The Prayer of My Heart

Lord Jesus, Great High Priest,
Thou has opened a new and living way
by which a fallen creature can approach thee with acceptance.

Help me to contemplate the dignity of thy Person,
the perfectness of thy sacrifice,
the effectiveness of thy intercession.

O what blessedness accompanies devotion,
when under all the trials that weary me,
the cares that corrode me,
the fears that disturb me,
the infirmities that oppress me,
I can come to thee in my need
and feel peace beyond understanding!

The grace that restores is necessary to preserve,
lead, guard, supply, help me.

And here thy saints encourage my hope;
they were once poor and are now rich,
bound and are now free,
tried and now are victorious.

Every new duty calls for more grace than I now possess,
but not more than is found in Thee, the divine treasury
in whom all fullness dwells.

To thee I repair for grace upon grace,
until every void made by sin be replenished
and I am filled with all thy fullness.

May my desires be enlarged and my hopes emboldened,
that I may honour Thee by my entire dependency
and the greatness of my expectation.

Do Thou be with me, and prepare me for all
the smiles of prosperity, the frowns of adversity,
the losses of substance, the death of friends,
the days of darkness, the changes of life,
and the last great change of all.

May I find thy grace sufficient for all my needs.

From The Valley of Vision:
A collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions.

Posted by TulipGirl | 02:20 AM| TrackBack (0) | Words

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Comments

I love how REAL the puritan prayers are; written by people who never imagined life to be pain-free and always prosperous. Our comfort has clouded our vision, I think. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: sparrow at May 16, 2005 12:09 PM

I am going right now to save this book link to my wishlist. That is just beautiful!!!
Posted by: ~Leann at May 16, 2005 01:33 PM

Yes, sparrow--so many of the prayers and writings from that time speak to my heart the way the Psalms do.

Leann--I had this book on my Amazon wishlist, and then discovered it while unpacking the books from storage! Woohoo! It's worth getting, IMO.
Posted by: TulipGirl at May 17, 2005 09:02 PM

Goodness gracious, but that's beautiful. I'm copying it off to keep and contemplate.
Posted by: Kathy at May 17, 2005 11:06 PM

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