Gems From the Valley of Vision

From 'A Minister's Praises'

2009-05-21T07:20:00.002+01:00

There is much unconquered territory in my nature,

Scourge out the buyers and sellers of my souls temple,

And give me in return pure desires,

And longings after pesonal holiness.

The Mover

2007-12-03T13:52:00.000Z

O Lord I am astonished at the difference
between my deservings and my receivings,
between the state I am now in, and my past
gracelessness,
between the heaven I am bound for and
the hell I merit.
Who made me to differ,
but Thee?

Morning needs

2007-08-29T07:34:00.000+01:00

O God, the Author of All Good,

I come to thee for the grace another day
will require for its duties and events.
I step out into a wicked world,
I carry with me an evil heart,
I know that without thee I can do nothing,
that everything with which I shall
be concerned,
however harmless in itself,
may prove an occasion of sin or folly,
unless I am kept by thy power.

The Cry of a Convicted Sinner

2007-06-09T09:15:00.000+01:00

Had I been a prince
I would long ago have crushed such a rebel;
Had I been a father
I would long ago have crushed such a rebel.

The Divine Will

2007-05-12T08:35:00.000+01:00

Strengthen me to pray with the conviction
that whatever I receive is thy gift,
so that I may pray until prayer be granted.

Protection

2007-04-30T07:50:00.000+01:00

May we
be rich in faith,
be strong in faith,
live by faith,
walk by faith,
experience the joy of faith,
do the work of faith,
hope through faith.

First Day Morning - Worship

2007-04-21T09:11:00.000+01:00

We are going to the house of instruction,
give testimony to the Word preached,
and glorify it the heart of all who hear,
may it enlighten the ignorant,
awaken the the careless, reclaim the wandering,
establish the weak, comfort the feeble-minded,
make ready a people for their Lord.

A Minister's Bible

2007-04-07T08:57:00.000+01:00

O God of Truth,

I thank thee for the Holy Scriptures,
their precepts, promises, directions, light.
In them may I learn more of Christ,
be enabled to retain His truth
and have grace to follow it.

Help me to lift up the gates of my soul
that He may come in
and show me Himself when I search
the Scriptures,
for I have no lines to fathom its depths,
no wings to soar to its heights.

A Minister's Prayer

2007-04-06T09:03:00.000+01:00

There is much unconquered territory
in my nature,
scourge out the buyers and seller
of my soul's temple,
and give me in return pure desires,
and longings after perfect holiness.

A Minister's Strength

2007-04-05T09:00:00.000+01:00

Root and tear out the poisonous weed
of self-righteousness,
and show me my utter nothingness;
Keep me sensible of my sinnership;
Sink me into penitence and self-abhorance;
Break the Dagon of pride in pieces
before the ark of thy presence;
Demolish the Babel of self-opinion,
and scatter it to the wind;
Level to the ground my Jericho walls
of a rebel heart;
Then grace, grace, will be my experience and cry.

A Minister's Prayer

2007-04-03T08:56:00.000+01:00

Water the hearts of those who hear thy Word,
that seeds sown in weakness may be raised
in power.

Love Rest in God

2007-03-29T08:36:00.000+01:00

I depend wholly on thee,
wean me from all other dependencies,
Thou art my all
and delight in me.

Service and Equipment

2007-03-24T08:08:00.000Z

O that I could be a flame of fire in thy service,
always burning out in one continual blaze.

Fullness

2007-03-15T07:13:00.000Z

With thee I can live without other things,
for thou are God all-sufficient,
and the glory, peace, rest joy of the world
is a creaturely, perishing thing
in comparison with thee.

Contentment

2007-03-11T07:16:00.000Z

Heavenly Father...

When thy Son, Jesus, came into my soul
instead of sin, he became more dear to me
than sin had formerly been;
but kindly rule replaced sin's tyranny.

Love

2007-03-09T08:18:00.000Z

Thy infinite love is a mystery of mysteries,
and my eternal rest lies
in the eternal enjoyment of it.

A Colloquy on Rejoicing

2007-03-04T07:47:00.000Z

Art thou grieving under a sense of indwelling sin?
Let godly sorrow work repentance,
as the true spirit which the Lord blesses
and creates fullest joy;
Sorrow for self opens rejoicing in God,
Self-loathing draws down divine thoughts.

