Sweet Hour of Prayer

 Sweet Hour of Prayer

Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer, that calls me from a world of care, and bids me at my Father's throne make all my wants and wishes known! In seasons of distress and grief, my soul has often found relief, and oft escaped the tempter's snare by thy return, sweet hour of prayer.

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 ev'ry care, and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer.

Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer, may I thy consolation share, till, from Mount Pisgah's lofty height, I view my home and take my flight: This robe of flesh I'll drop and rise to seize the everlasting prize; And shout, while passing thro' the air, "Farewell, farewell, sweet hour of prayer!"

The information we have about the author of this hymn has not come from the author himself, but from a friend to whom the poem was dictated. In 1842, in the town of Coleshill, Warwickshire, England, Reverend Thomas Salmon stopped by a small trinket shop to visit with his friend, William Walford. William, who's eyesight was almost gone, was 70 years old. Nevertheless, he ran the tiny shop where he sold small carvings and engraved items. 

On this particular day, Walford asked his friend to copy down the verses to a prayer-poem he had been composing in his head. Salmon took pen and paper and wrote the words to the gospel hymn "Sweet Hour of Prayer." Thomas Salmon was so impressed with Walford's poem that he made a second copy of it for himself and put it away in his notes and papers. 

Three years later, Salmon traveled to the United States; while in New York City, he sent Walford's poem to the editor of the New York Observer. The editor was so impressed with the prayer-poem that he published it in the September 13, 1845, issue of his paper. The possibility of the poem becoming a hymn was appreciated by the compilers of a Baptist Hymnal in 1859, and they included it in a book entitled Church Melodies. But it wasn't until William Bradbury, who was a composer of gospel music, set the words to music in 1861.  William Bradbury published 60 songbooks containing the melodies for the following favorites: "Jesus Love Me," "Just As I Am," "My Hope Is Built on Nothing Else," "He Leadeth Me," and "Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us." 

"Sweet Hour Of Prayer" was the result of international co-operation: a blind poet and his pastor friend in England who shared their work with a newspaper editor and a composer in New York. This hymn has encouraged faith  on both sides of the Atlantic for over 140 years, proving once more that the power of prayer is not limited by political or geographical boundaries.

I hope all of you have a good and godly week, for what good is a good week if it is not also a godly week?
 In the love of Christ,
Ashley
Philippians 4:6  "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God."