The book, The Valley of Vision is a collection of puritan prayers.  This book was my first introduction to the writings of the puritans, and it completely blew me away! I honestly had never heard (read) anyone pray with so much devotion, so much awareness of their personal sin and the holiness of God.

I am very thankful to the puritans for writing down their prayers, without which this book would not have been possible.  In my opinion, no Christian home should be without this book.  The puritans were mostly known for their deep prayer life and meditation on scripture. 

The prayers in this book caught my attention like no other.  My prayers can be sometimes selfish and self-centered,  all about me and what I want: my protection, my provision, my success, my family’s protection, etc. While there is nothing inherently wrong with asking God for those things, our personal needs can become idols when we don’t put them in their properly place.  When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, He started the prayer asking for God’s name to hallowed, for His kingdom to come and for His will to be done on earth as in heaven. Jesus taught us to pray with the glory of God in mind.  At the heart of the prayers of the puritans is the glory of God. This should be at the heart of our prayers as well.

I would love to share one of the prayers from “The Valley of Vision” titled “The Family”. This prayer can be found on page 208. The prayer seemed to have been written by a woman (I think). What caught my eye about this prayer is the way she dedicates her home & family to God.  She prays for her domestic duties and the raising of her children to be blessed and used for the glory of God, asking in her prayers for her home to be a nursery for heaven! 

Ladies, your duties as a wife and mother at home are sacred duties meant to bring glory to God. I pray this prayer will encourage you  to see your duties in raising your kids and being a keeper at home as a sacred service to God.

The Family

O Sovereign Lord,

You are the Creator-Father of all men,
for you have made and support them;

You are the special Father of those who know, love, and honour you,
who find your yoke easy, and your burden light,
your work honourable,
your commandments glorious.

But how little your undeserved goodness has affected me!
How imperfectly have I improved my religious privileges!
How negligent have I been in doing good to others!

I am before you in my trespass and sins,
have mercy on me,
and my your goodness bring me to repentance.

Help me hate and forsake every false way,
to be attentive to my condition and character,
to bridle my tongue,
to keep my heart with all diligence,
to watch and pray against temptation,
to kill sin,
to be concerned for the salvation of others.

O God, I cannot endure to see the destruction of my kindred.

Let those who are united to me in tender ties
be precious in your sight and devoted to your glory.

Sanctify and prosper my domestic devotion,
instruction, discipline, example,
that my house may be a nursery for heaven,
my church the garden of the Lord,
enriched with the trees of righteousness of your planting,
for your glory;

Let not those of my family who are amiable, moral, attractive,
fall short of heaven at last;

Grant that the promising appearances of a tender conscience,
soft heart, the alarms and delights of your Word,
be not finally blotted out, but bring forth judgement to victory
in all whom I love.

Amen…. (emphasis mine)

Ladies: I would love to hear your thoughts on this prayer in the comments. Thanks.

Christianity is not a “new religion”.  It did not begin in the 19^th century nor the 18^th century.  The Church was born when Jesus was raised from the dead – the post resurrection Church as I would like to call it.  There was a pre-resurrection Church. It began with Abraham. All the OT saints were part of the pre-resurrection Church. We can even go back further to say that the Church was conceived even before creation. Rev.13:8 says Jesus is the lamb that was lain before the foundation of the world.

Since Christianity is not new, this then means there is no new teaching/doctrine.  Millions have been walking these “old paths” for a long time. By ” these old paths”, I mean the godly path of fidelity to God’s word as revealed in the Bible.

God does not only give us teaching in the Bible, He also gives us history. I do honestly believe that most Christians would treasure their faith more by learning about faithful believers who have walked the paths ahead of us. While we do have the word of God to guide us, learning how our forefathers handled, pain, sickness, death, disappointments and even doubts but still remained faithful till the end would not only encourage us, but strengthen our faith as well.

It is to this end that I plan to make quotes of prayers and the gospel message from faithful preachers of old, mostly puritans part of my blog posts from time to time.  Since these faithful preachers (past and present ) have been give as gifts to the Church by the Lord, I believe their writings would edify the body. Some of you may be familiar with their works, while for others, this might be the first time getting acquainted with them. Either way, I believe everyone will be blessed.

Those of you who follow me on twitter or are familiar with my tweets know that in addition to scripture and some of my own thoughts, I do tweet quotes from JC Ryle, Thomas Watson & others.  I plan to do the same thing on this post from time to time.

Elizabeth