Sweet Hour of Prayer is a hymn first printed in 1845 in the New York Observer and credited to William W. Walford, set to music by William B. Bradbury in 1861. It praises the daily hour set aside for prayer, which calls the believer away from a world of care to the Father's throne, brings relief in grief, protection from temptation and, at last, a view of heaven like Moses' view from Mount Pisgah. It follows Jesus' teaching in Matthew 6:6: when thou prayest, enter into thy closet.
Nobody is quite sure who wrote Sweet Hour of Prayer. In 1845 a minister named Thomas Salmon sent the poem to the New York Observer, saying he had taken it down from a blind man named W. W. Walford, who ran a small shop and preached in the English village of Coleshill and composed poems in his head. Historians have never firmly identified him, and some think the author was a different Walford, a Congregational minister who wrote a book on prayer. What is certain is that the poem caught on once William Bradbury gave it a tune in 1861. Within a few decades it was in nearly every American hymnal, and it is still one of the best-loved hymns on prayer. Here are the three stanzas and the 12 KJV passages behind them.
Sweet Hour of Prayer: the words
Verse 1
Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
That calls me from a world of care,
And bids me at my Father's throne
Make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief
My soul has often found relief,
And oft escaped the tempter's snare,
By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!
Verse 2
Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
Thy wings shall my petition bear
To Him whose truth and faithfulness
Engage the waiting soul to bless.
And since He bids me seek His face,
Believe His word, and trust His grace,
I'll cast on Him my every care,
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!
Verse 3
Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
May I thy consolation share,
Till, from Mount Pisgah's lofty height,
I view my home and take my flight;
This robe of flesh I'll drop, and rise
To seize the everlasting prize;
And shout, while passing through the air,
Farewell, farewell, sweet hour of prayer!
Words: credited to William W. Walford; first printed in the New York Observer on September 13, 1845, sent in by Thomas Salmon; music: William B. Bradbury, SWEET HOUR (1861). Text copied from Gospel Hymns Nos. 1 to 6 Complete (1894), hymn 634, checked against Hymns Consolation (Bliss) and Bradbury's Devotional Hymn and Tune Book (1864) (all Internet Archive scans). The last two lines of each stanza are repeated when sung; the repeat is not printed. Public domain.
That calls me from a world of care: the hour alone with God
1. Matthew 6:6
"But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret. The closet in the KJV is an inner storeroom, the one private room in an ordinary house. Jesus contrasts it with the street-corner prayers of people who wanted to be seen. The hymn's sweet hour is that closet: a set time when the believer shuts the door on a world of care. Jesus adds a promise, that the Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. Private prayer is never wasted, even if no one else ever knows about it.
2. Mark 1:35
"And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed."
And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. The day before, Jesus had healed so many people that the whole town gathered at the door (Mark 1:33). If anyone could have skipped prayer because of a busy schedule, it was Jesus. Instead He got up while it was still dark to be alone with His Father. The sweet hour of prayer is not a luxury for people with free time. It is what kept the busiest life ever lived centered on God.
3. Psalms 5:3
"My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up."
My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. David set a regular time for prayer, and he speaks of it with expectation: he will look up, watching for God's answer. That is the spirit of the second stanza, where the singer waits for the next hour of prayer the way one waits for a friend. Many Christians follow David's example and pray first thing in the morning, before the day's cares crowd in. See more morning Bible verses.
4. Philippians 4:6
"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God."
The first stanza says the hour of prayer bids me at my Father's throne make all my wants and wishes known. Paul says nearly the same thing: in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. Nothing is too small to bring to God, and nothing too large. The verse begins Be careful for nothing, which in old English means do not be anxious about anything. Anxiety and prayer pull in opposite directions; as one grows, the other shrinks. For a full study, see our page on Philippians 4:6-7.
In seasons of distress and grief: relief, rescue and every care
5. Psalms 50:15
"And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me."
And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. In seasons of distress and grief, the hymn says, my soul has often found relief. God does not ask His people to save prayer for when things are going well. He invites us to call on Him exactly when trouble comes. The verse has three parts: we call, He delivers, and we glorify Him. Each answered prayer becomes a reason for praise, and that history of answered prayer is part of what makes the hour sweet.
6. Matthew 26:41
"Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
The first stanza also says prayer has helped the singer escape the tempter's snare. In Gethsemane, Jesus found His disciples asleep and said, Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. A few hours later Peter denied Him three times. Jesus prayed through that night and went to the cross; the disciples slept and scattered. Prayer is not only a place of comfort. It is where we are strengthened before temptation arrives, so that we are ready when it does.
