The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions

by Arthur Bennett

The strength of Puritan character and life lay in prayer and meditation. In this practice the spirit of prayer was regarded as of first importance and the best form of prayer, for living prayer is the characteristic of genuine spirituality. Yet prayer is also vocal and may therefore on occasions be written. Consequently in the Puritan tradition there are many written prayers and meditations which constitute an important corpus of inspiring devotional literature. Too often ex tempore prayer lacks variety, order and definiteness. The reason for this lies partly in a neglect of due preparation. It is here that the care and scriptural thoroughness which others found necessary in their approach to God may be of help. This book has been prepared not to 'supply' prayers but to prompt and encourage the Christian as he treads the path on which others have gone before.

Genres: Christian, Prayer, Devotional, Theology, Christianity, Nonfiction, Christian Living

223 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1975

About the author

The author, Arthur Bennet, was a Canon of St. Albans Cathedral, sometime Rector of Little Munden and Sacombe, Hertfordshire, and was for seventeen years a tutor in Biblical Theology and Christian Doctrine at All Nations Christian College. He died in October 1994 aged 79.

Reviews

[Alexis Neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite possibly the best book I've read all year. These prayers are amazing. In Mudhouse Sabbath, Lauren Winner talks about the benefit of a formal prayer book. She notes that her free-form prayers often devolve into narcissism (this has definitely been my experience), but that the formal, written prayers refocus her on God. This book is a great example of the benefit of written prayers. My own free-form prayers often send me down a rabbit hole of my own personal worries and burdens--worries and burdens that I am right to share with God. But I think every one of the prayers in this book contains the Gospel, and when I read them, I am preaching the Gospel to myself. Instead of bringing my problems to God for Him to change, I find my focus shifting to my own sin, God's grace, Christ's sacrifice, and my own undeserved salvation.

Also, written prayers like these are very helpful if you are struggling with prayer. I certainly found it so. The words are true and they say true things about God and Christ and the Gospel. So when I cannot find the words or the heart to pray on my own, I can pray these written prayers. Not that I try to pray them without meaning them. I very much intend to mean them. And even if I do start out not really meaning the prayer, I usually do end up meaning it somewhere along the way. It is surprising how much such prayers can transform the human heart.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

This incredible volume is so theologically dense that it will take a lifetime of readings to fathom its depths. This is a book of prayers written by anonymous Puritans from centuries ago. But, boy, do these good folk know how to pray. The prayers are short (2 pages apiece in my edition) and one could easily read the entire book in a few days, but there is so much to ponder and meditate on that I limited myself to no more than 6 pages per reading session. This is a book that I will be coming back to time and time again to be refreshed, convicted, schooled and made joyful by these bygone words from precious saints.

[Jeremy]

The first and most famous poem/prayer was written by the editor, Arthur Bennett. Regarding the sources for the other prayers, we know only a little. Adam Marshall is attempting to uncover more sources.

[Felipe Sabino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Li em três dias essa coletânea fantástica de orações. Este com certeza é um livro que lerei todos os anos da minha vida, ao menos uma vez por ano. Na verdade, creio que todo cristão deveria fazer exatamente isso.

[Laura Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's amazing that Puritan prayers from hundreds of years ago are still so applicable and powerful in modern times. My favorite of the collection is "Morning Dedication," which ends this way: "May I speak each word as if my final word, and walk each step as my final one. If my life should end today, let this be my best day."

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of excerpts from different Puritan writers arranged as prayers and organized by category. I have been reading a prayer a day with my devotions and have found it helpful to make their prayers my own. I only wish I knew which Puritans wrote them as the book doesn't tell you. Here are some of my favorite prayers:

May my words and works allure others to the highest walks of faith and love.

Teach me the happy art of attending to things temporal with a mind intent on things eternal.

Make thy cross the ground of all my comfort,
the liveliness of all my duties,
the sum of all thy gospel promises,
the comfort of all my afflictions,
the vigor of my love, thankfulness, graces,
the very essence of my religion.

May I always know that a clean heart full of goodness is more beautiful than the lily, that only a clean heart can sing by night and by day, that such a heart is mine when I abide at Calvary.


I think this book could enrich your prayer life!

[Christine Norvell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have marked a number of prayers to share with my classes this school year.

[Daniel Piva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ótimo companheiro para as devocionais, principalmente, quando o coração está um pouco endurecido, ou se está sentido abandonado, ou, ainda, terrivelmente pecador e sem perdão.
Em momento algum substitui a leitura da Bíblia; contudo o seu valor, está justamente na compilação da boa teologia a partir da Escritura.

[Leah H · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book I read, re-read and read again. My lifetime favorite. Stirs the soul and engages the affections.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Valley of Vision is a collection of prayers, 195 in all, compiled by Arthur Bennett from various men from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, including John Bunyan, Thomas Watson, David Brainerd, Isaac Watts, Augustus Toplady, Philip Doddridge, and Charles Spurgeon, as well as others. These short, devotional, poetic prayers are a wonderful way to start and/or end each day. They would serve well for private, personal devotions and meditation, or for family worship.

The prayers in this collection, organized topically in sections,, highlight such doctrinal truths as the roles of the persons of the Trinity, the sovereignty of God in salvation, the importance of mortifying sin, the attributes of God, the atoning work of Christ on the cross, and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.

The poems express thoughts of praise and thanksgiving, encouragement, comfort, humility and repentance. Unlike much of what is written for Christians these days, these passages rightly elevate God’s Word and works and the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and keep a proper perspective of man and his dependence on the Lord for all he is and has.

