The Truth Process, Session VII, Post 6

A PURITAN PRAYER

I have nothing of my own to share with you this week. However, I do want to share this - a Puritan prayer that speaks to the "valley" we all find ourselves in from time to time. Your valley might be the valley of illness, the valley of depression, the valley of grief, or the valley of discontent.

In the deepest valleys, it seems that the sun no longer shines, and the way out seems impossible to find. But it is often from the deepest of valleys that we can most clearly see our Lord and Savior. The prayer is titled "The Valley of Vision". (1)

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly,
Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory.
Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.
Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine;
let me find Thy light in my darkness,
Thy life in my death,
Thy joy in my sorrow,
Thy grace in my sin,
Thy riches in my poverty,
Thy glory in my valley.

May it be so...

In Christ -

John
Soli Deo Gloria

(1) Taken from The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions, edited by Arthur Bennett