Hast thou sought joys in some creature comfort?
Look not below God for happiness,
fall not asleep in Delilah's lap.

Let God be all in all to thee,
and joy in the fountain that is always full.

Openness

2007-02-13T08:29:00.000Z

Expel from my mind all sinful fear and shame,
so that with firmness and courage I may
confess the Redeemer before me,
go forth with Him bearing His reproach,
be zealous with his knowledge,
be filled with his wisdom
walk with his circumspection,
ask counsel of him in all things,
repair to the Scriptures for his orders,
stay my mind on his peace,
knowing that nothing can befall me
without his permission, appointment
and administration.

Divine Promises

2007-02-10T09:00:00.000Z

Thou hast given me to read my pardon
in the wounds of Jesus,
and my soul doth trust in him, my God incarnate,
the ground of my life, the spring of my hope.

Devotion

2007-02-08T09:37:00.000Z

O how desirable, how profitable to the Christian life
is a spirit of holy watchfulness
and a godly jealousy over myself,
when my soul is afraid of nothing
except grieving and offending thee,
the blessed God, my Father and friend,
whom I love and long to please,
rather than be happy in myself.

Evening Renewal

2007-02-02T11:06:00.000Z

Every morning I vow to love thee more fervently,
to serve thee more sincerely,
to be more devoted in my life,
to be wholly thine;

Yet I soon stumble, backslide,
and have to confess my weakness, misery and sin.

But I bless thee that the finished work of Jesus
needs no addition from my doings,
that his oblation is satisfaction
for my sins.

If future days be mine, help me to amend this life,
to hate and abhor evil,
to flee the sins I confess.

Morning Needs

2007-01-29T13:12:00.000Z

O God, the Author of All Good,
I come to thee for the grace another day
will require for its duties and events.
I step out into a wicked world,
I carry with me an evil heart,
I know that without thee I can do nothing,
that everything with which I shall
be concerned,
however harmless in itself,
may prove an occasion of sin or folly,
unless I am kept by thy power.

Voyage

2007-01-18T10:12:00.000Z

Help me live circumspectly,
with skill to convert every care to prayer

Spiritual Growth

2007-01-16T11:30:00.000Z

May I never be satisfied with my present
spiritual progress,
but to faith add virtue, knowledge, temperance,
godliness, brotherly kindness, charity.

Faith and the world

2007-01-14T13:28:00.000Z

In my duties give me firmness, energy, zeal,
devotion to thy cause,
courage in thy name,
love as a working grace,
and all commensurate with my trust.

Desires

2007-01-13T12:01:00.000Z

May I never be importunate for temporal blessings,
but always refer them to the fatherly goodness,
for thou knowest what I need before I ask...

Choices

2007-01-12T08:00:00.000Z

All my desires have not been gratified,
but thy love denied them to me
when fulfilment of my wished would have
proved my ruin or injury.

Weaknesses

2007-01-09T08:52:00.000Z

Deliver me from carking [distressful] care,
and make me a happy, holy person;
Help me to walk the separated life with
firm and brace step,
and the wrestle successfully against weakness...

Conflict

2007-01-05T07:56:00.000Z

May I discern the deadly viper [sin] in its malignity,
tear it with holy indignation from my breast,
resolutely turn its every snare,
refuse to hold polluting dalliance with it.

Need of Grace

2007-01-04T08:54:00.000Z

O Lord,

Thou knowest my great unfitness for service,
my present deadness,
my inability to do anything for thy glory,
my distressing coldness of heart.

I am weak, ignorant, unprofitable,
and loathe to abhor myself.

I am at a loss to know what thou wouldest
have me to do,
for I am amazingly deserted by thee,
and sense thy presence so little;
Thou makest me possess the sins of my youth,
and the dreadful sin of my nature,
so that I feel all sin,
I cannot think or act but every motion is sin.

Return again with showers of converting grace
to a poor gospel abusing sinner.

Help my soul to breath after holiness,
after a constant devotedness to thee,
after growth in graced more abundantly every day.

