Hymns

Prayer Is the Soul’s Sincere Desire Lyrics James Montgomery, 1819

5 verses, meter C.M., public domain, free to print and project.

The words

Verse 1. Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire,
Uttered or unexpressed;
The motion of a hidden fire,
That trembles in the breast.

Verse 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.

Verse 3. Prayer is the simplest form of speech,
That infant lips can try;
Prayer, the sublimest strains that reach
The Majesty on high.

Verse 4. Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath,
The Christian’s native air:
His watchword at the gates of death;
He enters heaven with prayer.

Verse 5. Oh, 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.

Words copied from The Otterbein Hymnal (1892). They were published in 1819, so they are in the public domain in the United States, and your church may print them, show them and sing them without a license.

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