Praying With Prayer Books

This week I want to recommend the use of prayer books to help us in our prayer life.  By prayer books, I am referring to books containing actual prayers for a person to pray alone or with others.  Undoubtedly the most famous of these is the Book of Common Prayer, which is used in both public worship in Anglican churches around the world, and also has been used by many in private devotions and prayers since its inception in the 17th century.  However, there are others such as the Valley of Vision (a collection of prayers inspired by Puritan prayers and writings), and Every Moment Holy (a modern prayer book that focuses on everyday moments such as making a cup of coffee, beginning or ending the day, sitting around a fire, or going on vacation).

The point of these books is to help us by giving prayers that have been carefully thought out by spiritually mature believers.  It is not that one can only pray with these written prayers, but rather that as we use them we can learn more about how to pray on our own.

I used The Valley of Vision as a prayer guide for my personal devotions in 2020.  Here is the opening introductory prayer, which is one of my favorite in the whole book.  I encourage you to read (and pray!) these words, letting their rich meaning encourage you in your walk and prayer life today.

The Valley of Vision

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.

If you would like, Sovereign Grace Music has a worship song based on this prayer that you can also use as part of your prayer time.

May Christ draw you close as you spend time in prayer this week!

In Christ,

Bret