O Lord, I am lost in the pursuit of this blessedness,
And I am ready to sink because I fall short of my desire;
Help me to hold out a little longer,
until the happy hour of goodness bring me not nigh.

Help me to be diffident, watchful, tender,
lest I offend my blessed Friend
in thought and behaviour;
I confide in thee and lean upon thee
and need thee at all times to assist and lead me.

O that all my distresses and apprehensions
might prove but Christ's school
to make me fir for greater service
by teaching me the great lesson of humility.

New Year

2007-01-02T14:02:00.000Z

O Lord,

Length of days does not profit me
except in thy service, to thy glory....

May thy fear be my awe,
thy triumphs my joy.

Contentment

2007-01-02T13:59:00.000Z

Let me willingly accept misery, sorrows,
temptations,
if I can thereby feel sin as the greatest evil,
and be delivered from it with gratitude to thee,
acknowledging this as the highest testimony of they love.

Love

2006-12-29T14:54:00.000Z

My salvation is the point where
perfect created love
and the most perfect uncreated love
meet together;
for thou dost welcome me,
not like Joseph and his bothers,
loving and sorrowing, but loving and rejoicing.

Mercy

2006-12-27T08:37:00.000Z

Thous hast not left me to despair,
for there is no 'peradventure' in thy grace.

A Cry for Deliverance

2006-12-26T08:29:00.000Z

I abhor my body of death,
its indolence, envy, meanness, pride,
Forgive, and kill this vices,
have mercy on my unbelief,
on my corrupt and wandering heart.

Man a Nothing

2006-12-25T08:03:00.000Z

I fault and correct thy laws to suit myself,
Instead of thee I look to man's approbation,
and I am by nature and idolater.
Lord, it is my chief design to bring my heart back
to thee.

Take away my roving eye, curious ear, greedy
appetite, lustful heart;
show me that none of these things
can heal a wounded conscience,
or support a tottering frame,
or uphold a departing spirit,
then take me to the cross
and leave me there.

Penitence

2006-12-24T07:48:00.000Z

My soul is often a chariot without wheels,
clogged and hindered in sin's miry clay;
Mount it on eagle's wings
and cause it to soar upward to thyself.

Passion

2006-12-18T08:54:00.000Z

My sin is that my heart is pleased or troubled
as things please or trouble me,
without 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.

Backsliding

2006-12-14T08:40:00.000Z

Give me to believe
that thou canst do more for me than
I ask or think,
and that, though I backslide, thy love will never
let me go,
but will draw me back to thee with everlasting
cords;
that thou dost provide grace in the wilderness,
and canst bring me out, leaning on the arm
of my Beloved;
that thou canst cause me to walk with him
by the rivers of water in a straight way,
wherein I shall not stumble.

I would advise reading the entire reading; entitled "Backsliding" in the section "Penitence and Deprecation."

Shortcomings

2006-12-12T08:53:00.000Z

Help me to see that although I am in the wilderness
it is not all briars and barrenness.
I have bread from heaven, streams from the rock,
light by day, fire by night,
thy dwelling place and thy mercy seat.

The Broken Heart

2006-12-05T09:04:00.000Z

Though unrighteousness weighs me down to hell,
thy righteousness exalts me to thy throne.

Reproofs

2006-12-04T09:14:00.000Z

Teach me how to take reproofs from friends,
even though I do not think I deserve them;
Use them to make me tenderly afraid of sin...

Meeting God

2006-12-03T12:56:00.000Z

I bless thee that grate sin draws out great grace,
that, although the least sin
deserves infinite punishment
because done against an infinite God,
yet there is mercy for me,
for where guilt is most terrible,
there thy mercy in Christ is most free and deep.

In Prayer

2006-11-28T14:04:00.000Z

O LORD,

In prayer I launch far out into the eternal world,
and on that broad ocean my soul triumphs
over all evils on the shores of mortality.

Time with its gay amusements and cruel
disappointments, never appears so inconsiderate
as then.

Living By Prayer

2006-11-28T14:02:00.000Z

Let me know that the work of prayer is to bring
my will to thine,
and that without this it is folly to pray...

Purification

2006-11-27T08:51:00.000Z

Deliver me from attachment to things unclean,
from wrong associations,
from the predominance of evil passions,
from the suger of sin as well as its gall...

