The devotional/prayer below is the one that I prayed this past Sunday (May 7, 2023) during our morning services. As I noted, I adapted this prayer from one found in The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan prayers and devotions. If you are not familiar with this spiritual treasure trove, I would highly recommend it as a supplement to your daily Bible reading. This particular prayer is entitled “Yet I Sin” and I have included my adaptation of it (for easier reading) as an option for further reflection below:
Eternal Father,
You are good beyond all thought,
But in our sinful flesh, we are vile, wretched, miserable, and blind.
While our lips are ready to confess, our hearts are slow to feel and our ways often don’t follow suit.
Father, we offer our hearts to you. Would you break them, wound them, bend them, and conform them
Unmask sin’s deformity to us so that we would hate it, abhor it, and flee from it.
This past week, perhaps even this morning, our affections, thoughts, and wills have been used as a weapon of revolt against you. Instead of using our strength for your glory, we have served the adversary of your kingdom.
Give us, in your grace, the will to bewail our folly.
Remind us, in your grace, that the way of the transgressor is hard.
We have tasted and seen the purity and beauty in your perfect Word.
It makes glad the heart where it reigns, yet we confess that daily we fall short of your expectations of us and violate the Bible’s precepts and commands.
For all of these sins, we mourn, lament and plead for pardon.
Work within us a deep and abiding repentance. Give us the fullness of godly grief that both trembles and fears but also trusts and loves you.
Grant, through the tears of repentance, that we may see more clearly the brightness and glories of the saving cross.Amen
Pastor Sam