A Poem I am Memorizing

"Blessed Creator,
Thou hast promised thy beloved sleep;
Give me restoring rest needful for tomorrow's toil.
If dreams be mine, let them not be tinged with evil.
Let thy Spirit make my time of repose a blessed temple of his holy presence.
May my frequent lying down make me familiar with death,
the bed I approach remind me of the grave.
the eyes I now close picture to me their final closing.
Keep me always ready, waiting for admittance to thy presence.
Weaken my attachment to earthly things.
May I hold life loosely in my hand,
knowing that I receive it on condition of its surrender;
As pain and suffering betoken transitory health,
may I not shrink from a death
that introduces me to the freshness of eternal youth.
I retire this night in full assurance of one day awakening with thee.
All glory for this precious hope,
for the gospel of grace,
for thine unspeakable gift of Jesus,
for the fellowship of the Trinity.
Withhold not thy mercies in the night season;
thy hand never wearies,
thy power needs no repose,
thine eye never sleeps.
Help me when I helpless lie,
when my conscience accuses me of sin,
when my mind is harassed by foreboding thoughts,
when my eyes are held awake by personal anxieties.
Show thyself to me as the God of all grace, love and power;
thou hast a balm for every wound.
a solace for all anguish,
a remedy for every pain,
a peace for all disquietude.
Permit me to commit myself to thee awake or asleep."


--Sleep, The Valley of Vision.

Memorization

I enjoy memorizing things. I might not be very good at memorizing, and I admit, it does take me quite a while to memorize something to say it by heart. It takes a lot of work for me, but it's worth it.
Even in Cubbies and Awana, I struggled with memorizing things. The thing I struggle with the most in memorization is remembering the references. I'll remember the verses, but the references always seem to slip my mind.
Well, I am sure you get the point now. I am not good at memorizing, and I am not faithful at remembering the things I "memorize by heart" for months.

A few months ago, I started memorizing prayers from The Valley of Vision, and for me, those prayers have been life changing to read. Not only do they come to my mind throughout the day, but even when I'm praying, I quote from those Puritan prayers that I memorized.
Every Christian should read The Valley of Vision, it's a great book full of Puritan prayers.

To be honest, I don't really know how to pray for myself all of the time. It's easy to pray for others, but when it comes to praying for myself I just don't know how to. Maybe that doesn't make sense, but that's how I am.
Now I find myself praying prayers that I memorized from that book. And not only do I get into praying those things, I get into the mode of praying the Scriptures that I memorize.
I've only memorized two prayers so far, but this week I am starting on a new one.
And this is it:

'The Convicting Spirit'


"Thou Blessed Spirit, author of all grace and comfort,
Come, work repentance in my soul;
Represent my sin to me in its odious colors that I may hate it;
Melt my heart by the majesty and mercy of God;
Show me my ruined self and help there is in Him;
Teach me to behold my Creator,
                               His ability to save,
                               His arms outstretched,
                               His heart big for me.
May I confide in his power and love,
          commit my soul to Him without reserve,
          bear his image, observe his laws, pursue his service,
          and be through time and eternity
         a monument to the efficacy of his grace,
         a trophy of his victory.
Make me willing to be saved in His way,
  perceiving nothing in myself, but all in Jesus:
Help me not only to receive him but
              to walk in Him,
             depend upon Him,
             Commune with Him,
             be conformed to Him,
             follow Him,
              imperfect, but still pressing forward,
             not complaining of labour, but valuing rest,
             not murmuring under trials, but thankful for my state.
Give me that faith which is the means of salvation,
       and the principle and medium of all godliness;
May I be saved by grace through faith,
          live by faith,
          feel the joy of faith,
         do the work of faith.
Perceiving nothing in myself, may I find in Christ
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption."

God Bless,
   A.W.