2 Stretch o'er our heads Thy guardian wings;
Secure the weak, O King of kings;
The stranger's Refuge be;
And as Thy hand conducts our youth,
Inspire our tender minds with truth,
The truth that leads to Thee.
1 PERMIT, Almighty God, permit
The youngest to attempt Thy praise;
Who dost on heaven's circle sit,
Scorn not the hymn that children raise.
2 The whole creation owns Thy sway,
Nor can oppose Thy righteous will;
Angels Thy high commands obey,
And thus would we Thy word fulfil.
3 Let gratitude our hearts inflame,
For favours great and undeserved;
O may we fear and love Thy Name,
And be by grace from sin preserved !
HYMNS OF PETITION.
Words not Prayer.
1 I OFTEN say my prayers,
But do I ever pray ?
And do the wishes of my heart
Go with the words I say ?
2 I may as well kneel down
And worship gods of stone,
As offer to the living God
A prayer of words alone.
3 For words without the heart
The Lord will never hear;
Nor will He to those lips attend
Whose words are not sincere.
4 Lord, teach me what I want,
And teach me how to pray;
Nor let me ask Thee for Thy grace,
Not feeling what I say.
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 contrite sinner's voice
Returning from his ways;
While angels in their songs rejoice,
And cry, Behold, he prays!'
5 Prayer is the Christian's vital breath,
The Christian's native air;
His watchword in the hour of death:
He enters heaven with prayer!
254 Power of True Prayer.
1 PRAYER is the breath of God in man,
Returning whence it came;
Love is the sacred fire within,
And prayer the rising flame.
2 It gives the burdened spirit ease,
And soothes the troubled breast;
Brings comfort to the mourning soul,
And to the weary rest.
3 When God inclines the heart to pray,
He hath an ear to hear;
To Him there's music in a groan,
And beauty in a tear.
4 The humble suppliant cannot fail
To have His wants supplied,
Since He for sinners intercedes
Who once for sinners died.
255 Prayer an Appointed Means.
1 PRAYER was appointed to convey
The blessings God designs to give;
Long as they live should Christians pray,
For only while they pray they live.
2 If pain afflict, or wrongs oppress;
If cares distract, or fears dismay
If guilt deject; if sin distress;
The remedy's before thee-pray.
3 'Tis prayer supports the soul that's weak;
Though thought be broken, language lame,
Pray, if thou canst, or canst not speak,
But pray with faith in Jesus' Name.
4 Depend on Him, thou canst not fail;
Make all thy wants and wishes known;
Fear not-His merits must prevail;
Ask what thou wilt, it shall be done.
256 Prayer for the Young.
1 GREAT God! with heart and tongue
For all our youth we pray;
O may they learn, while they are young,
To walk in wisdom's way!
2 Now, in their early days,
Teach them Thy will to know;
Thy Spirit's sanctifying grace
Abundantly bestow.
3 Make their unguarded youth
The object of Thy care;
Help them to choose the way of truth,
And fly from every snare.
4 Their hearts, to folly prone,
Renew by power divine;
Unite them to Thyself alone,
And make them wholly Thine.
5 Lord, let Thy sacred Word
Their warmest thoughts employ;
Be Thou their guide through all their days,
Their treasure and their joy.
Prayer for Pardon.
1 THOUGH I am young, I have a soul
The world can never buy;
And while eternal ages roll,
It will not, cannot die.
2 And it must soar to worlds on high,
Where happy spirits dwell;
Or, buried with the wicked, lie
Deep in the grave of hell.
3 The soul by blackening sin defiled
Can never enter heaven,
Till it to God be reconciled,
And all its sins forgiven;
4 Till it be pure from all its stains,
In perfect righteousness;
Cleansed by Immanuel's bleeding veins,
Renewed by sovereign grace.
5 Pardon it, cleanse it, God of grace,
And may it righteous be,
Arrayed in Thine own holiness,
And meet to dwell with Thee.
All True Prayer Heard.
1 THE Lord attends when children pray,
A whisper He can hear;
He knows not only what we say,
But what we wish or fear.
2 He sees us when we are alone, Though no one else can see;
And all our thoughts to Him are known, Wherever we may be.
3 'Tis not enough to bend the knee,
And words of prayer to say;
The heart must with the lips agree,
Or else we do not pray.
4 Teach us, O Lord, to pray aright,
Thy grace to us impart;
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