The words are based on the full text of a hymn written by Charles Wesley in 1742. I have modernised the words and added my own tilt to them as well as writing a new tune specifically for the hymn.
lyrics
1. Jesus, our strength, our hope,
On you we lay our care,
With humble confidence look up,
And know you hear our prayer.
Let us on you await
Till all things can we do;
On you, the one who does create,
And shall make all things new.
2. We want a clearer mind,
A self-renouncing will,
That takes apart and leaves behind
Temptation's fleeting thrill;
A soul not scared of pain,
Of hardship, grief, and loss,
Bold to take up, firm to sustain
That consecrated cross.
3. We want a careful ear,
A quick discerning eye
That looks to you when sin is near
And hears the tempter fly;
A soul ever prepared
And armed with conscious care,
Forever standing on its guard
And keeping watch in prayer.
4. We want a heart to pray,
To pray and never cease,
Not mutter words about your way,
Or wish our sufferings less.
This blessing, above all,
Always to cry to you,
Out of the deep on you we call,
Until this life is through.
5. We want a true regard,
A single, steady aim,
Unmoved by threatening or reward
To you and your great Name.
A clear and just concern
For your immortal praise;
A pure desire that all may learn
And glorify your grace.
6. We rest upon your Word;
Its promise ever true;
Our comfort and salvation, Lord,
Shall surely come from you.
But let us still abide,
Nor from our hope remove,
Till you, our longing spirits, guide
Into your perfect groove.
7. We want with every heart
Your pleasure to fulfil,
To know ourselves, and thus to start,
To know your perfect will.
We want, we know not yet,
We want our wants to see
We want what sadly we forget
When God is not in me.
Pete Brazier is a singer/songwriter, music producer, artist and Fractal Theologian. He has been writing songs since the age of 4 and recording since the age of 16. He is also a minister in the British Methodist Church.
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