I recently found a wonderful book called The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions. I love the prayers in it because they express passionate devotion to God, honest confessions of failure and need, and deep dependence on God’s grace. Unfortunately, even though the editor lists sources (John Bunyan, David Brainerd, Charles Spurgeon, Isaac Watts, Richard Baxter, and others), he doesn’t note which prayer comes from which source, so the author of the following prayer will have to remain anonymous.
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 is beckoning hand; Melt my conscience that no hardness remain, make it alive to evil's slightest touch; When Satan approaches may I flee to thy wounds, and there cease to tremble at all alarms. Be my good shepherd to lead me into the green pastures of thy word, and cause me to lie down beside the rivers of its comforts. Fill me with peace, that no disquieting worldly gales may ruffle the calm surface of my soul. Thy cross was upraised to be my refuge, Thy blood streamed forth to wash me clean, Thy death occurred to give me a surety, Thy name is my property to save me, By thee all heaven is poured into my heart, but it is too narrow to comprehend thy love. I was a stranger, an outcast, a slave, a rebel, but thy cross has brought me near, has softened my heart, has made me thy Father's child, has admitted me to thy family, has made me joint-heir with thyself. O that I may love thee as thou lovest me, that I may walk worthy of thee, my Lord, that I may reflect the image of heaven's first-born. May I always see thy beauty with the clear eye of faith, and feel the power of thy Spirit in my heart, for unless he move mightily in me no inward fire will be kindled.– Puritan prayer, from The Valley of Vision.