Humiliation

2006-11-22T07:55:00.000Z

Thou does not play in convincing me of sin,
Satan did not play in tempting me to it,
I do not play when I sink in deep mire,
for sin is no game, no toy, no bauble;
Let me never forget that the heinousness of sin lies
not so much in the nature of the sin committed,
as in the greatness of the Person sinned against.

Contrition

2006-11-19T08:50:00.000Z

...may my character and not my
circumstances engage me.

Love Shed Abroad

2006-11-18T13:59:00.000Z

Gracious God,

My Heart Praises thee for the wonder
of they love in Jesus;
He is heaven's darling, but is for me
the incarnate, despised, rejected,
crucified sin-bearer;
In Him they grace has almost our-graced itself,
In Him thy love to rebels has reached its height;
O to love thee with a love like this!

Confession and Petition

2006-11-16T11:56:00.000Z

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 away with trial,
give me sactified affliction.

Divine Promises

2006-11-15T13:24:00.000Z

Glorious Jehovah, My Covenant God,

...Help me to leave my concerns in thy hands,
for thou has power over evil,
and bringest from it an infinite progression of good...

Spiritual Helps

2006-11-15T13:22:00.000Z

May my every cross be sanctified,
every loss be gain,
every denial a spiritual advantage,
every dark day a light of the Holy Spirit,
every night of trial a song.

Openness

2006-11-15T13:19:00.000Z

Lord of Immortality,

...Expel from my mind all sinful fear and shame,
so that with firmness and courage I may
confess the Redeemer before men...

Christlikeness

2006-11-15T13:16:00.000Z

Father of Jesus,

Cause me to be a mirror of thy grace,
to show others the joy of thy service,

May my lips be well-tuned cymbals
sounding they praise,

Let a halo of heavenly-mindedness
sparkle around me
and a lamp of kindness sunbeam my path.

Continual Repentance

2006-11-14T09:07:00.000Z

I am always going into the far country,
and always returning home as a prodigal,
always saying, Father, forgive me,
and thou art always bringing forth
the best robe.

Every morning let me wear it,
every evening return in it,
be married in it,
be wound in death in it...

The Deeps

2006-11-13T08:47:00.000Z

Quarry me deep, dear Lord,
and then fill me to overflowing
with living water.

Self-deprecation

2006-11-12T08:25:00.000Z

My every member, sense, faculty, affection,
is a snare to me.
I can scarcely open my eyes but I envy those
above me,
or despise those below me,
I covet honour and riches of the mighty,
and am proud and unmerciful to the rags
of others,
If I behold beauty it is a bait to lust,
or see deformity it stirs up loathing and disdain.
How soon do slanders, vain jests, and wanton
speeches creep into my heart!

Thou knowest that all these snares
are my corruptions,
and that my greatest snare is myself.

Heart corruption

2006-11-07T10:34:00.000Z

Grant me grace to bear thy will without repining,

And delight to be

not only chiselled, squared, or fashioned,

but separated from the rock where

I have been embedded so long,

And lifted from the quarry to the upper air,

where I may be built in Christ forever.

Yet I sin

2006-11-04T11:29:00.000Z

Thy loving spirit strives within me,
brings me scripture warnings,
speaks in startling provinces,
allures by secret whispers,
yet I choose devices and desires to my own hurt,
impiously resent, grieve,
and provoke him to abandon me.

All these sins mourn, lament, and for them
cry pardon...

Self-Knowledge

2006-10-31T09:11:00.000Z

I have cause to loathe myself,
and not to seek self-honour,
for no one desires to commend his own dunghill.

True Religion

2006-10-31T09:07:00.000Z

Help me ...
never to judge my religion bu occasional
impressions and impulses, but by my
constant and prevailing disposition

Consecration and Worship

2006-10-30T13:02:00.000Z

...When I have done all I can to eternity,

I shall not be able to offer more than

a small fraction of the homage

that the glorious God deserves.

The Nevers of the Gospel

2006-10-29T09:58:00.000Z

[May I] never make piety a dress but a habit,
not only a habit but a nature,
not only a nature but a life.

