Category: Praising God thro Hymns

Amazing Grace

Backgrounder: The gift of
forgiveness is often appreciated
by those who need it the most.
The Reverend John Newton
experienced this truth firsthand.
After years as a hardened slave
trader, that wretch met Christ
and abruptly turned to defend
the gospel he had long despised.
When it was suggested Newton
retire at age 82 due to poor health,he responded: My memory
is nearly gone, but I remember
two things: that I’m a great sinner,
and that Christ is a great Savior!
British John Newton wrote this
favourite hymn Amazing Grace in
1772 possibly inspired by Eph 2.

Lord, thanks for yr amazing grace
God saved you by his grace when
you believed. And you can’t take
credit for this;it is a gift from God.
Salvation is not a reward for
the good things we have done,
so none of us can boast
about it (Eph 2:8-9).

Abba Father, thank you for the
gift of grace, the gift of faith,
salvation and abundant life,
the gift of forgiveness and
restored relationship with You,
the gift of spiritual inheritances
of peace, love, joy and hope,
the gift of spiritual family & most
of all, the gift of Jesus Christ.
The comprehensive gift is truly a
full expression of your generosity
& show how much U care for me.
Isn’t it great to get to be God’s
child and receive his full gift!
I don’t deserve and can never
repay these gifts, but I purpose
to say Thank you!” thro my life
on earth and occasionally singing
Amazing Grace & continue to say
“Thank you!” through all eternity.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Amazing grace! how sweet
the sound
That save a wretch like me!
I once was lost but now am found
Was blind but now I see.

T’was grace that taught my heart
to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!

The Lord had promised good to me
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures.

Blest Be the Tie That Binds

Backgrounder: John Fawcett was
ordained as a Baptist minister &
began ministry at a poor church
in Wingate in northern England.
The small congregation could
only afford to pay him a minimal
salary. After 7 years of ministry,
Fawcett received offer fr affluent
Carter’s Lane Church in London.
As he was saying his farewells
and saw the tears on the faces
of his people, he decided to stay.
Not long afterward, he wrote
this hymn for the congregation at
Wingate. He recognised the bond
of love he knew there was worth
more than any material wealth.

Lord, keep us close together:
Make every effort to keep
yourselves united in the Spirit,
binding yourselves together
with peace. For there is one body
and one Spirit, just as you have
been called to one glorious hope
for the future. There is one Lord,
one faith, one baptism, and
one God & Father (Eph 4:3-6).

Lord, bind us together in love:
You have made us one body and
one spirit. You have called us to
one hope through one Lord, one
faith and one God. The difference
in our backgrounds, experiences
and personalities, should only
enrich us, not divide us. We need
each other in order to live strong
for U. Help us make every effort
to keep the unity of the Spirit that
You have given us to treasure it,
to protect it and even promote it.
Teach me to love and appreciate
all of my brothers and sisters in
Christ & live with them in peace.
And Lord blest the tie that binds!
In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Blest be the tie that binds
Our heart in Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred minds
Is like to that above.

Before our Father’s throne
We pour our ardent prayers;
Our fears, our hopes, our aims
are one,
Our comforts and our cares.

We share each other’s woes,
Our mutual burdens bear,
And often for each other flows
The sympathizing tear.

O Master, Let Me Walk With Thee

Backgrounder:Washington Gladden
believed that Christians should be
involved in the world’s problems.
A journalist turned clergyman,
he crusaded against injustice.
In his various church postings,
he often preached social gospel,
trying to rouse his congregation
to the social and labour problems
that were engulfing the country.
When Gladden wrote this hymn
in 1979, he said the poem
was an honest cry of human
need and the need for divine
companionship. If our friendship
with Jesus does not lead us to
concern for our fellowmen, then
we better check to see how closely
we are walking with the Master.

Lord, we imitate U as Yr children:
Imitate God, therefore in everything
you do, because you are his dear
children. Live a life filled with love
following the example of Christ.
He loved us and offered himself
as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing
aroma to God. But fornication, and
all uncleanness or covetousness,
let it not even be named among u,
as it is fitting for saints (Eph 5:1-3).

Father God, thank you for your
lovingkindness & your great love
towards us, especially through
the gift of your son. We are called
to imitate you as your children;
and to follow example of Christ
by living a life filled with love.
Gracious Lord help us to seek
you always and above all things.
Set our hearts on fire with love
for You Lord: that in its flame we
may love you with all our heart,
with all our mind, with all our soul
and with all our strength so that
obeying you, we may glorify you,
the giver of all good gifts to us.
And Abba, let me walk with Thee!

