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 case,
And soothes the troubled breast;
Yields 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 sigh,
And beauty in a tear.
4 The humble suppliant cannot fail
To have his wants supplied,
Source: Laudes Domini: a selection of spiritual songs, ancient and modern for use in the prayer-meeting #36
First Line: | Prayer is the breath of God in man |
Title: | Is Any Afflicted? Let Him Pray |
Author: | Benjamin Beddome (1818) |
Meter: | 8.6.8.6 |
Source: | Appeared posthumously in Hymns Adapted to Public Worship (London: Burton and Briggs,1818) |
Language: | English |
Copyright: | Public Domain |
Prayer is the breath of God in man. B. Beddome. [Prayer.] This appeared in Robert Hall's posthumous edition of Beddome's Hymns, &c, 1817, No. 405, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines, and headed "Importance of Prayer." It was added to the 27th edition of Rippon's Selections, 1827, No. 353 (Pt. i.), and from thence has passed into several collections, sometimes dated 1787 (Rippon's 1st ed.) in error, and at other times with the opening line changed to "Prayer is the Spirit of our God." The hymn "When God inclines the heart to pray," in Spurgeon's Our Own Hymn Book, 1866, is composed of st. iv., v. of the original.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)