7. 1 Peter 5:7
"Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."
Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. The second stanza turns this verse into a resolution: I'll cast on Him my every care. To cast is to throw something off, the way a traveler throws a heavy pack onto a donkey (the same Greek word is used in Luke 19:35). Peter does not tell us to manage our worries better, but to hand them over completely. The reason is personal: He careth for you. For more, see our page on 1 Peter 5:7.
8. Psalms 27:8
"When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek."
And since He bids me seek His face. The line comes from David's conversation with God: When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek. Prayer begins with God's invitation, not our initiative. He calls; we answer. To seek someone's face is to want the person, not just their gifts. The sweet hour of prayer is sweet not mainly because we get what we ask for, but because we spend it with the One we love. See also our page on Psalm 27.
From Mount Pisgah's lofty height: faithfulness and the view of home
9. Hebrews 10:23
"Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)"
The second stanza says the hour of prayer carries our petitions To Him whose truth and faithfulness engage the waiting soul to bless. Engage here means pledge or bind. God has bound Himself by His own promises. The writer of Hebrews puts it this way: Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;). We can keep praying, even when answers are slow, because our confidence is not in the strength of our prayers but in the faithfulness of the One who hears them.
10. Deuteronomy 34:1
"And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the LORD shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan,"
The third stanza takes us to Mount Pisgah. At the end of his life, Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the LORD shewed him all the land. Moses saw the Promised Land from that height just before he died. The hymn borrows the scene: the believer who has prayed through a lifetime will one day stand at the edge of this life and view my home, heaven, before taking flight. Prayer is a daily foretaste of the place where we will see God face to face.
11. 2 Corinthians 5:1
"For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."
This robe of flesh I'll drop, and rise. Paul uses the same kind of picture for the body: if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. A tabernacle is a tent, a temporary home for a traveler. The hymn calls the body a robe, something worn and then laid aside. Either way, death is not the end of the person. For the Christian it is moving out of a tent into a permanent house built by God. Read more Bible verses about heaven.
12. 1 Thessalonians 4:17
"Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
The hymn ends with the believer passing through the air and saying farewell to the hour of prayer. Prayer will not be needed in the same way in heaven, because we will be with the Lord directly. Paul describes believers caught up to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. The last line is not sad. It is the joy of someone who no longer needs to set aside one hour a day to be with God, because every hour will be spent in His presence.
A short prayer
Father, thank You for inviting me to come to You in prayer. Call me away from my world of care each day, and teach me to love the time I spend alone with You. In seasons of distress and grief, give me relief; in temptation, keep me watchful. I cast all my cares on You, because You care for me. Thank You that You are faithful to every promise. Keep me praying until the day I see You face to face. In Jesus' name, Amen.
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Frequently asked questions
Who wrote Sweet Hour of Prayer?
The hymn is credited to William W. Walford. It was first printed in the New York Observer on September 13, 1845, by Thomas Salmon, who said he had written it down from a blind English preacher of that name in Coleshill, Warwickshire. No record has firmly confirmed who that man was, so many hymnals list the author as W. W. Walford with a question mark or as attributed. William B. Bradbury wrote the tune in 1861.
What is Mount Pisgah in Sweet Hour of Prayer?
Pisgah is a peak of Mount Nebo, east of the Jordan River in modern Jordan. In Deuteronomy 34:1-4, God took Moses to the top of Pisgah to see the Promised Land before he died. The hymn uses the scene as a picture of a Christian at the end of life, looking toward heaven, the true promised land.
What Bible verse is Sweet Hour of Prayer based on?
The hymn is built on Jesus' teaching about private prayer in Matthew 6:6 and His own habit of praying alone (Mark 1:35). Its lines also echo Philippians 4:6 (make your requests known), 1 Peter 5:7 (casting all your care upon him), Psalm 27:8 (seek my face) and Deuteronomy 34:1 (Moses on Pisgah).
Is Sweet Hour of Prayer in the public domain?
Yes. The words were printed in 1845 and Bradbury's tune was published in 1861, so both are in the public domain in the United States. Recent recordings and arrangements may carry their own copyrights, but the words on this page may be printed and sung freely.
Sources: All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), public domain in the United States. References were checked against the KJV text from bible-api.com.
Related: What a Friend We Have in Jesus · I Need Thee Every Hour · The Lord's Prayer · Prayers · Prayer · The Power of Prayer · God Answering Prayers · Heaven
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