A Puritan Prayer
O God, may Thy Spirit speak in me that I may speak to thee. I have no merit, let the merit of Jesus stand for me. I am undeserving, but I look to Thy tender mercy. I am full of infirmities, wants, sin; Thou art full of grace.
I confess my sin, my frequent sin, my wilful sin; all my powers of body and soul are defiled: a fountain of pollution is deep within my nature. There are chambers of foul images within my being; I have gone from one odious room to another, walked in a no-man’s-land of dangerous imaginations, pried into the secrets of my fallen nature.
I am utterly ashamed that I am what I am in myself; I have no green shoot in me nor fruit, but thorns and thistles; I am a fading leaf that the wind drives away; I live bare and barren as a winter tree, unprofitable, fit to be hewn down and burnt. Lord, dost Thou have mercy on me?
Thou hast struck a heavy blow at my pride, at the false god of self, and I lie in pieces before Thee. But Thou hast given me another master and lord, Thy Son, Jesus, and now my heart is turned towards holiness, my life speeds as an arrow from a bow towards complete obedience to Thee. Help me in all my doings to put down sin and to humble pride. Save me from the love of the world and the pride of life, from everything that is natural to fallen man, and let Christ’s nature be seen in me day by day. Grant me grace to bear Thy will without repining, and delight to be not only chiselled, squared, or fashioned, but separated from the old rock where I have been embedded so long, and lifted from the quarry to the upper air, where I may be built in Christ for ever.
(Puritan Prayers: Heart Corruption)
5 Comments to A Puritan Prayer
Is this one of your prayers of a copy of someone elses? Either way, it is beautiful.
AnnaOctober 9, 2008
It’s a prayer from the Valley of Vision - you can see others at the link.
who knew these prayers could be so beautiful?
Anna, I love the Valley of Vision! I find that they guide my prayers so well…I really appreciate the Puritans. My dad uses the Valley of Vision quite often, and a couple of my professors read from it before classes. Thank you for sharing this…I always am blessed by knowing that there are other young people who appreciate the wealth in the Puritan prayers.
Wow, we don’t express things like that anymore. I needed to read that tonight. Thanks for posting it.
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I'm Anna. I'm 22. I love reading and writing. I'm a recent college graduate living at home. And I hope you are blessed by what you read here.
October 8, 2008