More love to Thee, O Lord

1
More love to Thee, O Lord,
  More love to Thee!
Hear Thou the prayer I make
  On bended knee;
This is my earnest plea:
  More love, O Lord, to Thee,
More love to Thee,
  More love to Thee!
2
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 Lord, to Thee,
More love to Thee,
  More love to Thee!
3
Let sorrow do its work,
  Send grief and pain;
Sweet are Thy messengers,
  Sweet their refrain,
When they can sing with me,
  More love, O Lord, to Thee,
More love to Thee,
  More love to Thee!
4
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 Lord, to Thee,
More love to Thee,
  More love to Thee!
26
Maurice Ward

Irving, Texas, United States

I really enjoyed this hymn my last few months of being in Anaheim and was sweetly reminded in my reading on consecration in the the Experience of Life.

"Even after we have consecrated ourselves in a follow the Lord and the way of consecration, we need unceasingly the constraint of His love in order that we may touch its sweetness. In the way of consecration one often suffers pain and loss, and only those who frequently touched the love of the Lord can find sweetness in their pain."

Let sorrow do its work,

Send grief and pain;

Sweet are Thy messengers,

Sweet their refrain,

When they can sing with me,

More love, O Lord, to Thee,

More love to Thee,

More love to Thee!

The basis of our consecration is God's right over us but the motive must be, incessantly, the Lord's love to us in the Spirit.


Linda Fusilier

Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States

I wrote a comment earlier today but as I reflected on loving God more, this Scripture came into my spirit. I was so blessed as I thought on this verse—how the Holy Spirit reveals the profound and unsearchable things of God, the deep love of God “to them that love him”. God’s love is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us!!

As it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him. ” God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.

1 Corinthians 2:9-10


Linda Fusilier

Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States

This is my earnest plea! Nearer my God to thee!

And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love and he that dwells in love dwells in God and God in him. We love him because he first loved us. 1 John 5:16, 19


Cosette

Gainesville, FL, United States

Lord, my prayer today is that I would love You more. Lord even if I don’t feel like I love You, I love You in faith!


Sylva

Katsina-Ala, Nigeria

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. ’ This is the first commandment."

-Mark 12:30 NKJV

Carefully note the use of the word ALL. Recall the parable of the merchant seeking for goodly pearls and that of the treasure hidden in the field. It usually costs all to truly secure value in God’s kingdom.

The last part of the verse just above states: “this is the first commandment”! So therefore, loving God with all... is the starting point for anyone who will ever follow Him genuinely. This must be a living reality with eternal impact on such a life.

All else in the Faith is hinged on a subjective experience of this truth if there will ever be a walk with God and not just a vain religious exercise.

Now, we can unendingly talk about love and it may still remain vague and shrouded in misunderstanding. I therefore wish to reduce Love to a unit that we can all relate with: TIME. This is so because what you love is what consumes your time! Indeed your heart will always be where your treasure is! (Matt 6:21).

We live in a generation that professes so much love to God but spends much more time in the pursuit of pleasure and other things of no eternal value than we ever think of spending with God. What a strange way to love! It will soon be apparent on an intent look into an average believer’s life today, that “Godless" social media occupies a more supreme place in the heart than God, for more time is given to it than God can ever hope for! In the years gone by, brethren walked with pocket bibles and wouldl use every little free time to meditate on Gods word. Sadly this has become old-fashioned and many still wonder why they keep struggling with sin and unGodly thoughts. No faith-declarations, no matter how fervent can guarantee victorious Christian living except we begin to love God in deed and in truth and not just in word.

Little children, let’s not love with words or speech but with action and truth.

- 1 John 3:18 (Common Englis Bible)

The Love of Christ must have a compelling effect on your if it is genuine. (2 Cor 5:14)

A look at our earthly relationships will also help give us better understanding and perhaps expose any hypocrisy in our hearts! It is not possible to love someone without having a desire to spend some time with them. How is it that we are treating our love for God differently? Could it be that we are professing to love Him with our lips but our hearts are far away from Him?

