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Need of Grace

Devotional:

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,
  and sense thy presence so little;
Thou makest me possess the sins of my youth,
  and the dreadful sin of my nature,
  so that I feel all sin,
  I cannot think or act but every motion is sin.
Return again with showers of converting grace
  to a poor gospel-abusing sinner.
Help my soul to breathe after holiness,
  after a constant devotedness to thee,
  after growth in grace more abundantly every day.
O Lord, I am lost in the pursuit of this blessedness,
And am ready to sink because I fall short
    of my desire;
Help me to hold out a little longer,
  until the happy hour of deliverance comes,
  for I cannot lift my soul to thee
  if thou of thy goodness bring me not nigh.
Help me to be diffident, watchful, tender,
  lest I offend my blessed Friend
  in thought and behaviour;
I confide in thee and lean upon thee,
  and need thee at all times to assist and lead me.
O that all my distresses and apprehensions
  might prove but Christ’s school
  to make me fit for greater service
  by teaching me the great lesson of humility.


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