We bow before the throne of grace

1 We bow before the throne of grace,
Unite and pray with this intent;
Request the Lord of the harvest,
That faithful labourers may be sent.

2 We see the harvest truly great,
And faithful labourers are few,
Our circumstances we relate,
And pray for preaching gifts anew.

3 So we go on from day to day,
And pray the Lord to furnish some;
O Lord we cry make no delay,
Bestow thy grace on any one.

4 Unitedly we own his power,
Can raise up one among us here,
We call it a distressing hour,
And pray that God would soon appear.

5 At length the sparks from heaven fall,
Into a heart and quickly flame,
We all as one dispute the call,
And wish to push him back again.

6 While he is strug'ling night and day,
Loaded with trials to the brim,
We all of us forget to pray,
To search for failings and for sin.

y The word like fire in his bones,
Is seeking for a passage out,
We see his tears and hear his groans,
But all still serves to make us doubt.

8 This dreaming Joseph we can't bear,
He's now aspiring to be great;
We all forget our earnest pray'r
That we have made to God of late.

9 This is the case from time to time,
When Christ our Lord was God and man,
They try to find in him a crime,
That they might overthrow the plan.

10 We always look too high for Christ,
He's in a humble manger found,
And when on earth he makes a choice,
It mostly gives our pride a wound.

11 But Oh! his wisdom's infinite,
Let us rejoice to see him reign,
And let it be our chief delight
To ease his chosen of their pain.

12 Let us by pray'r hold up their hand,
And help their wants, our tribute bring,
We're marching to the promis'd land,
Where we the song of grace shall sing.

Source: Hymns on Various Subjects #21