Sweet Hour of Prayer

 

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.

UMC Hymnal, No. 496

There is a heartfelt story about this hymn being written in 1842 by William Walford, an obscure and blind lay preacher who was the owner of a small trinket shop in the little village of Coleshill, England.  A fellow clergyman visited his establishment, wrote down the words to the poem, and submitted them to The New York Observer where they were published in 1845.

“No one, however, has ever found a trace of a blind preacher named W.W. Walford in Coleshill, England.  There was a Congregational minister named William Walford who wrote a book about prayer containing striking similarities to this poem, and some believe he is the author.  But he was neither blind nor uneducated, and the author of this hymn poem remains a mystery.” – Robert L. Morgan, Then Sings My Soul

 

Alan Jackson – Sweet Hour of Prayer