Lord Jesus, I know that one of
the best ways I can show my love
for you is by loving other people.
Sometimes this is easy; when
I’m with people I like. But please
help me when loving is hard,
when people are just unkind,
when they don’t understand me,
and when I just don’t like them.
Teach me to love as you loved
when you were walking about
in holy land. Teach me to love
as you love everyone & always.
In Your precious name, Amen.

O Master, let me walk with Thee,
In lowly paths of service free;
Tell me Thy secret; help me bear
The strain of toil, the fret of care.

Help me the slow of heart to move
By some clear, winning word of love
Teach me the wayward feet to stay
And guide them in the homeward way.

Teach me Thy patience; still
with Thee
In closer, dearer, company,
In work that keeps faith sweet
and strong,
In trust that triumphs over wrong.

In hope that sends a shining ray
Far down the future’s broad’ning way,
In peace that only Thou canst give
With Thee, O Master, let me live.

Stand Up Stand Up for Jesus

Backgrounder: In 1858, churches
throughout Philadelphia united
in a citywide evangelistic effort.
Dudley Tyng, a 29 year old
preacher spoke to 5,000 men
& 1,000 responded to the gospel.
Four days later, however Tyng
was fatally injured in an accident.
As he lay dying, Tyng was still
thinking about the men who had
made decisions for Christ & said:
Tell them to stand up for Jesus.
Presbyterian minister George
Duffield preached next Sunday
on the text: “Stand Therefore”
and in conclusion read a poem
entitled Stand Up for Jesus. A
church member sent the poem to
a newspaper and was published.

Lord, we will Stand Strong in You:
A final word: Be strong in the
Lord and in his mighty power.
Put on all of God’s armour
so that you will be able to
stand firm against all strategies
of the devil (Eph 6:10-11).

Lord, help us to Stand strong in
You and in your mighty power.
Because we have already aligned
ourselves with You by accepting
You as Lord and Savior, the
enemy will wage war against us.
Help us put on the full armor
of God so that we can take our
stand against the devil’s schemes
Teach us to fully understand the
depth of truth, righteousness,
faith, a solid walk with Christ,
salvation, prayer and Your Word.
And grant us your grace to put
on the full armour and to use
them effectively for without
You we can do nothing.
In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
Ye soldiers of the cross;
Lift up His royal banner,
It must not suffer loss:
From vict’ry unto vict’ry
His army shall He lead,
Till every foe is vanquished
And Christ is Lord indeed.

Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
The trumpet call obey;
Forth to the mighty conflict
In this His glorious day:
Ye that are men, now serve Him
Against unnumbered foes;
Let courage ride with danger,
And strength to strength oppose.

Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
Stand in His strength alone;
The arm of flesh will fail you;
Ye dare not trust your own.
Put on the gospel armour;
Each piece put on with prayer.
Where duty calls, or danger,
Be never wanting there.

Sweet Hour of Prayer

Backgrounder: The author of
this hymn was a blind preacher
and a curio shop owner in
Coleshill England. He carved
ornaments out of ivory or wood
and sold them in his small store.
He also wrote poetry. One day,
when a local preacher stopped
at the store, William Walford,
the blind shop owner, mentioned
that he had composed a poem
in his head. He asked the minister
to write it down for him. Three
years later, that minister visited
the US and gave the poem to the
editor of New York Observer and
was published on 13 Sep 1845.

Lord, help us to pray at all times:
Pray in the Spirit at all times and
on every occasion. Stay alert
and be consistent in your prayers
for all believers everywhere
(Ephesians 6:18).

Lord, thank You that I can have
direct access to You for help
when in need and distress
and has often found relief!!
Teach me to know the presence
of your Spirit within me and to
walk in continual awareness of it.
May you express your heart
through me and pray thro me.
I can’t do this thro my own efforts
but with U nothing is impossible!
In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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!

Take My Life and Let It Be

Backgrounder: British hymnwriter
Frances Ridley Havergal wrote
this hymn in February 1874.
Two months earlier, she had
made a complete surrender
of herself to Christ. She wrote:
I just yielded myself to Him, and
utterly trusted Him to keep me.
And in so doing I experienced
blessedness of true consecration
Ever, only All for Thee.

Lord, we dedicate our lives to U:
And so, dear brothers & sisters,
I plead with u to give your bodies
to God because of all he has
done for u. Let them be a living
and holy sacrifice, the kind he will
find acceptable. This is truly the
way to worship him. Don’t copy
the behaviour and customs of
this world, but let God transform
u into a new person by changing
the way you think. Then you will
know what God wants you to do,
and you will know how good
and pleasing and perfect
his will really is (Rom 12:1-2).