At a certain time, God had to tell the children of Israel that they were dishonouring Him and they disagreed with the divine verdict! They had separated the honour of God from the honour of men and felt it was no big deal to honour God in a manner that mere men would not accept after all He is God and not man. However, God had to ask them to attempt giving to their earthly king what they offered Him and see if it would be accepted (Malachi 1:6-14).

In the same vein, if you had loved your spouse in themanner you claim to Love God, would he or she have married you? Or if you give such love to your fiancé or fiancée, would they agree to marry you? How then do you plan to be present at the marriage supper of the Lamb? Every private time with God is so boring that you cannot wait to just finish the “quiet time ritual” and get out. Your heart is so hard towards God that He cannot even interrupt you at any unscheduled moment for communion or prayer. Several years have passed since you believed in Jesus and your prayer or communion life has not grown. The only time you prayed for an hour plus perhaps, was when you were in trouble and needed divine bailout.

I know the story of a brother who was praying late in the night when rain came falling. He mustered the following words to God “Father, most people would say sleep is sweet when rain is falling but I would rather not be any other place at this moment but right here with you". Do you know this kind of reality in the love you profess for God? Do you even desire it?

Remember the Ephesian church in the book of revelation. The church had works which Jesus recognised. They had great patience and had borne much for the name of the Lord and had not fainted. They could not bear evil brethren and had great discernment to know false prophets. Do you know that while these works were present, their first love had been forsaken?!

Brethren, It is possible to serve God even sacrificially without loving Him.

Hear what Jesus said to the Ephesian Church:

"Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and DO the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent." (Rev 2:4-5)

The candle stick represented the church itself and Jesus said he would remove it because every thing they were doing counted for nothing without a burning love for God. By divine reckoning, it made no difference that the church even existed because they had forsaken their first love.

May we return to the true love for God that constrains. Amen.


James Adisa

Jos, Nigeria

Let's simply to desire to keep loving Christ no matter what may come our way. If it pleases the Lord to send suffering our way to test or try our faith, we should ask God to remain faithful to him, knowing that all things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to his purpose. More love to thee, O Lord.


Henrich Brockhaus

Bellingham, United States

Steve Miller Sept 21, 2013 quotes: „But despite her many blessings, Prentiss' life was not easy. She suffered from severe headaches and chronic insomnia. One of her children suddenly died, and a short time later a 2nd child died. At this, Prentiss cried in anguish, "Our home is broken up, our lives wrecked, our hopes shattered, our dreams dissolved. I don't think I can stand living for another moment." Her hymn indicates she learnt to live with, to accept God’s ways, how difficult they are to understand, and trust Him all the more.

On Feb 27, 2020 He adds his own thought: „This is a beautiful hymn, but I think stanza 3 line 2 is too much. We should not pray for the Lord to send us grief and pain. Nor should we pray things that we don't really mean. ”

Here is the beginning of the third stanza:

“Let sorrow do its work,

Send grief and pain; (other, original(? ), come grief and pain;

Sweet are Thy messengers, …. ”

Eno-Obong Udo April 11, 2020 “Dear STEVE Miller, that stanza 3 is very important and it's an integral part of our Christian walk here on the earth. Christ said ‘in this world there would be tribulation’". He didn't say to always pray against... but to live in peace inspite of it. Evil is bound to happen…. ”

Hannah, May 4, 2020 responds in a similar vein “Christians are refined by trials of various sorts…. ”

Both responses talk about a Biblical truth, but neither one is an answer to Steve’s statement.

Steve finds it wrong, to ask for grief and pain. And it is wrong. It smacks of arrogance, self-deceit or even hubris. Prentiss is not, I am sure, a masochist (glutton for punishment). ”Punish me some more, I can take, it is good for me! ” As we saw above, she couldn’t take it.

Line 2 ends with a semicolon and not with an exclamation mark that normally follows an imperative (command form). Line 1 cannot be separated from line 2. Of course, there is great sorrow accompanying the grief and pain caused by the loss of a child and then a second one. Prentiss is not asking for more grief and pain, she is saying in a shortened form, caused by the demands of metric considerations: “Let sorrow do its work” (sorrow is needed for overcoming and healing), NO MATTER, YOU “send grief and pain; ” This is similar to: Let the game take place, NO MATTER, come rain, come shine. Nobody would be so foolish to mistake these two “come” for an imperative, there is no exclamation mark.


