The Love of Jesus
O FATHER OF JESUS,
Help me to approach thee with deepest reverence, not with presumption,
not with servile fear, but with holy boldness.
Thou art beyond the grasp of my understanding,
but not beyond that of my love.
Thou knowest that I love thee supremely,
for thou art supremely adorable, good, perfect.
My heart melts at the love of Jesus,
my brother, bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh,
married to me, dead for me, risen for me;
He is mine and I am his,
given to me as well as for me:
I am never so much mine as when l am his
or so much lost to myself until lost in him
Then I find my true manhood.
But my love is frost and cold, ice and snow:
Let his love warm me.
Lighten my burden,
be my heaven;
May it be more revealed to me in all its influences
that my love to him may be more fervent and glowing,
Let the mighty tide of his everlasting love
cover the rocks of my sin and care;
Then let my spirit float above those things which had wrecked my life.
Make me fruitful by living to that love,
My character is becoming more beautiful every day.
If traces of Christ’s love-artistry be upon me,
may he work on with his divine brush
until the complete image be obtained
and I be made a perfect copy of him,
my Master.
O Lord Jesus, come to me,
O Divine Spirit, rest upon me,
O Holy Father, look on me in mercy
for the sake of the well-beloved.
—Valley of Vision
This old Puritan prayer captures something our modern hearts often resist: that God does His deepest work not in our strength, but in our surrender. The world tells us to climb higher, prove more, fix ourselves. But the gospel flips that script. In God’s economy, the way up is the way down. When we come to the end of ourselves—ashamed, tired, uncertain—we find we’re exactly where grace begins to flow.
If you’re in a valley today, you’re not alone—and you’re not lost. You may be in the very place where God wants to meet you. In fact, some of His greatest mercies come not on the mountaintop, but in the valley of vision—where pride is stripped, illusions fade, and His glory shines brightest in the dark. Let this rich prayer be yours. Make it your cry today: that in brokenness you might find wholeness, and in surrender, joy. —DH
—David Hoskins, Founder & Care Guide, Sanctuary Clinics