Welcome to the Daily Blade . The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit , the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil . Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson , and they stand ready to equip men for the fight . Let's sharpen up .
So every now and then , I think it is a tremendous idea to look at and study the writings of incredibly devout Christians from the past to see what we can glean from their thoughts and their experiences . So just recently , I was made aware of something called the Valley of Vision .
So that is a book that was compiled by Arthur Bennett and was first published back in 1975 , and it contains a collection of prayers and devotions from Puritans . So these would be John Bunyan , who wrote the Pilgrim's Progress , and Richard Baxter and Thomas Watson , and there's plenty of others in there as well . So what was this compilation designed to do exactly ?
It was designed to help the reader deepen their prayer life . So inherent in that theme is that we all even have a prayer life to begin with , and with that , the prayers in the Valley of Vision are very , very structured . They also contain a lot of rich theology and probably over and above all of that is that they are just incredibly heartfelt .
I mean these are just hammers . I mean just powerful , powerful prayers . And guys . I get asked all the time literally all the time in my DMs and my email inbox , something like hey , you know , I'm wanting to get a men's group together , I want to do a men's Bible study of some kind . I just don't know where to start . Like , what studies are there ?
Are there some that I should buy ? Have y'all done anything like that before you know something like that ? Now , typically what I do is I just tell these guys to pick a book of the Bible and then tackle it one hour at a time , one chapter at a time , one week at a time , like we do on the Forging Table on the Undaunted Life podcast .
But here's another suggestion Dig into books like the Valley of Vision . So the Valley of Vision is divided into 10 separate categories of prayers and devotions . So there's Father , son and Holy Spirit , there's redemption and reconciliation , there's holy aspirations , there's approach to God , and so on and so forth .
From there , just tackle one of these categories per week and that'll keep you guys squared away for 10 weeks . So just give that a go . But don't just read the prayers and discuss what you think that they mean or what they mean to you . Look for parallels in these prayers to what we see God reveal to us in his word , the Holy Bible .
So try to get to bedrock on the biblical principles that undergird the words of these Puritan prayers . Okay , and that's what we're going to be doing this week on the Daily Blade . I'm going to cover five prayers from the Valley of Vision and we're going to look at the biblical truths and themes that hold them up .
Okay , so today we're starting with the very first prayer in the book , and it's where the book gets its name the Valley of Vision . I'll read it here 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 the 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 . I mean , do you guys see what I mean ?
I mean that's just the very first one , but the entire book is just replete with prayers like that . Guys , I'm telling you , go buy that book , start reading it . I'm serious . But let's break down this first prayer a little bit . While I was reading it , a few different scriptures and biblical elements came to mind .
Again , you know , psa , we've got to be really careful just studying small fragments of scripture , because we can easily lose context and then lose the entire point . But look , it's the Daily Blade , it's quick , we don't got all day , so shotgun style .
The first thing this prayer brought up for me is that we can gain quote , unquote everything in a worldly sense , but actually have nothing . So Philippians 3.8 says this , but actually have nothing . So Philippians 3.8 says this Indeed , I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus , my Lord .
For his sake , I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ . And the next thing that stuck out to me was really the paradox of the Christian life . So the prayer says this let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up . And so there's similar themes like that throughout the prayer .
It reminded me of Jesus's words recorded in Matthew 16 , verse 25 , for whoever would save his life will lose it , but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it Again for my sake . And then , since this prayer talks a lot about the valley , I'm sure a lot of you were really thinking about Psalm 23 .
So I'll read Psalm 23 , verse four , here Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death , I will fear no evil , for you are with me , your rod and your staff . They comfort me . Now , guys , there is so much power in this short prayer . So don't forget , if we gain everything , we end up with nothing .
If we lose our life for Christ's sake , we actually gain it If we're in the valley . He is faithful and capable of seeing us through .
Thank you for listening to today's episode Before you go . If you want to help equip other men for the fight , share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review . Stay sharp .