赞美诗｜Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire 诚愿祈祷歌

词：James Montgomery
曲：Early American Melody

歌词

Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire,
Utter’d, or unexpress’d;
The motion of a hidden fire,
That trembles in the breast.

Prayer is the burden of a sigh,
The falling of a tear;
The upward glancing of an eye,
When none but God is near.

Prayer is the simplest form of speech,
That infant-lips can try;
Prayer,the sublimest stains that reach
The Majesty on high.

Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath,
The Christian’s native air;
His watchword at the gates of death;
He enters heaven with prayer.

Prayer is the contrite sinner’s voice,
Returning from his ways;
While angels in their songs rejoice,
And cry,”Behold, he prays!”

The saints in prayer appear as one,
In word, and deed, and mind;
While with the Father, and the Son,
Sweet fellowship they find.

Nor prayer is made on earth alone;
The Holy spirit pleads,
And Jesus on th'eternal throne,
For mourners intercedes.

O Thou, by Whom we come to God,
The life, the truth, the way!
The path of prayer Thyself hast trod:
Lord, teach us how to pray!

祈祷乃是虔诚心愿，
不论有声无声，
乃是胸中一腔热火，
隐伏心头颤震。

祈祷是人只身独居，
独对神明时刻，
一声叹息一颗泪珠，
双眼向天一瞥。

祈祷乃是最浅话语，
婴孩也能尝试，
祈祷又是最高音乐，
能邀至尊注意。

祈祷乃是信徒呼吸，
信徒生活空气，
祈祷是他临终口号，
升天入门印记。

祈祷乃是迷路罪人，
回头忏悔之声，
此时天军欢呼说道，
他已祈祷请听。

在祷告中弟兄姊妹，
言行心思合一，
与父同在偕同圣子，
相聚相交甜蜜。

每当地上圣徒祷告，
圣灵必施援手，
还有耶稣在父右边，
为我恳切代求。

由主我们得亲天父，
生命真理大道，
祈祷之途主曾经历，
恳求教我祈祷。

诗歌背景

        《诚愿祈祷歌》是Montgomery于1818年创作的。当时，作者应E. Bickersteth牧师的请求，为他所写有关祷告的著述创作了本首诗歌。1818年，诗歌第一次付梓印刷时，连同Montgomery另外三首诗歌（"Thou, God, art a consuming fire," "Lord, teach us how to pray aright," and "What shall we ask of God in prayer?"）一同印刷在巨幅海报上，用于 Sheffield 主日学之用。1819年，诗歌与Bickerstethd牧师的祷告著述同时印刷出版，并稍有修改。1825年，在Montgomery的赞美诗选集中，他沿用了Bickersteth的版本，并注明诗歌因再版印刷而有所修改。这首赞美诗被广泛传唱，有时人们会摘选其中几段演唱。诗歌的名字有时又被称作"Prayer is the Christian's vital breath" 或者”Prayer is the contrite sinner's voice”等。