[Bill Forgeard · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Valley of Vision is an edited collection of prayers written by Puritan authors from the 17th to 19th centuries (e.g. Thomas Watson, Richard Baxter, John Bunyan, Isaac Watts, David Brainerd, C.H. Spurgeon). This book has been a rich source of encouragement and food for my soul as I've read a prayer each day over the last 2 or 3 years. (How can there possibly be 400 pages & 200 prayers in a such a little book?! I should have bought the paperback, the thin paper in the leather bound edition I have is deceptive...) These prayers are passionate, theological, realistic, uncompromising, 'blood-earnest' and joyful. At times a prayer from the Valley of Vision has uplifted me when I've been discouraged, rebuked me when I've been apathetic or sobered me when I've been flippant. The book is well presented and helpfully arranged, and several times I was able to use a prayer as the basis for a public prayer during church. The old English is a struggle sometimes, and there are cultural connections which are no longer relevant.

[Jeff Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite works! Putting words to prayers I cold only dream of praying. Immensely encouraging, challenging and inspirational!

It took me a long time to work through it because the wealth of content was so deep.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most influential books in shaping my walk with Christ over the past four years. Will continue to read and re-read... many jewels here.

[Rebekah Bredow · Rating 5 out of 5]

BANGER AFTER BANGER this book is awesome

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

2024 There's a reason why this is a must read! I'm starting it over again.

2025 I really enjoy incorporating this into devotional rhythms. Such a help!

[Abby Litrenta · Rating 5 out of 5]

My second complete read-through. Absolutely excellent!!

[Katie Gibbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really really helpful - had to swap the order around so as not to get bogged down in the "woe is me" prayers in the middle, but overall a really instructive and uplifting resource I expect I'll come back to often.

[Paco Duran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Como un vaso fresco en medio de un desierto. Oraciones que te llevan a meditar en las Escrituras, y a anhelar vivir para la Gloria de Dios.

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good. First read it in 2002. Listened to an audio version of it narrated by Max McLean in 2015. That was good too. McLean's reading is good, although it sometimes borders on creepy. The Puritans represented are really solid. Their prayers sometimes veered into the predictably puritanical introspection, but there were many glorious stretches where they were doing nothing of the kind. There were many edifying phrases.

[Brian Pate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compiled and crafted by Arthur Bennett (1915-1994), an Anglican minister, this is a masterpiece of Puritan prayers. Bennett's poetic renderings of these prayers are a window into Puritan spirituality and are a tool to deepen our own walk with God.

[Temi Agbaje · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book full of amazing prayers that have so much depth!! Loved it!

[Mark Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished reading these prayers almost daily as part of my daily devotions.

It has been helpful guidance to my own prayer life. Many challenge me to have deeper thoughts of God's glory and goodness, in addition to truer examination of my own sinfulness.

[librarian4Him02 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of prayers and meditations which the editor gleaned from Puritan writings. I picked this one up because I was doing a year-long study on prayer and was told this book contained good examples of prayers. The person who told me this was not wrong.

The language used by the writers of these prayers was beautiful and gave me much to think on. In addition, I gathered many examples of how to incorporate Scripture into my prayer life.

If you too are looking for ways to enhance your prayer life, I highly recommend this book.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my fifth time all the way through this wonderful collection of prayers. Convicting, soul-stirring, edifying, helpful.

[Logan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished this again, this time as an aid to family worship prayer time and it truly is a well-rounded pattern to some very topical prayers. Highly beneficial.

[Cathy (Thoughts on Books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This cover, with its blurred photo and yellowed landscape, is probably my least favourite, but what’s inside is one of the most beautiful of books.

It’s a collection of prayers and devotions from puritans such as John Bunyan, Charles Spurgeon, Issac Newton, Richard Baxter, Thomas Watson, David Brainerd and many others, though none of the prayers are labeled so you don’t know which are from who. This is done on purpose, so the focus isn’t on the men who wrote them, but the God they all loved.

I slowly read through these prayers this past year and was so encouraged by them.

We really are all the same, sinners in need of a Savior, and what a beautiful Savior He is.

[Wilson Porte Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Que joia preciosa é este livro. Este é um daqueles que vou revisitar algumas vezes…

[Zachary Davin · Rating 5 out of 5]

To quote the rear cover: “This book has been prepared not to ‘supply’ prayers but to prompt and encourage the Christian as he treads the path on which others have gone before.”

[Zachary McIntire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never did finish this, because I was using it as a daily devotional while it was borrowed from the library, which didn't work very well, because I ran out of time. I kept meaning to get it back out, but haven't gotten around to it yet, as other devotional books I own have since captured my attention. Still, I would like to finish it sometime, as it is quite inspiring. I eventually started praying the prayers aloud, which was my first experience reading prewritten prayers, and I found the experience both calming and uplifting. Some of the sentiments expressed by these authors were well outside my own spiritual depth or experience, but I think it's good to be challenged in this way, as it helps us seek more fullness in our own walk with Christ.

[Daniel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am going to upset a lot of people with this review, but I am going to write it anyway. I really do not see what all the fuss is about when it comes to this book of prayers. They are much too meandering and long-winded to really be edifying. Give me the collects out of the Book of Common Prayer any day before anything from The Valley of Vision. Okay, being a strict regulative principle adherent, I would modify some things in the BCP's prayers, but, on the whole, they are far better than the ones found in this collection. I am now going into hiding from the inevitable rage of the Neo-Puritans. ;-)