Lord, I don’t really know what
these days will hold, but I give
myself to U as a living sacrifice.
Renew and transform my
mind with your Word of truth.
Make me a new person. And
show me what You want me
to do – the good work You have
designed me to do, the task to
accomplish, the person U want
me to minister or encourage.
And may you get all the glory.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Take my life and let it be
Consecrated Lord to Thee;
Take my moments and my days
Let them flow in ceaseless praise,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands & let them move
At the impulse of Thy love;
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee,
Swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my will and make it Thine
It shall be no longer mine;
Take my heart, it is Thine own,
It shall be Thy royal throne,
It shall be Thy royal throne.

Take my love, my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet it’s treasure store;
Take myself and I will be
Ever only, all for Thee,
Ever only, all for Thee.

I Stand Amazed In the Presence

Backgrounder: Charles Gabriel
was born in 1856 Iowa. He is
credited with writing up to 8,000
hymns and songs in his life. Some
of his hymns include His Eye is
on the Sparrow, The Old Rugged
Cross, and Away in a Manger.
The inspiration for I Stand Amazed
in the Presence is not known, but
Gabriel wrote both the words and
melody for the song. The hymn
first appeared in 1905 Excell’s
collection. Rev. Carlton Young,
editor of The United Methodist
Hymnal, notes: “This song of
gratitude for the atoning death of
Jesus is a personal interpretation
of Luke’s account of Jesus’
sweating blood in the Garden
of Gethsemane, a portion of
the passion narrative not
included in the other gospels.

Lord, we are filled with Gratitude:
He withdrew from them about
a stone’s throw and He knelt
down and prayed: Father, if it is
Your will, take this cup away from
Me; nevertheless not My will,
but yours, be done.Then an angel
appeared to Him from heaven,
strengthening Him. And being in
agony, He prayed more earnestly.
Then His sweat became like
great drops of blood falling down
to the ground (Lk 22:41-44).

Lord Jesus, thank You for your
Great Love. Thanks for this hymn
that focuses the sinner on You
Savior, away from his own sins,
where Satan wants us to keep
looking. And the temptation to
think “I’m saved” and become
complacent is being wiped away.
For we enter into thanksgiving
and Gratefulness because of
His Deep Love for each of us.
Fact that Jesus says “not My will
but Yours” and “had no tears for
his own griefs” shows Jesus loves
us more than He loves Himself.
Realising how much Jesus loves
us, challenges us how much
we should love Him in Gratitude.
In remembrance of the Saviour’s
love and also because I love this
hymn so much, I would love it to
be sung at my funeral wake. And
I’ll be at home in heaven, standing
before my Saviour, thanking
Him for His Great Love to me!
In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

I stand amazed in the presence
of Jesus the Nazarene,
and wonder how he could love me,
a sinner, condemned, unclean.

Refrain:
How marvelous! How wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
How marvelous! How wonderful
is my Savior’s love for me!

For me it was in the garden
he prayed: “Not my will, but thine.”
He had no tears for his own griefs,
but sweat-drops of blood for mine.

He took my sins and my sorrows,
he made them his very own;
he bore the burden to Calvary,
and suffered and died alone.

When with the ransomed in glory
his face I at last shall see,
’twill be my joy through the ages
to sing of his love for me.

And Can It Be

Backgrounder: Charles Wesley
is probably the greatest hymn
writer the church has ever known
From the time of his conversion
in 1738, Wesley wrote an average
of two hymns a week for 50 years
composing five to six thousand
hymns during his lifetime. Most
of these hymns were written on
horseback as he travelled with
his brother John, preaching and
ministering to thousands of poor
farmers and illiterate coal miners.
These were people at the margin
of society, people most churches
did not bother to think about. It
was for them that Charles Wesley
composed his hymns, where pple
experienced the love of God.

Lord,we thank U for your grace:
So now there is no condemnation
for those who belong to Christ,
who do not walk according to
the flesh but according to the
Spirit. Jesus has made me free
from the law of sin and death…
God sent his own Son in a body
like the bodies we sinners have.
And in that body God declared
an end to sin’s control over us
by giving his Son as a sacrifice
for our sins (Rom 8:1-3).

