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"The Minister's Bible"
Excerpt from "The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions" (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1975), 268-269
O God of truth,
I thank Thee for the holy Scriptures,
their precepts, promises, directions, light.
In them may I learn more of Christ,
be enabled to retain His truth
and have grace to follow it.
Help me to lift up the gates of my soul
that He may come in
and show me Himself when I search the Scriptures,
for I have no lines to fathom its depths,
no wings to soar to its heights.
By His aid may I be enabled to explore all its truths,
love them with all my heart,
embrace them with all my power,
engraft them into my life.
Bless to my soul all grains of truth garnered from Thy Word;
may they take deep root,
be refreshed by heavenly dew,
be ripened by heavenly rays,
be harvested to my joy and Thy praise.
Help me to gain profit by what I read,
as a treasure beyond all treasure,
a fountain which can replenish my dry heart,
its waters flowing through me as a perennial river
on-drawn by Thy Holy Spirit.
Enable me to distill from its pages faithful prayer
that grasps the arm of Thy omnipotence,
achieves wonders, obtains blessings,
and draws down streams of mercy.
From it show me how my words have often been
unfaithful to Thee,
injurious to my fellow-men,
empty of grace, full of folly,
dishonoring to my calling.
Then write Thy own words upon my heart
and inscribe them on my lips;
So shall all glory be to Thee in my reading of Thy Word!
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