“Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly,
Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory. 
Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, 
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.
Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, 
and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine;
let me find Thy light in my darkness,
Thy life in my death,
Thy joy in my sorrow,
Thy grace in my sin,
Thy riches in my poverty,
Thy glory in my valley” (Taken from The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions, edited by Arthur Bennett).

I heard this read from the pulpit at a church I attended today and thought it was as powerful as the first time I read it in The Valley of Vision. Man, those Puritans could pray. There’s something about praying the same words that faithful saints have offered up to God down the generations, even with all the thees and thous.

I hope that you and I can take these words and make them our own prayer to God that He might be glorified in and through us, no matter what. May whatever valley we find ourselves in be transformed into a valley of the vision of God’s glory. Amen and amen.