Reading Prayers

“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” —Jeremiah 33:3

Volumes of books have been written on the subject of prayer.

In this series on prayer, we have only briefly touched this subject that is so vast and yet so close to the heart of God. We started with learning to pray by knowing to Whom we are praying (10/11), then continued with the exercise of praying scripture (10/15), followed by being challenged with the thought that hymns can be sung in prayer (10/18). Our last thought on this subject for now will be the question, “How can prayers written by others, perhaps long ago, help us to grow in our prayer-life today?”

I recently ran across a booklet of prayers written specifically for teenagers which had blessed me during those scary years. I remember being helped by those written prayers in two ways: (a) I discovered that some of the feelings that I was struggling with—self-doubt, fear of the unknown, peer pressure—were normal; (b) I also discovered that by praying those written prayers, my eyes were opened to God in my life. Reading them again, many years later, I felt the impact of how much I had learned about myself and about God by that small volume of published prayers, put together by my denominational church.

Decades later, a trip to my local bookstore reveals row upon row of collections of prayers. There are prayer books for children, teenagers, athletes, students, engaged couples, singles, wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, parents-to-be, grandparents, caregivers, pastors, and those serving our country like you. The list could go on and on. In addition to the published copies, I am also reminded of the prayers that I memorized as a child—from “Now I lay me down to sleep…” to “Be present at our table, Lord…” What can be the value in these scripted prayers?

Is it possible that what I remember from my time of re-reading that old volume of “prayers for teenagers” is still valuable today? Can I still read a prayer, written by some named or unnamed saint, and find that my current feelings as an adult of self-doubt, fear of the unknown, and cultural pressure are not mine alone, but universal? Is it possible that by reading a prayer written by an author whose spiritual maturity I admire can stretch me to pray in new ways—and to open my eyes to my sinfulness, to God’s amazing grace, to His glory, to His holiness, to His sovereignty, to the cross of Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice, to the value of meditation, to the value of intercessory prayer, and to the movement of the Holy Spirit in my life in sanctification?

Currently, my favorite book of prayers is a volume entitled The Valley of Vision. It is a collection of Puritan prayers and devotions written by spiritual giants (my words, not theirs) like Charles Haddon Spurgeon, John Bunyan, David Brainerd, Thomas Watson, Isaac Watts, and others. These prayers span the centuries from the 1600s to 1900. Arthur Bennett, the editor of this collection, writes “The soul learns to pray by praying; for prayer is communion with a transcendent and immanent God who on the ground of His nature and attributes calls forth all the powers of the redeemed soul in acts of total adoration and dedication. The prayers should therefore be used as aspiration units, the several parts of which could become springboards for the individual’s own prayer subjects.” —Preface to The Valley of Vision.

Would you join me in reading this prayer which begins this book:

“LORD, High and Holy, Meek and Lowly,

Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter thy stars shine;

Let me find thy light in my darkness, thy life in my death, thy joy in my sorrow, thy grace in my sin, thy riches in my poverty, thy glory in my valley.” (1)

This prayer, written by a Puritan hundreds of years ago, can perhaps help you to see your current station as a “valley of vision in the desert” as you humble your heart to our Almighty God.

Questions to share:

1. Do you have a favorite prayer that you remember from your childhood?

2. Scripture says that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” —Hebrews 13:8 Can you see how a prayer to God through Jesus written 400 years ago is still applicable today?

Resources:

(1) The Valley Of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions, edited by Arthur Bennett, The Banner of Truth Trust, 1975, p. 1