Lord, Thank You for paying off
our ransom, thus liberating us
from the law of sin and death.
Sin has no claim on us because
Jesus paid off our debt to sin on
the Cross. We stand before God
as your righteous children, freed
by the work of our Lord Jesus.
Death has no mastery over us
because of Jesus’ resurrection.
There is no condemnation in our
future, only glory. Thank you for
the confidence we have because
of your grace given thro Jesus,
in whose name we pray. Amen.

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood
Died He for me, who caused
His pain?
For me, who Him to death pursued
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou my Lord, should
die for me?

He left His Father’s throne above,
So free, so infinite His grace!
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race
‘Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus and all in Him is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness
divine,
Bold i approach th’ eternal throne
And claim the crown, through
Christ my own.

It Is Well with My Soul

Backgrounder: Knowing that his
friend Dwight Moody was going
to preach in England in fall 1871,
Horatio Stafford decided to take
his family to England. His wife &
4 daughters went ahead on SS
Ville and he planned to follow a
few days. But on Atlantic Ocean
the ship was struck by an iron
vessel and sank. 260 lives were
lost including Spafford’s 4 girls;
and Mrs Spafford cabled her
husband: Saved alone. Spafford
booked passage on the next ship.
Crossing the Atlantic, the captain
pointed the place where he thot
SS Ville had gone down. That
night Spafford penned the words:
When sorrows like sea billows roll.
It is well, it is well with my soul.

Lord, we look up to you for help:
We can rejoice too when we run
into problems and trials, for we
know that they help us develop
endurance. And endurance
develops strength of character,
and character strengthens our
confident hope of salvation.
And hope does not disappoint
us because God has poured
out his love into our hearts
by the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:3-5)

Lord, we acknowledge that You
are sovereign in all our situations.
In your mercy, take this trial away;
if not then may Your will be done.
But it’s hard and sometimes we
may feel we can’t go on for the
pain & fear are too much to bear.
We know that it is not your intent
to bring us to the point just to
leave us alone in the wilderness.
All the strength, resource and
wisdom we need are in yr hands.
Give us what we need so that we
don’t hv to worry about tomorrow
Keep us from sinning during
this trial. Help us to keep our
eyes on you, the Almighty God,
for all of our hope rest in You!
In Jesus’ name. Amen.

When peace like a river attendeth
my way,
When sorrows like sea-billows roll
Whatever my lot, Thou hast
taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

It is well with my soul,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

Though Satan should buffer,
tho’ trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my
helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood
for my soul.

And Lord haste the day when
the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back
as a scroll,
The trump shall resound and
the Lord shall descend,
Even so it is well with my soul.

Christ for the World We Sing

Backgrounder: Samuel Wolcott
wanted to be missionary in Syria,
but after two years there he
had to return to America. While
attending a YMCA convention
in Cleveland, he was captivated
by a huge banner with the words:
“Christ for the World and the
World for Christ”. As Wolcott left
the meeting, the words for this
hymn took shape in his mind.
Wolcott learned that the “world”
for whom Christ died included
not only distant lands like Syria
where he had tried to serve,
but also the poor, the burdened,
the lost, sorrow-worn in needy
places where he ministered.

Lord, we will live out the Gospel:
I am not ashamed of this Good
News about Christ. It is the power
of God at work, saving everyone
who believes – the Jew first and
also the Gentile. This Good News
tells us how God makes us right
in his sight. This is accomplished
from start to finish by faith.
As the scriptures say: It is
through faith that a righteous
person has life (Rom 1:16-17).

Lord Jesus, U came to reach out
to the spiritually poor, comfort
the mourner & brokenhearted &
bring new life to the faint & sick.
U are the answer to these
problems. And we purpose to do
for others what you did for us.
Help us look at others through
Christ’s eyes instead of our
own. For sometimes we get
overwhelmed by the problems
in the world, and it’s easy
to give up before we start.
Help us to pray with fervent
prayer. For your Word says:
The effective, fervent prayer
of a righteous man avails much.
Help us to do more in sowing
deeds of kindness and share the
gospel to the lost Help us to live
out the message of this hymn:
Christ for the world we live!
In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen,

Christ for the world we sing;
The world to Christ we bring
With loving zeal —
The poor and them that mourns,
The faint and over-borne,
Sin-sick and sorrow-worn,
For Christ to heal.

Christ for the world we sing;
The world to Christ we bring
With fervent prayer —
The wayward and the lost,
By restless passions tossed,
Redeemed at countless cost
From dark despair.

Christ for the world we sing;
The world to Christ we bring
With joyful sing —
The newborn souls whose days,
Reclaimed from error’s ways,
Inspired with hope and praise,
To Christ belong.