Lord, What a Change Within Us

Lord, what a change within us one short hour
Spent in Thy presence will prevail to make;
What heavy burdens from our bosoms take,
What parchèd fields refresh as with a shower!

We kneel, and all around us seems to lower;
We rise, and all, the distant and the near,
Stands forth in sunny outline, brave and clear;
We kneel, how weak; we rise, how full of power.

Why should we ever weak or heartless be,
Why are we ever overborne with care,
Anxious or troubled, when with us is prayer,
And joy, and strength, and courage are with Thee?

Author: Richard Chenevix Trench

Year: 1845

This is a well-known sonnet by the Irish poet, Anglican archbishop, and hymn writer Richard Chenevix Trench (1807–1886). It first appeared in his 1845 collection "Sabbation, Honor Neale, and Other Poems" under the title "Prayer." The text is sometimes titled by its first line and has been adapted into hymnals.