The Prayer Behind the Song

 

A song that we sing fairly regularly at our church is actually based on an old Puritan prayer found in the classic book of Puritan prayers, titled The Valley of Vision. Sometimes, in the Baptist denomination, we can tend to shy away from prayers written out by others. Yet there is such richness in praying prayers that others have prayed before us with language that beautifully expresses our hearts, but that we would have struggled to put into words. 

We also realize when we pray these prayers that prayer is more than “moving down a prayer list.” There is an element of worship, penitence, and praise that can transcend time and cultures so that we can pray the same things as were prayed over 500 years ago (or even over 2000 years ago... think about the Lord’s prayer or Paul’s prayers for the churches recorded in his letters). So, here is the prayer I referred to. If you’ve been at Grace, even if just for a few months, I think you may recognize fairly quickly what song has sprung from these lyrics, and you may carry this song (and prayer!) with you throughout the week.

O God of the highest heaven,

            Occupy the throne of my heart,

            Take full possession and reign supreme,

            Lay low every rebel lust,

            Let no vile passion resist thy holy war;

            Manifest thy mighty power and make me thine for ever.

Thou art worthy to be praised with my every breath

                        Loved with my every faculty of soul,

                        Served with my every act of life.

Thou hast loved me, espoused me, received me,

            Purchased, washed, favoured, clothed, adorned me

            When I was worthless, vile, soiled, polluted.

I was dead in iniquities,

            Having no eyes to see thee,

                        No ears to hear thee,

                        No taste to relish thy joys,

                        No intelligence to know thee;

But thy Spirit has quickened me,

                        Has brought me into a new world as a new creature,

                        Has given me spiritual perception,

                        Has opened to me thy Word as a light, guide, solace, joy.

Thy presence is to me a treasure of unending peace;

No provocation can part me from thy sympathy,

            For thou hast drawn me with cords of love,

            And dost forgive me daily, hourly.

O help me then to walk worthy of thy love,

            Of my hopes and my vocation.

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 thy side, lean on thy arm,

                        Hold converse with thee,

That henceforth I may be salt of the earth and a blessing to all.

--Amy O'Rear