Devotionals: The Valley of Vision

HEAVENLY FATHER, Save me entirely from sin.       I know I am righteous through the       righteousness of another,   but I pant and pine for likeness to thyself; I am thy child and should bear thy image, Enable me to recognize my death unto sin; When it tempts me may I be deaf unto its voice. Deliver […]

O THOU TERRIBLE MEEK, Let not pride swell my heart.       My nature is the mire beneath my feet,       the dust to which I shall return. In body I surpass not the meanest reptile; Whatever difference of form and intellect is mine   is a free grant of thy goodness; Every faculty of mind and body is […]

SOVEREIGN LORD, When clouds of darkness, atheism, and unbelief come to me, I see thy purpose of love in withdrawing the Spirit that I might prize him more, in chastening me for my confidence in past successes, that my wound of secret godlessness might be cured. Help me to humble myself before thee by seeing […]

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 […]

O GOD, Though I am allowed to approach thee       I am not unmindful of my sins,       I do not deny my guilt,       I confess my wickedness, and earnestly     plead forgiveness. May I with Moses choose affliction rather than     enjoy the pleasures of sin. Help me to place myself always under thy guiding     and guardian care, […]

O LORD, I marvel that thou shouldst become incarnate,     be crucified, dead, and buried. The sepulchre calls forth my adoring wonder,   for it is empty and thou art risen;   the four-fold gospel attests it,   the living witnesses prove it,   my heart’s experience knows it. Give me to die with thee that I may rise to […]

O LORD, I am a shell full of dust,     but animated with an invisible rational soul     and made anew by an unseen power of grace; Yet I am no rare object of valuable price,   but one that has nothing and is nothing,   although chosen of thee from eternity,   given to Christ, and born again; I […]

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 […]

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 THOU THAT HEAREST PRAYER, Teach me to pray.         I confess that in religious exercises   the language of my lips and the feelings     of my heart have not always agreed,   that I have frequently taken carelessly upon     my tongue a name never pronounced above       without reverence and humility,   that I have often desired things which […]

O LORD, Whose power is infinite and wisdom infallible,       Order things that they may neither hinder,     nor discourage me,     nor prove obstacles to the progress of thy cause; Stand between me and all strife, that no evil befall,     no sin corrupt my gifts, zeal, attainments; May I follow duty and not any foolish device     of […]

O GOD OF THE HIGHEST HEAVEN, Occupy the throne of my heart,       take full possession and reign supreme,   lay low every rebel lust,   let no vile passion resist thy holy war;   manifest thy mighty power,     and make me thine for ever. Thou art worthy to be   praised with my every breath,   loved with my every […]

LORD JESUS, Give me a deeper repentance,       a horror of sin,       a dread of its approach; Help me chastely to flee it,   and jealously to resolve that my heart     shall be thine alone. Give me a deeper trust,   that I may lose myself to find myself in thee,     the ground of my rest,     the spring […]

LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, I ask not to be enrolled amongst the earthly     great and rich,   but to be numbered with the spiritually blessed. Make it my present, supreme, persevering concern   to obtain those blessings which are     spiritual in their nature,     eternal in their continuance,     satisfying in their possession. Preserve me from a false estimate of […]

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 […]

LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, Thy understanding is unsearchable and infinite,         Thy arm cannot be stayed, Thy agency extends through limitless space, All works hang on thy care, With thee time is a present now. Holy is thy wisdom, power, mercy, ways, works. How can I stand before thee   with my numberless and aggravated offences? I have […]

JEHOVAH GOD, Thou Creator, Upholder, Proprietor of all       things, I cannot escape from thy presence or control,   nor do I desire to do so. My privilege is to be under the agency of   omnipotence, righteousness, wisdom,   patience, mercy, grace. Thou art love with more than parental affection; I admire thy heart, adore thy wisdom,   stand […]

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 SAVIOUR OF SINNERS, Thy name is excellent,       thy glory high,       thy compassions unfailing,       thy condescension wonderful,       thy mercy tender. I bless thee for the discoveries, invitations,     promises of the gospel   for in them is pardon for rebels,     liberty for captives,     health for the sick,     salvation for the lost. I come to thee in thy […]

BLESSED LORD JESUS, Before thy cross I kneel and see       the heinousness of my sin,       my iniquity that caused thee to be         ‘made a curse’,       the evil that excites the severity         of divine wrath. Show me the enormity of my guilt by   the crown of thorns,   the pierced hands and feet,   the bruised body,   the […]

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 […]

THOU GOD OF ALL GRACE, Thou hast given me a Saviour,       produce in me a faith to live by him,   to make him all my desire,     all my hope,     all my glory. May I enter him as my refuge,   build on him as my foundation,   walk in him as my way,   follow him as my […]

O DIVINE REDEEMER, Great was thy goodness       in undertaking my redemption,       in consenting to be made sin for me,       in conquering all my foes; Great was thy strength   in enduring the extremities of divine wrath,   in taking away the load of my iniquities; Great was thy love   in manifesting thyself alive,   in showing thy sacred […]

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, […]

GLORIOUS GOD, I bless thee that I know thee.     I once lived in the world, but was ignorant   of its Creator,   was partaker of thy providences, but knew not     the Provider,   was blind while enjoying the sunlight,   was deaf to all things spiritual, with voices     all around me,   understood many things, but had no knowledge […]