It’s National Day of Prayer and in search of what to pray specifically for today, I stumbled across this prayer* from the book The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan Prayers.
My Dear Lord,
I can but tell thee that thou knowest I long for nothing but thyself, nothing but holiness, nothing but union with thy will. Thou hast given me these desires, and thou alone canst give me the thing desired. My soul longs for communion with thee, for mortification of indwelling corruption, especially spiritual pride. How precious it is to have a tender sense and clear apprehension of the mystery of godliness, of true holiness! What a blessedness to be like thee as much as it is possible for a creature to be like its Creator!
Lord, give me more of thy likeness; Enlarge my soul to contain fullness of holiness; Engage me to live more for thee. Help me to be less pleased with my spiritual experiences, and when I feel at ease after sweet communings, teach me it is far too little I know and do. Blessed Lord, let me climb up near to thee, and love, and long, and plead, and wrestle with thee, and pant for deliverance from the body of sin, for my heart is wandering and lifeless, and my soul mourns to think it should ever lose sight of its Beloved.
Wrap my life in divine love, and keep me ever desiring thee, always humble and resigned to thy will, more fixed on thyself, that I may be more fitted for doing and suffering.
The National Day of Prayer is generally focused on praying for our government, its leaders, our military, schools, pastors, public safety workers, etc., that they would work with integrity and seek the Lord. And we will certainly do that today.
But the prayer above—which smacked me in the face with my own inadequacies—made me realize that prayer for the world begins with prayer for ourselves. If and when we become people like the prayer above—who long only for God and who desire to be in union with His will—then we will become world-changers through Him.
It’s easy to sit back and pray for public people, for our country, for our schools, for our leaders…but it’s a lot harder to pray something like this for yourself.
I wonder what would happen if we became people like the prayer above describes. It’s a big dream—good thing I believe in a HUGE God!
Emily Gehman | Storytelling Coach 
Amen! Well said. I have heard many people quote from that book, but I could never remember the title afterwards. Thanks for that message.
Interviews?
Thanks, Darrell! I haven’t read all of the prayers, but the ones I have are sobering.
No interviews lately, but hoping to hear about one soon. I’ll keep you posted. 🙂