There are days and moments when I do not know how to pray. Of course in this lifetime, though we desire much to pray as we ought, we know so well that it the possibility of it is very grim. As John Bunyan said once, “The best prayer I ever prayed had enough sin in it to damn the whole world.” But still, though we fail, though at the darkness of night we seem not to know how to pray… Still, we desire in our inmost beings to pray as close as we can a prayer of holiness as we open ourselves to God, our God. A prayer that esteems and delights in God down to the very core of our being. A heart cracked open wide that the tears of our affections flows all out toward the Throne of grace, utterly surrendering to the Potter of all creation to be made into what He wills.

Would you pray with me today, dear reader?

O Fountain of all good,

Destroy in me every lofty thought,

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-abhorrence,

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;

Then can the Father take up his abode in me,

Then can the blessed Jesus come with healing in his touch,

Then can the Holy Spirit descend in sanctifying grace;

O Holy Trinity, three Persons and one God,

inhabit me, a temple consecrated to thy glory.

When thou art present, evil cannot abide;

In thy fellowship is fullness of joy,

Beneath thy smile is peace of conscience,

By thy side no fears disturb,

no apprehensions banish rest of mind,

With thee my heart shall bloom with fragrance;

Make me meet, through repentance, for thine indwelling.

Nothing exceeds thy power,

Nothing is too great for thee to do,

Nothing too good for thee to give.

Infinite is thy might, boundless thy love,

limitless thy grace, glorious thy saving name.

Let angels sing for

sinners repenting,

prodigals restored,

backsliders reclaimed,

Satan’s captives released,

blind eyes opened,

broken hearts bound up,

the despondent cheered,

the self-righteous stripped,

the formalist driven from a refuge of lies,

the ignorant enlightened,

and saints built up in their holy faith.

I ask great things of a great God.

—The Valley of Vision