Words: , Hymns and Sac­red Po­ems, 1742.

Music: Rich­mond (Ev­er­ett), (1828-1875). Al­ter­nate tunes

  • Diademata, , 1868
  • Pots­dam, adapted from , 1750, in the Church Psal­ter, 1854

On Oc­to­ber 9, 1852, Thom­as Ro­bin­son All­an, who af­ter­wards found­ed the All­an Lib­ra­ry, found his way to the Wes­ley­an Cha­pel in Wind­sor Street, Bright­on, where the Rev. Pe­ter Coop­er preached from the pray­er of Ja­bez (I Chron. iv. 10), and read the first verse of this hymn. ‘Was I lead to this place to-night to re­ceive an an­swer to a pe­ti­tion which had long been mat­ter of pray­er, and which I par­ti­cu­lar­ly and ear­nest­ly plead­ed this morn­ing? I be­lieve it was so; though it was ac­com­pa­nied by a “kind, up­braid­ing look” from my ador­a­ble Mas­ter, when the preach­er said, “Per­haps you en­gaged in the bu­si­ness with­out con­sult­ing God at all.” Though the mat­ter was not in my thoughts on en­ter­ing the place, yet it came strong­ly in­to my mind at the con­clu­sion of the ser­vice, that the Lord had gra­cious­ly con­de­scend­ed to give me a tok­en that He had heard my pray­er. And whe­ther the an­swer takes ef­fect in this way or that, I leave to His wis­dom and His love.’

Jesus, my Strength, my Hope,
On Thee I cast my care,
With humble confidence look up,
And know Thou hear’st my prayer.
Give me on Thee to wait
Till I can all things do;
On Thee, almighty to create,
Almighty to renew.

I want a sober mind,
A self-renouncing will,
That tramples down and casts behind
The baits of pleasing ill;
A soul inured to pain,
To hardship, grief, and loss,
Bold to take up, firm to sustain
The consecrated cross.

I want a godly fear,
A quick discerning eye
That looks to Thee when sin is near
And sees the tempter fly;
A spirit still prepared
And armed with jealous care,
Forever standing on its guard
And watching unto prayer.

I want a heart to pray,
To pray and never cease,
Never to murmur at Thy stay,
Or wish my sufferings less.
This blessing, above all,
Always to pray, I want,
Out of the deep on Thee to call,
And never, never faint.

I want a true regard,
A single, steady aim,
Unmoved by threat’ning or reward
To Thee and Thy great Name.
A jealous, just concern
For Thine immortal praise;
A pure desire that all may learn
And glorify Thy grace.

I rest upon Thy Word;
The promise is for me;
My comfort and salvation, Lord,
Shall surely come from Thee.
But let me still abide,
Nor from my hope remove,
Till Thou my patient spirit guide
Into Thy perfect love.

I want with all my heart
Thy pleasure to fulfill,
To know myself, and what Thou art,
And what Thy perfect will.
I want I know not what,
I want my wants to see,
I want—alas! what want I not,
When Thou art not in me?