Pastor Bill Mead returned recently from a time away and brought back with him some wonderful devotional literature. One anonymous prayer passed down from the Puritans touched many of us as he shared. I believe that reading it will prepare us for this weekend’s message. The parable Jesus tells in Luke 18:9-14 introduces us to two men at prayer. Read the passage, read this prayer, and (by God’s grace) you will be ready to hear God’s voice today in his Word:

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.

Anonymous, taken from The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions, edited by Arthur Bennett

To his glory,