268

Inward Religion.

S. M.

METHODIST COL.

Prayer.

1 THE praying spirit breathe,
The watching power impart;
From all entanglements beneath
Call off my peaceful heart:
My feeble mind sustain,

By worldly thoughts opprest;
Appear, and bid me turn again
To my eternal rest.

2 Swift to my rescue come,

Thy own this moment seize;
Gather my wand'ring spirit home,
And keep in perfect peace:
Suffered no more to rove

O'er all the earth abroad,

Arrest the prisoner of thy love,
And shut me up in God.

269

MONTGOMERY.

C. M.

What is Prayer?

1 PRAYER is the soul's sincere desire,

Uttered or unexpressed,

The motion of a hidden fire,

That trembles in the breast.

2 Prayer is the burden of a sigh,
The falling of a tear,

The upward glancing of an eye,
When none but God is near.

3 Prayer is the simplest form of speech
That infant lips can try,

Prayer the sublimest strains that reach
The Majesty on high.

4 Prayer is the Christian's vital breath,
The Christian's native air,

The watchword at the gates of death;
He enters heaven with prayer.

5 Prayer is the contrite sinner's voice,
Returning from his ways;

While angels in their songs rejoice,
And cry, "Behold, he prays!"

6 In prayer, on earth, the saints are one;
They're one in word and mind;

When with the Father and the Son

Sweet fellowship they find.

7 0 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!

270

C. M.

H. H. MILMAN.

Praying for Divine Welp.

1 0 HELP US, Lord! each hour of need
Thy heavenly succour give;

Help us in thought, and word, and deed,
Each hour on earth we live.

2 O help us, when our spirits bleed,
With contrite anguish sore,

And when our hearts are cold and dead,
O help us, Lord, the more.

3 O help us, through the prayer of faith
More firmly to believe;

For still the more the servant hath,
The more shall he receive.

4 O help us, Father! from on high;
We know no help but thee;
O! help us so to live and die,

As thine in heaven to be.

271

C. M.

MONTGOMERY.

Preparation of the Heart.

1 LORD, teach us how to pray aright,
With reverence and with fear:
Though dust and ashes in thy sight,
We may, we must draw near.

2 Burdened with guilt, convinced of sin,
In weakness, want, and wo,
Fightings without, and fears within,
Lord, whither shall we go?

3 God of all grace, we come to thee,
With broken, contrite hearts;
Give what thine eye delights to see,
Truth in the inward parts.

4 Give deep humility; the sense
Of godly sorrow give;
A strong desiring confidence,

To hear thy voice and live;

5 Patience, to watch, and wait, and weep,
Though mercy long delay;
Courage, our fainting souls to keep,
And trust thee, though thou slay.

6 Give these, and then thy will be done;

Thus strengthened with all might,
We, by thy Spirit and thy Son,

Shall pray, and pray aright.

272

L. M. 61.

ANONYMOUS.

The Gospel adapted to Give Peace and Rest.

1 PEACE, troubled soul, whose plaintive moan
Reveals thy weight of inward wo;

Cease thy complaint, suppress thy groan,
And let thy tears forget to flow:
Behold the precious balm is found,
To lull thy pain, to heal thy wound.

2 Come, freely come, by sin oppressed,
Unburden here thy weighty load;
Here find thy refuge and thy rest,
And trust the mercy of thy God:

Thy God's thy Saviour - glorious word!
Forever love and praise the Lord.

273

7s. M.

J. TAYLOR.

Sins Confessed and Mourned.

1 GOD of mercy, God of love,
Hear our sad repentant song;
Sorrow dwells on every face,
Penitence on every tongue.

2 Deep regret for follies past,
Talents wasted, time misspent;
Hearts debased by worldly cares,
Thankless for the blessings lent: