The Valley of Vision - A Convert's First Prayer

MY FATHER,

I could never have sought my happiness in thy love,
   unless thou had'st first loved me.
Thy Spirit has encouraged me by grace to seek thee,
   has made known to me thy reconciliation in Jesus,
   has taught me to believe it,
   has helped me to take thee for my God and portion.
May he grant me to grow in the knowledge
     and experience of thy love,
   and walk in it all the way to glory.
Blessed for ever be thy fatherly affection,
   which chose me to be one of thy children
   by faith in Jesus:
I thank thee for giving me the desire to live as such.
In Jesus, my brother, I have my new birth,
   every restraining power,
   every renewing grace.
It is by thy Spirit I call thee Father,
   believe in thee, love thee;
Strengthen me inwardly for ever purpose
   of my Christian life;
Let the Spirit continually reveal to me my interest in Christ,
   and open to me the riches of thy love in him;
May he abide in me that I may know my union with Jesus,
   and enter into constant fellowship with him;
By thy Spirit may I daily live to thee,
   rejoice in thy love,
   find it the same to me as to thy Son,
   and become rooted and grounded in it
     as a house on a rock;
I know but little--
   increase my knowledge of thy love in Jesus,
   keep me pressing forward for clearer discoveries of it,
   so that I may find its eternal fullness;
Magnify thy love to me according to its greatness,
   and not according to my deserts or prayers,
   and whatever increase thou givest,
   let it draw out greater love to thee.

-The Valley of Vision, p. 94-95
Banner of Truth Trust 1975