eHymns.org

William W. Walford in 1846

William Batchelder Bradbury in 1859

Alvin (Bud) Herman Manz in 2000

SWEET HOUR. L. M. D.
Also found in the Gospel Hymns (Numbers 1 to 6 Revised) # 634 and The Pilgrim Hymnal # 230.
Also known as WALFORD. L. M. D.

Walford was a minister of the gospel with a poetic gift. Though blind, he "never failed to select a lesson well adapted to his subject, giving chapter and verse with unerring precision and scarcely ever misplacing a word in his repetition of the Psalms, every part of the New Testament, the prophecies, and some of the histories, so as to have the reputation of knowing the whole Bible by heart."

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,
The joy I feel, the bliss I share
Of those whose anxious spirits burn
With strong desire for thy return!
With such I hasten to the place
Where God, my Saviour, shows His face,
And gladly take my station there,
To wait for thee, 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!