Lord, Teach Us to Pray

While The Valley of Vision contains some wonderful prayers, we are occasionally fortunate enough to discover contemporary examples.

John Leonard has written an example of the way that we ought to pray.

One short excerpt to intrigue you enough to click on the link:

Move my heart like you moved the apostle Paul’s, that as he laid out your plan of redemption for the church in Ephesus he was caught up in blessing and glorifying you, so much so that he could not take a breath for almost an entire chapter.

While we are talking about humility...

,,,I recognize that it has been some time since I last posted a selection from The Valley of Vision.

Reliance

My Father,
When thou art angry towards me for my wrongs
I try to pacify thee by abstaining from future sin;
But teach me
that I cannot satisfy thy law,
That this effort is resting in my righteousness,
that only Christ’s righteousness ready made,
already finished, is fit for that purpose;
that thy chastening me for my sin is not
that I should try to reform, but only
that I may be more humbled, afflicted and
separated from sin, by being reconciled,
and made righteous in Christ by faith;
that a sense of my sufficiency and ability in him
is one means of my being immovable;
that I can never be so by resting on my own faith,
but by trusting in thee as my only support,
by faith;
that if I cast away my faith I cast away thee,
for by faith I apprehend thee,
and as thou art very precious,
so is my faith very precious to me;
that I fall short of the purity thou requirest,
because in thinking I am holy I do not
seek holiness,
or, believing I am impotent, I do no more.
Humble me for not being as holy as I should be,
or as holy as I might be through Christ,
for thou art all, and to possess thee is to possess all.
But to make the creature something
is to make it stand between thee and me,
so that I do not walk humbly and holily.
Lord, forgive me for this.

The Best Laid Plans...

...of mice.

(See the movie version of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy if you don't understand why I didn't end with "and men".)

I wrote earlier about my Leap Year Bible Reading Plan, stating that since this was my normal day off from my secular work that I would be able to devote the day to an ambitious plan of extra reading.

Well, I won't be off that day. In fact, I need to drive 4.5 hours round trip to attend some business meetings out-of-town. I felt bad about this for about 5 minutes, prior to remembering that I now live in the 21st century. No matter which car I sign out to take this trip, it will have an FM radio. Since I have an iPod and one of those little FM transmitter units, I can load up my Bible reading into electronic format, and let Max McLean's voice read my text to me. Since the Scripture readings will only take a fraction of the drive I have also created a play list containing the audio version of John Piper's Amazing Grace in the Life of William Wilberforce as well as Volume One of The Valley of Vision.

So, while my employer might have had other reasons, God intends this change in my schedule for His glory and my good.

Valley of Vision - Self-Noughting

"Self-Noughting" may require some translation for the 21st century reader. Nought (or more commonly naught) is an archaic term for "nothing" or "zero", thus "Self-Noughting" is self deprecation or self denial.

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 understanding is infinite;
I know nothing as I ought to know.
Thou canst not behold evil;
I am vile.
In my ignorance, weakness, fears, depressions,
may thy Spirit help my infirmities
with supplies of wisdom, strength and comfort.
Let me faithfully study my character,
be willing to bring it to light,
observe myself in my trials,
judge the reality and degree of my grace,
consider how I have been ensnared or overcome.
Grant that I may never trust my heart,
depend upon any past experiences,
magnify any present resolutions,
but be strong in the grace of Jesus:
that I may know how to obtain relief
from a guilty conscience
without feeling reconciled to my imperfections.
Sustain me under my trials
and improve them to me;
give me grace to rest in thee,
and assure me of deliverance.
May I always combine thy majesty
with thy mercy,
and connect thy goodness
with thy greatness.
Then shall my heart always rejoice
in praise to thee.

These are words that we need to remember daily. Posted on the wall in front of my desk (where I can read it every workday) is this small prayer as a reminder:

I know not what difficulties, or trials, or temptations, may be before me this day. Prepare me whether for duty or for conflict. Knowing the treachery of the heart, I desire this morning, and each morning, to receive fresh supplies of your grace.

May we be ever mindful of the treachery of our hearts and depend upon Christ, and Christ alone, for the grace that we need daily.

Weekly Puritan - Valley of Vision

Confession and Petition
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 transgessions and short-comings
present me with a list of accusations,
But I bless thee that they will not stand against me,
for all have been laid on Christ;
Go on to subdue my corruptions,
and grant me grace to live above them.
Let not the passions of the flesh nor lustings
of the mind bring my spirit into subjection,
but do thou rule over me in liberty and power.
I thank thee that many of my prayers have been refused-
I have asked amiss and do not have,
I have prayed from lusts and been rejected,
I have longed for Egypt and been given a wilderness.
Go on with thy patient work,
answering 'no' to my wrongful prayers,
and fitting me to accept it.
Purge me from every false desire,
every base aspiration,
everything contrary to thy rule.
I thank thee for thy wisdom and thy love,
for all the acts of discipline to which I am subject,
for sometimes putting me into the furnace
to refine my gold and remove my dross.
No trial is so hard to bear as a sense of sin.
If thou shouldst give me choice to live
in pleasure and keep my sins,
or to have them burnt away with trial,
give me sanctified affliction.
Deliver me from every evil habit,
every accretion of former sins,
everything that dims the brightness
of thy grace in me,
everything that prevents me taking delight
in thee.
Then I shall bless thee, God of Jeshurun,
for helping me to be upright.
(Valley of Vision, page 138)

This is a dangerous prayer. Let me repeat that so that it sinks in: "This is a DANGEROUS prayer."

How many of us thank God for placing us in the furnace of affliction in order to have our dross burned off and our gold refined? How many of us seek "sanctified affliction"?

What a contrast to the prosperity preachers who tell you that this year is your year of jubilee and that God is only interested in pouring blessing into your corrupt shell. May we pray dangerously this year, and seek His will even at the expense of our comfort. May we receive a resounding 'NO' from God when we pray amiss.