Oluwayanju

Port Harcourt, Rivers, Nigeria

Stanza 3 is a sound biblical mystery. I think that was what Paul was writing about in 2 Cor 12: 7–10, Phil. 3: 10. The spirit of those verses forbids us from praying against sorrow, rather it gives us the victory over it and the blessings of it.

If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him.


Hannah

AR, United States

Amen and I agree, Mr. Eno-Obong Udo.

Christians are refined by trials of various sorts, if we are faithful in them by the grace of God. No trials, little progress. But with many trials, there is opportunity for much growth to become Christ-like! If we truly want to be made more like Christ (who loved and obeyed the Father to the fullest degree, that is perfectly) we can pray for refinement. Refinement comes through hardship- the crucifying of the flesh. May we also pray humbly for the grace to endure well.

I question, "What is love?" One definition might be to seek the highest good of another with no thought to one's self. Is Christ not glorified when we suffer well in His name? Is it not in the midst of trials and testings and adversity when we can reflect Christ the most? Love is laying one's own life down for another. As Christians, we must lay our own selfish desires, comforts, expectations down in our loyalty to Christ and Father and Holy Spirit.

"Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered." Hebrews 5:8 (NASB)

May we learn obedience too, from the things which we suffer. "Send what will enable me to love You more, LORD."

More love to Christ!


Eno-Obong Udo

Uyo, Akwa Ibom, Nigeria

Dear STEVE Miller, that stanza 3 is very important and it's an integral part of our Christian walk here on the earth.

Christ said "in this world there would be tribulation". He didn't say to always pray against... but to live in peace inspite of it. Evil is bound to happen.

Difficulties and tribulations produces character and character produces perseverance and perseverance strengthens our hope. And whoever has this hope will not be disappointed.

So let sorrow do its work.

Amen

If we keep a time for morning revival with a heart that genuinely loves the Lord, many things will follow. If we draw near to the Lord every morning, He will not let us go. He will not allow us to be an inappropriate or improper Christian. The Lord will thoroughly inquire about everything in our being; He will not cease until we are fully subdued. If we genuinely practice morning revival, we will have new knowledge, new discoveries, new visions, and new revelations concerning the Lord; we will also receive new dealings from the Lord. This is the meaning of meeting the Lord and touching Him. After He deals with us, He will give us a commission and a burden, and this burden will become our mission. A burden is a heavy weight within that presses us down and does not let us go so that we have no peace until we carry out God's charge. Those who meet the Lord receive burdens.

Pursuing to know the Lord, fellowshipping with Him, and preaching the gospel must not become regulations to keep. Please do not consider this fellowship as a doctrine. Rather, we should respond in love to the Lord because we have been attracted by His love. May we all have the prayer of Hymns, #368: "More love to Thee, O Lord, / More love to Thee! / Hear Thou the prayer I make / On bended knee; / This is my earnest plea: / More love, O Lord, to Thee, / More love to Thee, / More love to Thee!" May the Lord grant such hunger and desperation to motivate us to draw near to Him. If we do not draw near to Him, we will be hungry and thirsty within, and we will not be able to go on or be satisfied. If we rise up early to draw near to the Lord daily, the Lord will meet us. We will have new discoveries of the Lord and receive many dealings in His hand. If we pass through these dealings in His presence, we will receive a burden for His work. Then others will not need to beg us to preach the gospel, because we will be burdened for the gospel and also compelled to preach the gospel.

If we have the desire to realize the genuine church life, we must consecrate ourselves to the Lord again. We should go to the Lord and tell Him, "Lord, cause me to love You more." Stanza 1 of Hymns, #368 says, "More love to Thee, O Lord, / More love to Thee! / Hear Thou the prayer I make / On bended knee; / This is my earnest plea: / More love, O Lord, to Thee, / More love to Thee, / More love to Thee!" We need to love the Lord more, and we need to help others to love and seek the Lord more. Then the Holy Spirit will have the ground in us to bring us on and to apply to us everything that God has accomplished for His eternal purpose.