The following prayer is from the largely forgotten deposit of the Puritan Movement of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.  It testifies to the richness and color of evangelical thought and language, as well as their devotion to the Savior.  This prayer and others can be found in a book titled “The Valley of Vision”, by Arthur Bennet.  I have included them in this blog so that others can use them in their own prayer life as a springboard to a more faithful walk with Jesus.   These prayers are 200-400 years old!  They were written in old English,but that should not get in the way if you don’t let it. 

Following Him together…

Need of Jesus

Lord Jesus,

I am blind, be my light,

ignorant, be my wisdom,

self-willed, be my mind

Open my ear to grasp quickly your Spirit’s voice,

and delightfully run after His beckoning hand;

Melt my conscience that no hardness remain,

make it alive to evil’s slightest touch;

When Satan approaches may I flee to your wounds,

and there cease to tremble at all alarms.

Be my good shepherd to lead me into green pastures of your Word,

and cause me to lie down beside the rivers of its comforts.

Fill me with peace, that no disquieting worldly gales may ruffle the calm surface of my soul.

Your cross was upraised to be my refuge,

Your blood streamed forth to wash me clean,

Your death occurred to give me a surety,

Your name is my property to save me,

By you all heaven is poured into my heart,

but it is too narrow to comprehend your love.

I was a stranger, an outcast, a slave, a rebel

but your cross has brought me near,

has softened my heart,

has made me your Father’s child,

has admitted me into your family,

has made me joint heir with yourself.

O that I may love you as you have loved me,

that I may walk worthy of you, my Lord,

that I may reflect the image of heaven’s first-born.

May I always see your beauty with the clear eye of faith,

and feel the power of your Spirit in my heart,

for unless he move mightily in me

no inward fire will be kindled.