I often say my prayers

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I often say my prayers

Author: John Burton
Tune: RUSSIAN FOLK SONG
Published in 26 hymnals

Representative Text

1 I often say my prayers;
But do I ever pray?
And do the wishes of my heart
Go with the words I say?

2 I may as well kneel down
And worship gods of stone,
As offer to the living God
A prayer of words alone.

3 For words without the heart
The Lord will never hear;
Nor will he to those lips attend
Whose prayers are not sincere.

4 Lord, show me what I need,
And teach me how to pray;
Nor let me ask thee for thy grace,
Not feeling what I say.

Source: The Song Book of the Salvation Army #588

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Author: John Burton

Burton, John, jun, a popular hymn-writer for children, was b. July 23, 1803, at Stratford in Essex, in which place he carried on business as a cooper for about 50 years. He died in 1877. Mr. Burton was a member of the Congregational body, and a Deacon of the Chapel where he attended, His contributions to hymnody began in 1822, when he sent his first production to the Evangelical Magazine. He continued to contribute to that and other periodicals for many years, his signature in the former being "Essex, J. B.," and in the Child's Companion, J. B. Essex." His publications are:— (1) One Hundred Original Hymns for the Young, 1850; (2) Hymns for Little Children, 1851; (3) The Child-Life of David; (4) The Book of Psalms in English Verse, 1871;… Go to person page >

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