The following  prayer was first offered back in the   1700′s.  It is from the largely forgotten deposit of the Puritan Movement of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.  These people knew God and they certainly knew how to pray.  We can learn a lot from them. They are written in old english.  I have updated  a few outdated words and changed the Thee’s and Thou’s to make it more 2011.  However, they still have the feel of that era.   This prayer, titled ‘Regeneration’,  along with many others, can be found in a book titled “The Valley of Vision”, by Arthur Bennett.

O God of the highest heaven,
        occupy the throne of my heart,
        own it all and reign supreme,
        conquer every rebel desire,
        let no vice or sin remain that resists your holy war;
        manifest your mighty power,
                     and make me yours forevermore.

You are worthy to be praised with my every breath,
            loved with my every faculty of soul,
           served with my every act of life.

You have loved me, adopted me, received me,
          purchased, washed, favored, clothed, adorned me,
          when I was worthless, vile, soiled, polluted.

I was dead in sin,
          having no eyes to see you,
          no ears to hear you,
          no taste to relish your joys,
          no intelligence to know you;

But your Spirit has quickened me, 
         has brought me into a new world as a new creature,
         has given me spiritual perception,
         has opened to me your Word as light, guide, solace, joy.

Your presence is to me a treasure of unending peace;
Nothing can separate me from your kindness, 
         for you have drawn me with cords of love,
         and forgive me daily, hourly.

O help me then to live a life worthy of your love,  and worthy of my calling.
Keep me, for I cannot keep myself;
Protect me that no evil befall me;
Let me lay aside every sin admired of many;
Help me to walk by your side, lean on your arm, talk with you,
That I may be salt of the earth and a blessing to all.

Listen to this prayer in a song:    

For more prayers like this visit our Prayer page.