Lyrics
Prayer is the soul's sincere desire,
Unuttered or expressed,
The motion of a hidden fire
That trembles in the breast.
Prayer is the burden of a sigh,
The falling of a tear,
The upward glancing of an eye,
When none but God is near.
Prayer is the simplest form of speech
That infant lips can try;
Prayer, the sublimest strains that reach
The Majesty on high.
Prayer is the Christian's vital breath,
The Christian's native air,
His watchword at the gates of death—
He enters heav'n with prayer.
Prayer is the contrite sinner's voice,
Returning from his ways,
While angels in their songs rejoice
And cry, 'Behold, he prays!'
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!
Public domain hymn text (1818). Words by James Montgomery.
The Story Behind the Hymn
James Montgomery wrote 'Prayer Is the Soul's Sincere Desire' in 1818, defining prayer not by its content or vocabulary but by its underlying sincerity, whether spoken aloud or held silently within.
Its middle verses widen that definition further, comparing prayer to an infant's simplest attempt at speech and, in the same breath, to the highest praise offered before God's throne, treating both as equally genuine forms of prayer.
The hymn calls prayer the believer's 'vital breath' and 'native air,' images of something so constant and necessary it is barely noticed, much like ordinary breathing.
Its closing verse turns the entire hymn into a request of its own, asking Christ, who Himself 'the path of prayer hast trod,' to teach the singer directly how to pray.
Montgomery's original, longer poem was later shortened for hymnal use, but the six verses preserved here trace a complete arc from prayer's quiet, wordless origin to its full expression and to Christ's own example of it.
