Devotionals: The Valley of Vision

MY FATHER, When thou art angry towards me for my         wrongs I try to pacify thee by abstaining from future sin; But teach me   that I cannot satisfy thy law,   that this effort is a resting in my righteousness,   that only Christ’s righteousness, ready made,     already finished, is fit for that purpose;   that thy chastising […]

O MERCIFUL GOD, When I hear of disagreeable things amongst       Christians,   it brings an additional weight and burden     on my spirit; I come to thee in my distress and make lamentable   complaint; Teach me how to take reproofs from friends,   even though I think I do not deserve them; Use them to make me tenderly […]

O GOD MOST HIGH, MOST GLORIOUS, The thought of thine infinite serenity       cheers me, For I am toiling and moiling, troubled     and distressed,   but thou art for ever at perfect peace. Thy designs cause thee no fear or care     of unfulfilment,   they stand fast as the eternal hills. Thy power knows no bond,   thy goodness […]

O LORD, Help me to approach thee         with becoming conception of thy nature,   relations and designs. Thou inhabitest eternity, and   my life is nothing before thee; Thou dwellest in the highest heaven and   this cannot contain thee;     I live in a house of clay. Thy power is almighty;     I am crushed before the moth. Thy […]

O LIVING GOD, I bless thee       that I see the worst of my heart as well as     the best of it,   that I can sorrow for those sins that carry me     from thee,   that it is thy deep and dear mercy to threaten     punishment so that I may return, pray, live. My sin is to […]

MERCIFUL LORD, Pardon all my sins of this day, week, year,       all the sins of my life,   sins of early, middle, and advanced years,     of omission and commission,     of morose, peevish and angry tempers,     of lip, life and walk,     of hard-heartedness, unbelief, presumption,       pride,     of unfaithfulness to the souls of men,     of want of bold […]

ETERNAL FATHER, It is amazing love,     that thou hast sent thy Son       to suffer in my stead,     that thou hast added the Spirit       to teach, comfort, guide,     that thou hast allowed the ministry of angels       to wall me round; All heaven subserves the welfare of a poor worm. Permit thy unseen servants to be ever […]

O LORD, No day of my life has passed that has not         proved me guilty in thy sight.         Prayers have been uttered from a   prayerless heart; Praise has been often praiseless sound; My best services are filthy rags. Blessed Jesus, let me find a covert in thy appeasing   wounds. Though my sins rise to heaven […]

THOU GREAT I AM, Fill my mind with elevation and grandeur at       the thought of a Being   with whom one day is as a thousand years,   and a thousand years as one day, A mighty God, who, amidst the lapse of worlds,   and the revolutions of empires,   feels no variableness,   but is glorious in immortality. […]

THOU GREAT I AM, I acknowledge and confess that all things     come of thee —   life, breath, happiness, advancement,   sight, touch, hearing,   goodness, truth, beauty –   all that makes existence amiable. In the spiritual world also I am dependent     entirely upon thee. Give me grace to know more of my need of grace; Show me […]

O SPIRIT OF GOD, Help my infirmities;       When I am pressed down with a load     of sorrow,   perplexed and knowing not what to do,   slandered and persecuted,   made to feel the weight of the cross,     help me, I pray thee. If thou seest in me   any wrong thing encouraged,   any evil desire cherished,   any delight […]

BLESSED GOD,  Ten thousand snares are mine without and within,   defend thou me; When sloth and indolence seize me,   give me views of heaven; When sinners entice me,   give me disrelish of their ways; When sensual pleasures tempt me,   purify and refine me; When I desire worldly possessions,   help me to be rich toward thee; […]

BLESSED GOD,  Ten thousand snares are mine without and within,   defend thou me; When sloth and indolence seize me,   give me views of heaven; When sinners entice me,   give me disrelish of their ways; When sensual pleasures tempt me,   purify and refine me; When I desire worldly possessions,   help me to be rich toward thee; […]

MY FATHER, I could never have sought my happiness     in thy love,   unless thou had’st first loved me. Thy Spirit has encouraged me by grace to seek thee,   has made known to me thy reconciliation in Jesus,   has taught me to believe it,   has helped me to take thee for my God     and portion. May […]

GLORIOUS AND HOLY GOD, Provocations against thy divine majesty have       filled my whole life. My offences have been countless and aggravated.   Conscience has rebuked me,   friends have admonished me,   the examples of others have reproached me,   thy rod has chastised me,   thy kindnesses allured me. Thou hast seen and abhorred all my sins and   couldst […]

O THOU GIVING GOD, My heart is drawn out in thankfulness         to thee, for thy amazing grace and condescension     to me   in influences and assistances of thy Spirit,   for special help in prayer,   for the sweetness of Christian service,   for the thoughts of arriving in heaven,   for always sending me needful supplies,   for raising me […]

ALMIGHTY GOD, I am loved with everlasting love,     clothed in eternal righteousness,       my peace flowing like a river,       my comforts many and large,       my joy and triumph unutterable,       my soul lively with a knowledge of salvation,       my sense of justification unclouded. I have scarce anything to pray for; Jesus smiles upon my soul as a […]

O HEAVENLY FATHER, Teach me to see       that if Christ has pacified thee and         satisfied divine justice     he can also deliver me from my sins;   that Christ does not desire me, now justified,     to live in self-confidence in my own strength,     but gives me the law of the Spirit of life     to enable me to […]

O LORD GOD, The first act of calling is by thy command         in thy Word,   ‘Come unto me, return unto me’; The second is to let in light,   so that I see that I am called particularly,   and perceive the sweetness of the command     as well as its truth,   in regard to thy great love […]

HOLY LORD, I have sinned times without number,     and been guilty of pride and unbelief,   of failure to find thy mind in thy Word,   of neglect to seek thee in my daily life. My transgressions and short-comings   present me with a list of accusations, But I bless thee that they will not stand against me, […]

O GOD OF GRACE, Thou hast imputed my sin to my substitute,       and hast imputed his righteousness     to my soul,   clothing me with a bridegroom’s robe,   decking me with jewels of holiness. But in my Christian walk I am still in rags;   my best prayers are stained with sin;   my penitential tears are so much […]

O THOU MOST HIGH, It becomes me to be low in thy presence.     I am nothing compared with thee; I possess not the rank and power of angels,   but thou hast made me what I am,   and placed me where I am;   help me to acquiesce in thy sovereign pleasure. I thank thee that in […]

O GOD OF UNSEARCHABLE GREATNESS, Before thee I am nothing but vanity, iniquity,       perishing; Sin has forfeited thy favour,   stripped me of thy image,   banished me from thy presence,   exposed me to the curse of thy law; I cannot deliver myself, and am in despair. But a resource is found in thee,   for without my […]

HOLY TRINITY, All praise to thee for electing me           to salvation,       by foreknowledge of God the Father,       through sanctification of the Spirit,       unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood         of Jesus; I adore the wonders of thy condescending love,   marvel at the true believer’s high privilege   within whom all heaven comes to dwell,   abiding in […]

O HOLY FATHER, thou hast freely given thy Son, O DIVINE SON, thou hast freely paid my debt, O ETERNAL SPIRIT, thou hast freely bid me come, O TRIUNE GOD, thou dost freely grace me with salvation. Prayers and tears could not suffice to pardon       my sins,   nor anything less than atoning blood,   but my […]