Have Thine Own Way, Lord

Author: Adelaide A. Pollard

Scripture References:
st. 1 = Jer. 18:6
Isa. 64:8
st. 2 = Ps. 139:23-24

Periodically distressed after being unable to raise money to go to Africa as a missionary in the late 1890s, Adelaide A. Pollard (b. Bloomfield, IA, 1862; d. New York, NY, 1934) attended a prayer meeting in 1902 and was inspired after hearing an older woman pray, "It really doesn't matter what you do with us, Lord–just have your way with our lives." Pollard went home and meditated on the potter's story in Jeremiah 18 (the same image is also in Isa. 64:8) and wrote the consecration hymn "Have Thine Own Way, Lord." Repeating the words "Have thine own way," each stanza emphasizes the believer's harmony with God's will. This is a deeply personal prayer that culminates in a strong plea that others may see Christ in the believer through the power of the Holy Spirit (st. 4).

Originally called Sarah, Pollard chose the name Adelaide for herself. She studied speech at the Boston School of Oratory and taught in several girls' schools in Chicago, Illinois. Influenced by the evangelist R. A. Torrey, she enrolled as a student at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and later taught at the Missionary Training School of the Christian Missionary Alliance in Nyack-on-the Hudson, New York. A missionary in Africa prior to World War I, she devoted the last years of her life to Christian mysticism.

Liturgical Use:
For believers to dedicate themselves individually and collectively to follow the will of the Lord; stanza 2 suggests use in the service of confession and forgiveness, but as a whole the song fits best as a post-sermon hymn.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

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