The Valley of Vision
Over the years I’ve benefited from reading some of the classic devotionals. But I discovered one a couple of years ago that’s become my favorite. It’s a compilation of Puritan writings rewritten as a book of prayers call The Valley of Vision.Each prayer is Scripture filled, poetically written and maintains a sense of transcendence of both the truth of the prayer and the God to whom the prayer’s directed to. I read one each night before going to bed. The one below is I read a couple of days ago and share it with you as an example of prayers found in The Valley of Vision. May the prayer bless you as it did me on this particular night.
A Minister’s Prayer
O My Lord,
Let not my ministry be approved only by men,
or merely win the esteem and affections
of people;
But do the work of grace in their hearts,
call in thy elect,
seal and edify the regenerate ones,
and command eternal blessings on their souls.
Save me from self-opinion and self-seeking;
Water the hearts of those who hear thy Word,
that seed sown in weakness may be raised
in power;
Cause me and those that hear me
to behold thee here in the light of special faith,
and hereafter in the blaze of endless glory;
Make my every sermon a means of grace to myself,
and help me to experience the power
of thy dying love,
for thy blood is balm,
thy presence bliss,
thy smile heaven,
thy cross the place where truth
and mercy meet.
Look upon the doubts and discouragements
of my ministry
and keep me from self – importance;
I beg pardon for my many sins, omissions,
infirmities,
as a man, as a minister;
Command thy blessing on my weak,
unworthy labours,
and on the message of salvation given;
Stay with thy people,
and may thy presence be their portion
and mine.
when I preach to others let not my words
be merely elegant and masterly,
my reasoning polished and refined,
my performance powerless and tasteless,
but may I exalt thee and humble sinners,
O Lord of power and grace,
all hearts are in thy hands,
all events at thy disposal,
Set the seal of thy almighty will
upon my ministry.
Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship
“God has used this book and Bonhoeffer to show what my life needs to be as a disciple of Christ. As a result of God’s call through this book I am committed to obey and follow (adhere to) Christ with single-eyed focus. I will obey before I worry about faith. I will do this in context of the visible believing community – which is Christ’s Body. I want the costly grace and not the cheap grace and I pray that God will call me to Him and I will follow. Michael Perry 11-21-1991”
As part of a seminary class I’m taking we’re reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship.
So I went to my bookcase to find the copy I read back in 1991 and as I opened it I discovered the above note I had written on the back cover.
The note reminded me of the impact this book had on me twenty years ago. As I have had the chance to re-read it I realized it continues to have a significant influence not just on my thinking and philosophy of ministry but more importantly on how I live.
Here are a couple of the questions I wrestled with after reading The Cost of Discipleship twenty years ago and am again challenged with as I re-read it.
First, Bonhoeffer’s concept of “costly Grace” verses “cheap grace” raises an important question that is relevant for us today. How do we share the Gospel with people without gutting it of the difficult parts? How do we tell the good news that we can’t earn our salvation and yet, to be a follower of Christ, will cost us a lot – maybe everything?
The second question is how do we assure we do not fall into the trap of believing that being a Christian is just simply making a decision (or multiple decisions) in a single moment in time instead of accepting that being a Christian means following Christ in every moment of time?
Both of these questions are as relevant (or more relevant) today than in the days Bonhoeffer wrote The Cost of Discipleship.
So if you are looking for a challenging, thought-provoking book about what it means to be a follower of Christ this classic maybe just the book. It’s not perfect but it will have you asking yourself questions like the ones I dealt with above.
