Over the years, I've learned much and have been challenged by listening to my grandfather pray. Drawn from many years and a full life of pursing God in faith, my grandfather's prayers always seemed to brim with words and phrases that demonstrated a powerful intimacy, thankfulness, humility, faith, and a deep relationship with God. While the words were good, it was this full nature of his prayers that demonstrated the type of relationship in prayer with God that I wanted to learn.
To this day, I love to hear him pray and learn much from his faith, and there are a number of other people that I learn by observation about the power and purpose of prayer.
Years ago, I was given a book as a gift from my sister and her husband that aimed to help me grow in prayer by this same method of observation. Certainly the Bible has many incredible prayers to learn from. But this book, called "The Valley of Vision", is a collection of "Puritan Prayers and Devotions." While this may sound to some as heady or stuffy, this book is a resource of rich prayers from humble people who knew God and walked with God intimately.
The truths prayed in this collection demonstrate an openness and honesty before a holy and majestic God. While the language can seem to be arcane when using words such as "thee" and "thine", each entry gives food for thought and fresh ways to portray deep truths about our God. As a fan of literature and poetry, I enjoy the richness of the language and allow myself to pause and let each thought sink in. While they are rich, I love that these prayers are not pious, but are humble.
My wife and I have greatly enjoyed and benefited from this collection. I'd recommend it to anyone who would like to enrich their prayer time by learning from others who have pursued God diligently.
Link: Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions
I would love to hear other people's insights with this book, or other resources that help us pray in Spirit and in truth.
Kris
