The Cyber Hymnal ‎#6472

6472. Take Thou Our Minds, Dear Lord

1. Take Thou our minds, dear Lord, we humbly pray,
Give us the mind of Christ each passing day;
Teach us to know the truth that sets us free;
Grant us in all our thoughts to honor Thee.

2. Take Thou our hearts, O Christ—they are Thine own;
Come Thou within our souls and claim Thy throne;
Help us to shed abroad Thy deathless love;
Use us to make the earth like heaven above.

3. Take Thou our wills, Most High! Hold Thou full sway;
Have in our inmost souls Thy perfect way;
Guard Thou each sacred hour from selfish ease;
Guide Thou our ordered lives as Thou dost please.

4. Take Thou ourselves, O Lord, heart, mind, and will;
Through our surrendered souls Thy plans fulfill.
We yield ourselves to Thee—time, talents, all;
We hear, and henceforth heed, Thy sovereign call.

Text Information

• First Line: Take Thou our minds, dear Lord, we humbly pray
• Title: Take Thou Our Minds, Dear Lord
• Author: William H. Foulkes (1918)
• Meter: 10.10.10.10
• Language: English
• Copyright: Public Domain
• Notes: [This hymn] was written at the earnest solicitation of a conference group which met at Emporia College, Kansas, in the summer of 1918. That year the morning prayers were conducted in the dining room and they were unusually impressive. However, the young people felt that they would like to have a prayer hymn that they could call peculiarly their own, and requested the present author [Laufer] to produce such a hymn. He succeeded in composing the tune, but got no further. He was quite sure that he knew what message the hymn should convey, but could not produce it. A few weeks later he divulged his dilemma to William Hiram Foulkes, D.D., on a train bound for Stony Brook, Long Island. Both men were on their way to a conference similar to that held at Emporia College. When the situation had been explained to Dr. Foulkes, he evinced great interest, and requested to see the tune. He showed great enthusiasm for the score and begged to have it for a day or two. Perhaps, said he, the proper hymn may come to me, if not to you. The next day he carried the manuscript in his pocket to New York City. The hymn came to him en route. On his return that afternoon to Stony Brook, where he had charge of vespers, he produced three stanzas of the four which constitute the hymn. Together he and the composer of the tune went over the new production, and were so well pleased with the result that duplicates were made and the hymn was sung for the first time the next day at morning prayers. Laufer, p. 100

Tune Information

• Name: HALL (Laufer)
• Composer: Calvin Weiss Laufer (1918)
• Meter: 10.10.10.10
• Incipit: 53212 34565 21234
• Key: E♭ Major
• Copyright: Public Domain