For the past two weeks we’ve looked at prayer and the time we spend talking with God. We have a vast array of songs that either mention prayer, focus entirely upon prayer or simply are a prayer. The more we ‘sing with understanding,’ the more we will come to realize which songs do what in our worship to God and admonishing one another.
In 1856, Love Willis wrote, and we still sing, a prayer asking our Heavenly Father to… “Hear the Prayer We Offer.” Twenty-five years later Mary Kidder asked the singer a basic question, “Ere (Before) you left your room this morning, did you think to pray?” In that same year (1875), A. Cummings penned the familiar words that we still sing; in the…“Morning, noon and evening unto Thee I’ll pray.” Our hymnals are filled with songs of prayer and songs to remind us to pray. Even within the last 30 years we have come to know and love, “On bended knee I come, with a humble heart I come; bowing down before Your holy throne.” Or perhaps you’ll know the hymn we sing asking God to “listen to our hearts…” We pray and sing about prayers because this is our direct line of communication with God.
And as we conclude the message behind, “Sweet Hour of Prayer” let’s consider the third verse of this song written by W. W. Walford in 1845;
“Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer, Thy wings shall my petition bear to Him whose truth and faithfulness engage the waiting soul to bless; And since He bids me seek His face, believe His word, and trust His grace, I’ll cast on Him my every care and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer.”
The imaginary of this verse puts ‘wings’ on our prayers to lift our petition before God’s throne. And as our requests come before God, this song expresses that He is waiting to bless us. His promise of truth and faithfulness are just waiting to be “engaged.” That alone should strike a cord in our hearts. But before we conclude this prayer and close the page of this hymn consider how our God calls for us to seek Him, to believe in Him and to trust in Him. If our heavenly Father is asking us to search for Him, believe in His word and trust in His grace, then you can see why He calls us to ‘cast on Him’ every care. So again, slow down and wait for this time of prayer. Forget the cares of this world, the business of your schedule and spend “an hour” in prayer.
Our souls will ‘find relief’ when we, ‘take our station before God’s throne’ and ‘cast on Him our every care.’ In short, don’t watch the clock and don’t focus on yourself. If your heart is right with God, prayer can be sweet. Know that an hour of prayer won’t hurt you, but it certainly will bless you!
For the past two weeks we’ve looked at prayer and the time we spend talking with God. We have a vast array of songs that either mention prayer, focus entirely upon prayer or simply are a prayer. The more we ‘sing with understanding,’ the more we will come to realize which songs do what in our worship to God and admonishing one another.