A Neophyte’s Devotion

2006-10-28T11:04:00.000+01:00

I will not love a world that crucified him,
neither cherish nor endure the sin
that put him to grief,
nor suffer him to be wounded by others.

Belonging to Jesus

2006-09-22T08:09:00.000+01:00

I thank thee for showing me the vast difference
between knowing things by reason,
and knowing them by the spirit of faith.
By reason I see a thing is so;
By faith I know it is.
I have seen thee by reason and have not
been amazed,
I have seen thee as thou art in thy Son and have been ravished to behold thee.
I bless thee that I am thine in my Saviour,
Jesus.

Freedom

2006-09-17T07:45:00.000+01:00

I marvel that the finite can know the Infinite;
here a little, afterwards in full orbed truth.

Assurance

2006-09-08T07:11:00.000+01:00

If Jesus were not by the power of His spirit
my sanctification,
there is no sin I could not commit.

Christian Calling

2006-09-07T08:59:00.000+01:00

Let me lament for forgetting daily to come to thee,
and cleanse me from the deceit of bringing
my heart to a duty
because the act pleased me or appealed to reason.

Election

2006-09-05T11:14:00.000+01:00

It is not the inner sensation that makes Christ's death mine
for that may be a delusion, being without the Word,
but his death apprehended by my faith,
and so testified by Word and Spirit.

Resurrection

2006-09-04T12:57:00.000+01:00

Give me the assurance that in Christ I died,
in him I rose,
in his life I live, in his victory I triumph,
in his ascension I will be glorified.

Deliverance

2006-09-01T11:10:00.000+01:00

May his blood make me
more thankful for thy mercies,
more humble under thy correction,
more zealous for thy service,
more watchful against temptation,
more contented in my circumstances,
more useful to others.

Reconciliation

2006-08-28T08:58:00.000+01:00

Help me to make use of His work of salvation as
the ground of peace,
and of thy favour to, and acceptance of me
the sinner,
so that I may live always near the cross.

The Saviour

2006-08-27T08:13:00.000+01:00

1)
May I enter Him [Jesus] as my refuge,
build on Him as my foundation,
walk in HIm as my way,
follow HIm as my guide,
conform to Him as my example,
receive His instructions as my prophet,
rely on His intercession as my high priest,
obey Him as my king.

2)
May I never make the multitude my model.

God and myself

2006-08-09T08:37:00.000+01:00

At the cross may I contemplate the evil of sin,
and abhor it,
look on him who I pierced,
as one slain for me, and by me.

The Cry of the Convicted Sinner

2006-08-08T06:02:00.000+01:00

Save me from myself,
from the artifices and deceits of sin,
from the treachery of my perverse nature,
from denying the charge of my offences,
from a life of continual rebellion against thee,
for I know that all my thoights, affections,
desires, and pursuits are alienated from me.

The Gospel Way

2006-08-03T06:05:00.000+01:00

Help me to give up every darling lust
to submit heart and life to its [the Gospel] command,
to have it in my will,
controlling my affections,
moulding my understanding...

Love to Jesus

2006-07-18T08:40:00.000+01:00

It is fitting that thou shouldest not regard me,
for I am vile and selfish;
yet I seek thee,
and when I find thee there is no wrath
to devour me,
but only sweet love.

The Love of Jesus

2006-07-17T14:39:00.000+01:00

If traces of Christ's love-artistry be upon me,
may he work on with his divine brush
until the complete image be obtained
and I be made a perfect copy of him,
my Master.

Jesus My Glory

2006-07-16T07:57:00.000+01:00

May I be equally convinced of the guilt
and pollution of sin,
feel my need of a pronce and a saviour,
implore of him repentance as well as forgiveness,
love holiness, and be pure in heart,
have the mind of Jesus, and tread in His steps.

Christ Alone

2006-07-15T13:32:00.000+01:00

Here, it is my duty
to be as Christ in this world,
to do what he would do,
to live as he would live,
to walk in live and meekness;
then would he be known

The Name of Jesus

2006-07-14T08:01:00.000+01:00

I am ready to flee from myself because of
my abominations;
Yet thou dost no abhor me
but hast devised means for my return to thee,
and that, my thy Son who died to give me life.

