Puritan Prayers - The Valley of Vision

Prayer is the breath of the Christian. It is how we humbly rely upon our all sufficient Saviour. Yet, many Christians look lifeless and seem to have stopped breathing. If we never pray, something is seriously wrong with our soul. As C.H. Spurgeon says, "the prayerless soul is the Christless soul." If you never pray, then God through His Spirit is not working in you the breath of prayer that every Christian will have. If you have stopped breathing spiritually, go and check if you have been made alive through the blood of Christ.

And if you are running out of breath, and your prayers are becoming lifeless, then come to your senses and breathe with regular prayer. To help you do this, I want to recommend a resource to help stop your prayers from becoming lifeless.

"The Valley of Vision - A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions", edited by Arthur Bennett, is a resource every Christian should regularly use. The book is a collection of prayers written by Christians who lived a few hundred years ago. The prayers are rich, passionate, sincere and deeply biblical. As you read them, I assure you that you will be encouraged, convicted and challenged. Also, as you read them, they should lead you to pray these prayers as your own and help you launch off into your own prayers.

I recommend reading one of these prayers every couple of days. Use them to bring life how you pray, and read them when you see you are lacking the breath of prayer.

Below is an example of one of these prayers called "Passion":

HOLY LORD,

How little repentance there is in the world,

and how many sins I have to repent of!

I am troubled for my sin of passion,

for the shame and horror of it as an evil;

I purpose to give way to it no more,

and come to thee for strength to that end.

...Lord God, I know that my sudden anger arises

when things cross me,

and I desire to please only myself, not Christ;

There is in all wrongs and crosses a double cross —

that which crosses me,

and that which crosses thee;

In all good things there is

somewhat that pleases me,

somewhat that pleases thee;

My sin is that my heart is pleased or troubled

as things please or trouble me,

without my having a regard to Christ;

Thus, I am like Eli,

the subject of punishment for not rebuking sin;

whereas I should humbly confess my sin

and fly to the blood of Christ for pardon

and peace.

Give me, then, repentance, true brokenness,

lasting contrition,

for these things thou wilt not despise

in spite of my sin.

You can access "The Valley of Vision" online for free here or purchase a copy of the book from your local Christian bookstore.