Make Me Right, Keep Me Right
INCOMPREHENSIBLE, GREAT, AND GLORIOUS GOD,
I adore thee and abase myself.
I approach thee mindful that I am
less than nothing,
a creature worse than nothing.
My thoughts are not screened from thy gaze.
My secret sins blaze in the light of thy countenance.
Enable me to remember that blood
which cleansethall sin,
to believe in that grace which subdues
all iniquities,
to resign myself to that agency which can deliver me
from the bondage of corruption
into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.
Thou hast begun a good work in me
and canst alone continue and complete it.
Give me an increasing conviction of my tendency to err,
and of my exposure to son.
Help me feel more of the purifying,
softening influence of religion,
It’s compassion, love, pity, courtesy,
and employ me as thy instrument in blessing others.
Give me to distinguish
between the mere form of godliness and it’s power,
between life and a name to live,
between guile and truth,
between hypocrisy and a religion
that will bear thy eye.
If I am not right, set me right, keep me right;
And may I at last come to thy house in peace.
—Valley of Vision
This prayer is a humbling and holy cry—a soul laid bare before a God who sees all, knows all, and still loves deeply. In the light of God’s gaze, we see not only our sin but our desperate need for grace. And yet, even in the starkest honesty, there is hope. For the God who sees our secret sins is the same God who sent His Son to cleanse them. The One who begins a good work in us is faithful to carry it through to completion.
What we need most is not perfection, but a posture of surrender. “If I am not right, set me right, keep me right.” That’s a prayer God delights to answer. Not with shame, but with mercy. Not with rejection, but with transformation. Ask Him to purify your heart—not just with outward religion, but with inward power. Let this be your prayer today: God, search me, change me, and keep me close—until I dwell in Your house in peace. —DH
—David Hoskins, Founder & Care Guide, Sanctuary Clinics