How sweet the hour alone with God,
In earnest prayer we spend,
Alone with Him who knows our needs,
As friend would plead with friend.
We tell out all our needs to Him,
Assured that He will hear
The faintest, feeblest cry we raise,
Will reach His holy ear.
No care too great, no need too small,
He would not have us tell,
E’en though assured we are, those needs
To Him are known so well.
Then oft from toil and conflict here,
Our hearts would turn aside
To be in company with Him
Who once was crucified.
As we in faith to Him draw nigh
And make our wishes known,
He bends His ear to hear our cry,
Though high upon the throne.
No prayer of faith will ever be
By Him our God unheard.
The answer’s sure to come,
For this He tells us in His Word.
A little while He may defer
And hold the answer back,
But come it will, the answer’s sure,
Not one part will it lack.
And oft the answer does not come
In ways we’re looking for,
For He would have us know that He
Has many an open door.
Sometimes He answers right away
And proves His presence nigh,
And to our troubled spirits sends
His comfort from on high.
And then at times before we cry,
His answer has begun,
Our every need is known to Him
Long ere our path is run.
O, what a God we have to trust,
And God of love and grace,
Who never will refuse the cry
Of those who seek His face.
Then may we oft while here we wait
To meet Him in the air,
In earnest supplication spend,
That hour, the hour of prayer.