DISTRACTION IN PRAYER
1. Ah, dearest
Lord! I cannot pray,
My fancy is not
free;
Unmannerly
distractions come,
And force my tho'ts
from Thee.
The world that
looks so dull all day
Glows bright on me
at pray'r,
And plans that ask
no tho't but then
Wake up and meet me
there.
2. All nature one
full fountain seems
Of dreamy sight and
sound,
Which, when I
kneel, breaks up its deeps,
And makes a deluge
round.
My very flesh has
restless fits;
My changeful limbs
conspire
With all these
phantoms of the mind
My inner self to
tire.
3. Sweet Jesus!
teach me how to prize
These tedious hours
when I,
Foolish and mute
before Thy Face,
In helpless worship
lie.
Yet Thou art oft
most present, Lord!
In weak distracted
prayer:
A sinner out of
heart with self
Most often finds
Thee there.
4. Had I kept
stricter watch each hour
O'er tongue and eye
and ear,
Had I but mortified
all day
Each joy as it came
near.
Had I, dear Lord!
no pleasure found
But in the thought
of Thee,
Prayer would have
come unsought, and been
A truer liberty.
5. My Saviour! why
should I complain,
And why fear aught
but sin?
Distractions are
but outward things;
Thy peace dwells
far within.
These
surface-troubles come and go,
Like rufflings of
the sea;
The deeper depth is
out of reach
To all, my God, but
Thee.
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