Prayer is the Souls Sincere Desire

The hymn “Prayer Is The Souls Sincere Desire” was written by James Montgomery in or around 1825. Montgomery’s father was a minister, and his parents eventually served as missionaries in the West Indies.  He began writing poetry at age 10, inspired by the Moravians' hymns, the same group that influenced John Wesley. 

Many hymns are essentially prayers, “God, Our Father, Hear us Pray” and “Sweet Hour of Prayer” are two of them, and there are many more. This hymn teaches us in a very personal way; it is poetry about prayer.  Even though I have known this song for most of my life, I only recently began to appreciate it.  

In 1995, I was in Perth, Australia, serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  I had a conversation with my Mission President in which he extolled to me the essential nature of prayer.

During our discussion, President Hamilton then did something I did not expect.  He said, let’s pray together. Praying was a regular part of missionary life, but for some reason, this request seemed strange to me but, I said ok.

I mean, really, what was I going to say, no?

We knelt, and he motioned for me to start.  I prayed for the typical types of things I always did.  I prayed for my companion and me to find those searching, I prayed for people I knew who were struggling with one thing or another.   I vocalized the same type of prayer that I had many other times and would probably say a similar prayer many more times with different names a specifics.

After I finished, President Hamilton began his prayer, asking for the spirit to be with us. Again, not an abnormal request. 

But then…silence. 

 

Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire,

Uttered or unexpressed,

The motion of a hidden fire

That trembles in the breast.

 

He waited and listened. I began to wonder if the carpet was made of little pebbles digging into my knees.  But still, we waited.

And waited.

Only when I almost couldn’t wait any longer did he begin speaking again. His prayer was beautiful and heartfelt.  He prayed for some of the same things that I did.  He prayed for the work we were doing, the young men and women in his care. He prayed for several individuals by name, some I knew and some I didn’t know. All the while pausing at times as if God was speaking back to Him.  And I think that He did.

Have you heard the cliché the silence was deafening?  In this case, every time he paused, the soundless void was screaming at me.  The more we waited and listened, the more uneasy and agitated I felt.

And then, something changed.  My soul eased, and my mind opened. 

A simple thought, or voice, entered my head, “I have been trying to speak to you for some time, you never seemed to let me, I just want you to know how much I love you.” 

The spirit of the Lord rushed into my heart.  We waited and listened and communicated together with our maker for some time after that, President acting as the voice, but I actively hearing and feeling.  I had never known prayer could be so personal. Prayer is the most personal and intimate form of communication with our Father in Heaven. 

 

Prayer is the burden of a sigh,

The falling of a tear,

The upward glancing of an eye

When none but God is near.

 

My experience on my mission taught me that the prayers we pray each day are vital to our day to day existence.  But also, prayer is not just a stream of words we upload to the cloud but a conversation between our God and us, parent to child.  If we forget this, we miss out on a critical piece of the Atonement of Christ.

 

Prayer is the simplest form of speech

That infant lips can try;

Prayer, the sublimest strains that reach

The Majesty on high.

 

My little brother Joel would give the craziest prayers. 

You see, he was three years old and would pray for his toys, his friends, his favorite television shows, his sister, his brothers, our parents, and very often his rocking horse. 

He would always express his love for Heavenly Father.  He always seemed in tune with Christ. 

At three, he hadn’t forgotten yet, how to pray.  I wonder if the same type of innocence as my Brother Joel once resided in me.  I see that innocence in many children as they grow.  The hope would be that maybe they could keep that clear communication with the Savior. 

Joel never had to worry about that.  He was returned to our heavenly home before he turned four.

Nor prayer is made on earth alone:

The Holy Spirit pleads,

And Jesus at the Father’s throne

For sinners intercedes.

 

J. R. Watson, a noted hymnologist, captures this hymn's essence in An Annotated Anthology of Hymns (Oxford University Press, 2002).  

He said of the hymns writer, James Montgomery, that he “understood that prayer could be spoken or unspoken, and that it came from the heart, often in a sigh or a tear; he also knew that it could be both simple and sublime. It is the breath of life and the ‘watchword’ at the gate of death…Verse after verse adds to our understanding until the final verse brings us to the way, and the truth, and the life…to the Jesus who was asked by one of His disciples, ‘Lord, teach us to pray.’”

 

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.

 

Since the day I learned about a more profound way to pray, I  strive for more personal communication with my Savior.  My mission president opened up a door to a new world of prayer.  He taught me, lovingly, that my prayers were necessary and taught me how they could be different. 

I now know that I can discuss the most personal pieces of my soul with my God.  I previously assumed that it was redundant to share my thoughts and feelings since the all-knowing and all-seeing creator of the universe could sense what my soul felt.  But that is not a relationship; that is an overseer.  If we want God to be only our overseer, he will oblige, but we miss out on so much.  He is begging us to share our hearts and minds with him.