Alfred H. Miles, ed. The Sacred Poets of the Nineteenth Century. 1907.
By Miscellaneous Poems. IV. Prayer (Prayer is the souls sincere desire)James Montgomery (17711854)
P
Uttered or unexpressed;
The motion of a hidden fire,
That trembles in the breast.
The falling of a tear;
The upward glancing of an eye,
When none but God is near.
That infant lips can try;
Prayer, the sublimest strains that reach
The Majesty on high.
Returning from his ways;
While angels in their songs rejoice,
And cry,—“Behold! he prays!”
The Christian’s native air;
His watchword at the gates of death:
He enters heaven with prayer.
In word and deed and mind,
While with the Father and the Son
Sweet fellowship they find.
The Holy Spirit pleads;
And Jesus, on the eternal throne,
For sinners intercedes.
The Life, the Truth, the Way;
The path of prayer Thyself hast trod
Lord, teach us how to pray.