70 Days of Fervent Prayer

“The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”
James 5:16 (NIV)

Our church has begun a 70 Days of Fervent Prayer Initiative starting today and concluding on November 22, 2020.  As we begin this period of fervent prayer, I wanted to share one of my all time favorite prayers from The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan prayers and devotions.  I am particularly challenged by the author’s assessment of his own “prayerless days” when I consider the entire content of his personal, poignant, and powerful prayer.

 O MY SAVIOUR,
Help me.
I am so slow to learn,
so prone to forget,
so weak to climb;
I am in the foothills when I should be on the heights;
I am pained by my graceless heart,
my prayerless days,
my poverty of love,
my sloth in the heavenly race,
my sullied conscience,
my wasted hours,
my unspent opportunities.
I am blind while light shines around me:
take the scales from my eyes,
grind to dust the evil heart of unbelief.
Make it my chiefest joy to study thee,
meditate on thee,
gaze on thee,
sit like Mary at thy feet,
lean like John on thy breast,
appeal like Peter to thy love,
count like Paul all things dung.
Give me increase and progress in grace
so that there may be more decision in my character,
more vigour in my purposes,
more elevation in my life,
more fervour in my devotion,
more constancy in my zeal.
As I have a position in the world,
keep me from making the world my position;
May I never seek in the creature
what can be found only in the Creator;
Let not faith cease from seeking thee until it vanishes into sight.
Ride forth in me,
thou King of kings and Lord of lords,
that I may live victoriously,
and in victory attain my end.

 From the Valley of Vision

If you are interested you can access the 70 Day Prayer guide here:
https://briarwood.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/70_days_overview.pdf

 “Lord, teach us to pray.” Luke 11:1 (NIV)
Amen and Amen,
Donna