light of thy countenance. Enable me to remember that blood which cleanseth     all sin,   to […]

LORD OF IMMORTALITY, Before whom angels bow and archangels veil       their faces,   enable me to serve thee with reverence     and godly fear. Thou who art Spirit and requirest truth     in the inward parts,   help me to worship thee in spirit and in truth. Thou who art righteous,   let me not harbour sin in my heart, […]

O CHANGELESS GOD, Under the conviction of thy Spirit I learn that       the more I do, the worse I am,   the more I know, the less I know,   the more holiness I have, the more sinful I am,   the more I love, the more there is to love.     O wretched man that I am! O […]

HOLY LORD, How little repentance there is in the world,         and how many sins I have to repent of! I am troubled for my sin of passion,   for the shame and horror of it as an evil; I purpose to give way to it no more,   and come to thee for strength to that end. […]

O LORD OF GRACE, I have been hasty and short in private prayer,     O quicken my conscience to feel this folly,     to bewail this ingratitude; My first sin of the day leads into others,   and it is just that thou shouldst withdraw     thy presence   from one who waited carelessly on thee. Keep me at all […]

SOVEREIGN COMMANDER OF THE UNIVERSE, I am sadly harassed by doubts, fears, unbelief,     in a felt spiritual darkness. My heart is full of evil surmisings and disquietude,   and I cannot act faith at all. My heavenly Pilot has disappeared,   and I have lost my hold on the Rock of Ages; I sink in deep mire […]

THOU INCOMPREHENSIBLE BUT PRAYER-HEARING GOD, Known, but beyond knowledge,         revealed, but unrevealed,         my wants and welfare draw me to thee,   for thou hast never said, ‘Seek ye me in vain’. To thee I come in my difficulties, necessities,     distresses;   possess me with thyself,     with a spirit of grace and supplication,     with a prayerful attitude of […]

O GOD, Praise waiteth for thee,       and to render it is my noblest exercise; This is thy due from all thy creatures,   for all thy works display thy attributes     and fulfil thy designs; The sea, dry land, winter cold, summer heat,   morning light, evening shade are full of thee,   and thou givest me them richly […]

O GOD WHOSE WILL CONQUERS ALL, There is no comfort in anything apart from       enjoying thee   and being engaged in thy service; Thou art All in all, and all enjoyments are what   to me thou makest them, and no more. I am well pleased with thy will, whatever it is,   or should be in all […]

O LORD GOD, WHO INHABITEST ETERNITY, The heavens declare thy glory,       The earth thy riches, The universe is thy temple; Thy presence fills immensity, Yet thou hast of thy 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 […]

O LORD GOD, I pray not so much for graces as for       the Spirit himself,   because I feel his absence,   and act by my own spirit in everything. Give me not weak desires but the power of     his presence,   for this is the surest way to have all his graces,   and when I have the […]

SOVEREIGN GOD, Thy cause, not my own, engages my heart,       and I appeal to thee with greatest freedom   to set up thy kingdom in every place     where Satan reigns; Glorify thyself and I shall rejoice,   for to bring honour to thy name is my sole desire. I adore thee that thou art God,   and long […]