More love to Thee, O Christ, more love to Thee!
Hear Thou the prayer I make on bended knee.
This is my earnest plea: More love, O Christ, to Thee;
More love to Thee, more love to Thee! Once earthly joy I craved,
sought peace and rest;
Now Thee alone I seek, give what is best.
This all my prayer shall be: More love, O Christ to Thee;
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!
Let sorrow do its work, come grief or pain;
Sweet are Thy messengers, sweet their refrain,
When they can sing with me: More love, O Christ, to Thee;
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!
Then shall my latest breath whisper Thy praise;
This be the parting cry my heart shall raise;
This still its prayer shall be: More love, O Christ to Thee;
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!
Story:
Mrs. Elizabeth Prentiss was the youngest daughter of Dr. Edward
Payson, a famous and very devout clergyman of Portland, Maine.
This hymn was written probably in 1856, in a time of great sorrow for
her.
While ministering to a church in New York City during the 1850s, the
Prentiss lost a child. Then a short time later their youngest child
also died.
For weeks, Elizabeth was inconsolable, and in her diary she wrote,
Empty hands, a worn-out, exhausted body, and unutterable longings to
flee from a world that has so many sharp experiences.
From her broken heart came this touching poem:
One child and two green graves are mine,
This is Gods gift to me;
A bleeding, fainting, broken heart,
This is my gift to Thee.
During this period of grief, Mrs. Prentiss began meditating upon the
story of Jacob in the Old Testament, and how God met him in a very
special way during his moments of sorrow and deepest need. She prayed
earnestly that she too might have a similar experience. (cf: Genesis
28:11-19)
While she meditated, she began writing all four stanzas that same
evening; but evidently she did not think very highly of her work, for
she never showed the poem to anyone, not even her husband.
After thirteen years, Mrs. Payson thought to show the poem to her
husband.
Then, in 1869, the hymn was printed on a slip of paper for private
distribution. The next year came the great revival, and the hymn
sprang into wide popularity.
Bible Verses
Ephesians
6:24 - Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an
undying love.
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