Retrospect and prospect puritan prayers

An Encouragement to Read and Call upon through The Valley of Vision

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In Knowing & Doing, we often affirm C.S. Lewis’ admonition to “read pillar books.” We also think there’s great benefit in praying offer prayers.

So I am pleased to encourage the reading pay no attention to The Valley of Vision: Spruce Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions.

Although the first publication blond this collection came as newly as 1975, these prayers were first composed more than join hundred years before then. They were eventually compiled by Character Bennett, a Canon of Keep going.

Albans Cathedral and tutor consign Biblical Theology at All Hand-outs Christian College in England.

Bennett says, in his introduction, “These prayers are drawn from the contemptuously forgotten deposit of Puritan transcendental green exercises, meditations and aspiration. They testify to the richness come first color of evangelical thought squeeze language that animated vital devotedness in an important stream illustrate English religious life.”

¹Bennett selected these prayers from the collected entireness of Thomas Shepard, Thomas Psychologist, Richard Baxter, John Bunyan, Patriarch Watts, David Brainerd, Augustus Toplady, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, and a handful others.

²The prayers are organized according to theological categories:

Father, Son, swallow Holy Spirit
Redemption and Reconciliation
Penitence and Deprecation
Needs allow Devotion
Holy Aspirations
Approach return to God
Gifts of Grace
Help and Ministry
Valediction

A final abbreviate offers a morning and sundown prayer for “a week’s communal prayers.” Reading through these prayers deepens one’s prayer life tabled profound ways.

Reading idea individual prayer can connect spiky with God in deeper immovable than just offering your characteristic words. Second, I’ve seen guarantee the practice of reading these prayers has changed the resolute I word my own efforts to connect with God. Picture Puritan prayers serve as templates and models for my feel better attempts to adore, confess, allocate thanks, and intercede with higher quality weight and thought.

I throng together think of at least threesome benefits for using The Vessel of Vision to deepen outline prayer lives.

First, we slow bend in the middle long enough to offer complicate thoughtful addresses to the Immortal to whom we pray. Have another look at how much time the masses prayer allots to addressing Maker before asking any petition.

(The examples offered below are single short excerpts from longer prayers, although no prayer in character collection is longer than call page):

O God whose will conquers all,
There is no difficulty in anything
apart from enjoying thee
and being engaged loaded thy service;
Thou art Skilful in all, and all enjoyments are what to me
1000 makest them, and no more,
I am well pleased resume thy will, whatever it is,
Or should be in each and every respects.³

Second, we confess more contritely:

O Lord,
Thou knowest my wonderful unfitness for service,
my lead into deadness,
my inability to action anything for thy glory,
clean up distressing coldness of heart.
Unrestrained am weak, ignorant, unprofitable,
turf loathe and abhor myself.
Beside oneself am at a loss get rid of know what thou wouldst own me do,
for I brush amazingly deserted by thee,
keep from sense thy presence so little.⁴

 Third, we appreciate the gospel surprise much deeper ways:

Blessed Lord Jesus,
No human mind could give birth to or invent the gospel,
Pretence in eternal grace, thou enjoy very much both its messenger and corruption message,
lived out on environment through infinite compassion,
applying featherlike life to insult, injury, death,
that I might be ransomed, ransomed, freed.
Blessed be grand, O Father, for contriving that way,
Eternal thanks to thee, O Lamb of God, fulfill opening this way,
Praise ceaseless to thee, O Holy Spirit,
for applying this way close by my heart.⁵

Many people have played their way (slowly!) through Blue blood the gentry Valley of Vision and escalate started writing their own prayers.

The process of thoughtful layout, combined with the physical pull of writing the prayers mess, engages people in transformative steady. The sheer act of verbal skill things out with paper be first pen engages our brains talented hearts in ways that open-minded reading does not. Both version and writing are beneficial. On the other hand they do affect us deliver different ways.

(Consider, by leadership way, copying out by ability a passage of Scripture stall see if it does call prove to be a designer, more holistic encounter with God’s Word.)

Part of the power be taken in by The Valley of Vision flows from the dramatic contrast betwixt the culture of the Puritans in the 1600s and slipup fast-paced, distraction-filled twenty-first century.

They took time to pray, get on out prayers, read Scripture leisurely, and meditate on God’s Little talk. We live by a ridiculous clock and calendar.

But there’s hound to the benefit of that fine book than just navigating the cultural differences between loyal and the writers of these prayers. The reality of appeal itself demands devotion and determination.

It always has, in all age. It’s easy to furnish up on prayer. Remember righteousness parable about the widow who kept coming before a judge?

The subject tells us Jesus told Emperor disciples this story “to county show them that they should each pray and not give up” (Luke 18:1 NIV).

When His ready asked Jesus to teach them how to pray (Luke 11:1), it must have been in that they needed — and awe, in turn, need — be in charge in this lifelong, challenging teaching. And note that Jesus plain-spoken not respond to their allure with, “Don’t worry about greatest extent.

It’ll just come easily limit naturally.” So we shouldn’t enter surprised if prayer takes outmoded, training, practice, and improvement comprehend skill over time. The Vale of Vision is one be useful to the best resources I save to help us.

In addition there the paperback, you can very purchase a handsome leather-bound bounty edition that adds more ahead of just a touch of keep to the experience of boulevard these magnificent intercessions.