Lay Pastor’s Weekly 7-18-10

Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer.  Psalm 61:1

 I recommend reading Psalm 61.

 The hymn, “Sweet Hour of Prayer” first appeared in the New York Observer on September 13, 1945, accompanied by an explanatory note by Rev. Thomas Salmon, a British minister who recently Immigrated to America.  At Coleshill, Warsickshire, England, I became acquainted with W.W. Walford, a blind preacher, of obscure birth and connections  and no education, but of strong mind and retentive memory….On one occasion, paying him a visit, he repeated two or three pieces he had composed…I rapidly copied the lines with y pencil as he uttered them, and sent then for insertion in the Observer. 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.  Some believe he is the author.

 Spend Time in Prayer!!!

 My prayer for the week is oft-omitted verse: Dear Lord:  Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer!  The joys I feel, the bliss I share, of those whose anxious spirits burn strong desires for thy return!  With such hasten to the place where God my Savior shows His face, and gladly take my station there, and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer! Amen