Our Saviour's words are Watch and Pray:

Representative Text

Our Saviour's words are "Watch and Pray:"
Lord, make us willing to obey;
Lord, make us able to fulfil
Thy counsel--give both power and will.

The wisdom from above impart,
To keep our hand, and tongue, and heart,
In thought, word, deed,--that so we may
Pray whilst we watch, watch while we pray.

Lest while we watch, and fear no snare,
We fall into neglect of prayer;
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Or, while we pray, and watch not, sin
Creep like a subtil serpent in.

When by an evil world beset,
Allurements smile, or terrors threat,
Well way we watch our Master's eye,
And pray for faith to fight or fly.

Our strength be His Omnipotence,
His truth our sole and sure defence,
His grace will aid the feeble saint
To watch and pray, and never faint.

For He who hath commanded thus,
Oft watch'd and pray'd on earth for us;
And still with interceding love,
Watches and prays for us above.

Sacred Poems and Hymns

Author: James Montgomery

James Montgomery (b. Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland, 1771; d. Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, 1854), the son of Moravian parents who died on a West Indies mission field while he was in boarding school, Montgomery inherited a strong religious bent, a passion for missions, and an independent mind. He was editor of the Sheffield Iris (1796-1827), a newspaper that sometimes espoused radical causes. Montgomery was imprisoned briefly when he printed a song that celebrated the fall of the Bastille and again when he described a riot in Sheffield that reflected unfavorably on a military commander. He also protested against slavery, the lot of boy chimney sweeps, and lotteries. Associated with Christians of various persuasions, Montgomery supported missio… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: Our Savior's words are, Watch and pray
Title: Our Saviour's words are Watch and Pray:
Author: James Montgomery
Meter: 8.8.8.8
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

Our Saviour’s words are, Watch and Pray. J. Montgomery. [Watchfulness and Prayer.] Written in 1835 (M. MSS.], and printed on a broadsheet for use at the Anniversary Sermons of the Red Hill Wesleyan Sunday Schools, Sheffield, March 1 and 2, 1835, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines. It was also used by the Sheffield Sunday School Union, at the Whit-Monday gathering, 1841. In 1853 it was included in Montgomery’s Original Hymns, No. 162, and headed, “Watch and Pray.”

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Tune

WAREHAM (Knapp)

William Knapp (b. Wareham, Dorsetshire, England, 1698; d. Poole, Dorsetshire, 1768) composed WAREHAM, so named for his birthplace. A glover by trade, Knapp served as the parish clerk at St. James's Church in Poole (1729-1768) and was organist in both Wareham and Poole. Known in his time as the "coun…

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Timeline

Instances

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Psalms and Hymns for the Worship of God #d649

Text

Sacred Poems and Hymns #162

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