Father, We Love You

Representative text cannot be shown for this hymn due to copyright.

Author: Donna Adkins

Donna Whobrey Adkins USA 1940-present. Born at Louisville, KY, she began singing in public at age two. Her family sang as a traveling quartet, and by age 12 she played piano with it. She attended Asbury College, Wilmore, KY, (1959-1960) and the U of Louisville, KY, in 1961. In 1959 she married James Adkins, who served as pastor of Administration at Covenant Church, Pittsburgh, PA. They had four children: Mark, Karen, Kristen, and Jessica. She served for some years on the office and music staff there, while her husband served as pastor and chaplain. Later, they moved to Greensburg, PA. She presently resides with her husband at Brunswick, GA, having been married 60+ years. John Perry  Go to person page >

Notes

Scripture References:
st. = John 12:28; 17:1-5, Ps. 108:5, Isa. 6:3

Donna Adkins composed this fine song in 1976 and entitled it "Glorify Thy Name." The hymn was first published in a small booklet used at a pastor's conference and was later published by Maranatha! Music in 1981 in the collection Praise 5. It also appeared on the corresponding recording of the same name. Adkins writes the following about her composition of this hymn:

One morning while reading the seventeenth chapter of John, I began to meditate on the prayer of Jesus. I saw in a new way that Jesus was not only praying for His disciples, but for all who would follow Him in years to come. He was actually praying for me! I was impressed that Jesus was placing great emphasis on the unity in the Godhead. I also saw that it was very important to Jesus that the Father's name be glorified, and that there seemed to be a correlation between glorifying the Father's name and achieving unity. In that same moment I was inspired to sit at the piano and write "Glorify Thy Name."

With a Trinitarian structure in its three stanzas, this popular hymn is one of the finest praise choruses as well as prayer hymns from the mid-1970s. "Father, We Love You" first expresses our humble love and devotion to God and then offers Jesus' own prayer, "glorify your name" (see John 12:28; 17:1-5). God's name is glorified in the completion of Christ's ministry on earth, in the faithful testimony of God's family, the church, and in the praises of angels and saints in heaven. As we sing, we also pray for God's glory to arise from "all the earth" (see Ps. 108:5 and Isa. 6:3). Thus the text has a biblically cosmic ring: "all the earth" refers to our whole lives, all the nations, and, in fact, the entire creation!

Donna Whobrey Adkins (b. Louisville, KY, 1940) began singing in public at the age of two and by the age of twelve was playing piano for the family quartet. Her parents were church musicians and traveling gospel singers. Educated at Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky, and the University of Louisville, Kentucky, she has served on the music staff of several churches and currently serves as the secretary to the senior pastor of the Covenant Church of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Liturgical Use:
As a fitting choral invocation at the beginning of worship and a beautiful prayer following sermons that set forth the glory of God; a doxology for many occasions of worship.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook, 1988

Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 33 of 33)

Anglican Hymns Old and New (Rev. and Enl.) #177

Baptist Hymnal 1991 #249

Baptist Hymnal 2008 #18

Celebrating Grace Hymnal #8

Church Family Worship #336

Church Hymnal, Fifth Edition #348

Complete Anglican Hymns Old and New #167

Complete Mission Praise #142

Glorious Praise at The Colonies #46

Hymns for a Pilgrim People #246

Praise for the Lord (Expanded Edition) #929

Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs #95

Text InfoTune InfoAudio

Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #634

Rejoice Hymns #16

Renew! Songs and Hymns for Blended Worship #37

Santo, Santo, Santo #427

Sing Joyfully #61

Sing the Faith #2016

Singing the Faith #6

Songs for Life #77

Songs of Faith and Praise #77

Songs of Fellowship #102

The Book of Praise #300

The Celebration Hymnal #9

Audio

The Faith We Sing #2016

The Hymnal for Worship and Celebration #29

The Minter Lane Hymnal VI #3

The Worshiping Church #10

Audio

With Heart and Voice #155

Worship and Rejoice #146

Worship His Majesty #52

Worship the Lord #26

찬송과 예배 = Chansong gwa yebae = Come, Let Us Worship #228

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