Prayer Is The Soul's Sincere Desire

 

"Lord, teach us how to pray."
Luke 11:1

Betende Hande
"Praying Hands"
16th Century
Albrecht Durer
(1471-1528)
German Renaissance artist

Prayer is the soul's sincere desire,

 Unuttered or expressed,

The motion of a hidden fire,

That trembles in the breast.

Prayer is the burden of a sigh,

 That falling of a tear,

The upward glancing of an eye,

 When none but God is near.

Prayer is the simplest form of speech,

 That infant lips can try;

Prayer the sublimest  strains that reach

The Majesty on high.

Prayer is the Christian's vital breath,

The Christian's native air,

His watchword at the gates of death;

He enters heaven with a prayer.

Prayer is the contrite sinner's voice,

Returning from his ways;

While angels in their songs rejoice,

And cry, "Behold, he prays!"

The saints in prayer appear as one

In word, in deed, and mind,

While with the Father and the Son

Sweet fellowship they find.

No prayer is made on earth alone;

The Holy Spirit pleads,

And Jesus, on th' eternal throne,

For sinners intercedes.

O Thou, by whom we come to God,

The Life, the Truth, the Way,

The path of prayer Thyself hast trod:

Lord, teach us how to pray!

"Prayer Is The Soul's Sincere Desire"
(1818)
James Montgomery
(1771-1854)
Scottish-born hymnwriter and poet