The Broken Heart

2006-07-04T13:41:00.000+01:00

Blessed Jesus, let me find a covert in they appeasing wounds.
Though my sins rise to heaven thy merits soar
above them;
Though unrighteousness weighs me down to hell,
thy righteousness exalts me to thy throne.
All things in me call for my rejection,
All things in thee plead my acceptance.

The Deeps

2006-06-25T13:33:00.000+01:00

Plough deep in me, great Lord,
heavenly Husbandman,
that my being may be tilled field,
the roots of grace spreading far and wide,
until thou alone art seen in me,
thy beauty golden like summer harvest,
thy fruitfulness as autumn plenty.

Fullness in Christ

2006-06-24T08:32:00.000+01:00

...when faith fills me, then I am full;
that this is the way to be filled with the Spirit,
like Stephen, first faith, the fullness,
for this is way makes me most empty,
and so most fot for the Spirit to fill.

Heart Corruptions

2006-06-22T12:46:00.000+01:00

Grant me grace to bear they will without repining,
and delight to be
not only chiseled, squared, or fashioned,
but separated from the old rock where I have
been embedded so long,
and lifted from the quarry to the upper air,
where I may be built in Christ for ever.

Yet I Sin

2006-06-17T15:47:00.000+01:00

Grant that through the tears of repentance
I may see more clearly the brightness
and glories of the saving cross.

Christ is all

2006-06-15T08:31:00.000+01:00

May I never dally with the world
and its allurements,
but walk by thy side,
listen to thy voice,
be clothed with thy graces,
and adorned with thy righteousness.

Christ the Word

2006-06-14T08:39:00.000+01:00

My sin is not so much this or that particular evil,
but my continual separation, disunion,
distance from thee,
and having a loose spirit towardss thee.

The Great Discovery

2006-06-13T15:35:00.000+01:00

Grant that I may always weep to the praise of
mercy found,
and tell to others as long as I live,
that thou art a sin-pardoning God,
taking up the balsphemer and the ugodly,
and washing them from their deepest stain.

The Gift of Gifts

2006-06-12T08:26:00.000+01:00

Herein is power;
when Deity and humanity were infinitely apart
he united them in indissoluble unity,
the uncreated and the created.

God Honoured

2006-06-09T08:01:00.000+01:00

Deliver me from the natural darkness of
my own mind,
from the corruptions of my heart,
from the temptations to which I am exposed,
from the daily snares that attend me.

A Christian's Prayer

2006-06-08T13:44:00.000+01:00

BLESSED GOD,

Ten thousand snares are mine without
and within,
defend me;
When sloth and indolence seize me,
give me views of heaven;
When sinners entice me,
give me disrelish of their ways;
When sensual pleasures tempt me,
purify and refine me;
When I desire worldly possessions,
help me to be rich toward thee;
When the vanities of the world ensnare me,
let me not plunge into new guilt and ruin.

Man's Greatest End

2006-06-08T07:51:00.000+01:00

...all our happiness consists in loving thee,
and being holy as thou art holy.

A Present Salvation

2006-06-05T07:53:00.000+01:00

Help me to be reality before thee
As I am in appearance before men

God enjoyed

2006-06-01T07:25:00.000+01:00

While Jesus is representing me in heaven,
May I reflect Him on earth.

Divine Mercies

2006-05-31T07:32:00.000+01:00

O my God, I bid farewell to sin by clinging
to his cross,
hiding in his wounds, and sheltering in his side.

The Mover

2006-05-27T15:41:00.001+01:00

O, Lord, I am astonished at the difference
between my deservings and my reveivings.

The Mover

2006-05-27T15:41:00.000+01:00

O, Lord, I am astonished at the difference
between my deservings and my reveivings.

The All Good

2006-05-26T06:33:00.000+01:00

Help me to see how good thy will is in all,
and even when it crosses mine
teach me to be pleased with it.

The Great God

2006-05-25T09:49:00.000+01:00

O Fountain of all good,
Break pride to pieces and scatter it
to the winds,
annihilate each clinging shred of
self-righteousness,
Implant in me true lowliness of spirit,
Abase me to self-loathing and self-abhorence,
Open in me a fount of penitential tears,
Break me, then bind me up:
Thus will my heart be a prepared dwelling
for my God