Awaken: The Awakened Sinner

Awaken is the category of posts which center on thoughts of salvation and regeneration. This prayer is taken from a collection Puritan prayers in a book called The Valley of Vision (highly recommended). It is almost always at my side in my personal devotion and study. (The emphasis is mine.) O My Forgetful Soul, Awake from thy wandering dream; turn from chasing vanities, look inward, forward, upward, view thyself, reflect upon thyself, who and what thou art, why here, what thou must soon be. Thou art a creature of God, formed and furnished by him, lodged in a body like a shepherd in his tent; Dost thou not desire to know God's ways? O God, Thou injured, neglected, provoked Benefactor when I think upon thy greatness and thy goodness I am ashamed at my insensibility, I blush to lift up my face, for I have foolishly erred. Shall I go on neglecting thee, when every one of they rational creatures should love thee, and take every care to please thee? I confess that thou hast not been in all my thoughts, that the knowledge of thyself as the end of my being has been strangely overlooked, that I have never seriously considered my heart-need. But although my mind is perplexed and divided, my nature perverse, yet my secret dispositions still desire thee. Let me not delay to come to thee; Break the fatal enchantments that binds my evil affections, and bring me to a happy mind that rests in thee, for thou has made me and canst not forget me. Let thy Spirit teach me the vital lessons of Christ, for I am slow to learn; And hear thou my broken cries.