Now be­fore Thee, Lord, we ga­ther
To re­ceive Thy pre­cious Word;
Let Thy grace in show­ers, O Fa­ther,
On our parch­èd hearts be poured.
Send Thy Ho­ly Spir­it o’er us,
With Thy quick’n­ing fire re­store us,
At Thy ta­ble spread before us
Fill our hun­ger­ing souls, dear Lord.

May Thy Word, to us now giv­en,
Be re­tained in hearts con­trite;
On the narrow way to Hea­ven
Lead us in Thy per­fect light.
Hush, with­in us, all com­mo­tion,
Silence each dis­turb­ing no­tion;
May we, Lord, with true de­vo­tion
Use this hour of grace aright.

Of the time may we avail us,
When to seek us Thou art near;
Soon the day of grace may fail us,
And no mes­sage more we hear.
Turn our minds to me­di­ta­tion
On our need of Thy sal­va­tion;
Urge on all Thine in­vi­ta­tion—
To our pray­er in­cline Thine ear.