More Love to Thee

More love to Thee, O Christ

More love to Thee, O Christ, more love to Thee!
Hear Thou the prayer I make on bended knee.
This is my earnest plea: More love, O Christ, to Thee;
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!

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 Christ to Thee;
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!

Let sorrow do its work, come grief or pain;
Sweet are Thy messengers, sweet their refrain,
When they can sing with me: More love, O Christ, to Thee;
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!

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 Christ to Thee;
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!

Author --Elizabeth P. Prentiss, 1818-1878
Composer --William H. Doane, 1832-1915
Tune Name --"More Love to Thee"

"And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ." Philippians 1:9, 10

Mrs. Elizabeth Payson Prentiss, born in Portland, Maine, on October 26, 1818, was known throughout her life as a saintly woman, who continually practiced the presence of Christ. Those who knew her best described her as "a very, bright-eyed, little woman, with a keen sense of humor, who cared more to shine in her own happy household than in a wide circle of society. " Though Elizabeth was strong in spirit, she was frail in body. Throughout her life she was a near invalid, scarcely knowing a moment free of pain. She once wrote these words:

"I see now that to live for God, whether one is allowed ability to be actively useful or not, is a great thing, and that it is a wonderful mercy to be allowed even to suffer, if thereby one can glorify Him."

On another occasion she wrote:

"To love Christ more is the deepest need, the constant cry of my soul ... out in the woods, and on my bed, and out driving, when I am happy and busy, and when I am sad and idle, the whisper keeps going up for more love, more love, more love!"

Early in life, Elizabeth demonstrated a gift for writing both prose and poetry. At the age of sixteen, she became a contributor to the Youth's Companion, a magazine of high spiritual and literary standards. After a period of teaching school in Massachusetts and Virginia, in 1845, she married Dr. George L. Prentiss, a Presbyterian minister, who later became a professor of Homiletics and Polity at Union Theological Seminary. Mrs. Prentiss continued to write and publish her literary works, and one of her books, Stepping Heavenward, sold over 200,000 copies in the United States alone.


"More Love to Thee" was written by Mrs. Prentiss during a time of great personal sorrow. While ministering to a church in New York City during the 1850's, the Prentiss' lost a child, and then a short time later their youngest child also died. For weeks, Elizabeth was inconsolable, and in her diary she wrote, "Empty hands, a worn-out, exhausted body, and unutterable longings to flee from a world that has so many sharp experiences." From her broken heart came this touching poem:

I thought that prattling boys and girls
Would fill this empty room;
That my rich heart would gather flowers
From childhood's opening bloom:
One child and two green graves are mine,
This is God's gift to me;
A bleeding, fainting, broken heart,
This is my gift to Thee."

During this period of grief, Mrs. Prentiss began meditating upon the story of Jacob in the Old Testament, and how God met him in a very special way during his moments of sorrow and deepest need. She prayed earnestly that she too might have a similar experience. She also thought about Sarah Adams' hymn text, "Nearer, My God, to Thee" (See 101 Hymn Stories, No. 61). While she thus meditated and prayed, she began writing her own lines in almost the same metrical pattern that Sarah Adams had used in writing her poetic version of Jacob at Bethel. Mrs. Prentiss completed all four stanzas that same evening; but evidently she did not think very highly of her work, for she never showed the poem to anyone, not even her husband, for the next thirteen years. The poem was first printed in leaflet form, in 1869, and later appeared in the hymnal, Songs of Devotion. This hymn has since been translated into many languages, including Arabic and Chinese, indicating that it is a universal response from sincere believers around the world. Mrs. Elizabeth Prentiss died on August 13, 1878, at her summer home in Dorset, Vermont.

Training of Habits-Obedience

We've been working a lot lately on habits at our house. Not only in the area of schooling but in general daily work and play.
First and foremost I have been focusing on training my children in the habit of obedience. While I have always disciplined my children and demanded a certain level of obedience up until recently I had not trained them to obey. In fact I had barely trained them at all. Instead I had gone the "normal" way and simply coexisted beside my children instead of engaging, guiding and training them. And as they have gotten older I have been reaping the fruits of my labor which to say the least where not what I had hoped or desired for.
What is the difference? Quite a bit actually. I used to wake my kids in the morning, issue directions for getting dressed and so forth, eat breakfast and then send them on their way, either outside to play or to their toys or to a movie so that I could have my space to do what I "needed" to do but more often to what I "wanted" to do. And this is how our day would progress, I would work with them at school but them send them off when we were done and only when their misbehavior would warrant my attention would they get it.
Recently God has convicted me of my selfishness and laziness and has been pruning those areas from my life for my children's sake as well as for mine.
Take this morning as an example. The kids all wake up and we work on getting everybody dressed and through the bathroom and then sit down to the table for breakfast, after we eat instead of each child having a separate chore to be accomplished alone we now spend 15 mins. all together working as a team to clean up. Yes, it's a bit hectic but a lot more gets done and the kids have really picked up on the teamwork part and enjoy helping each other out and see the benefits of doing so. Next, (on the good days) we move to devotions (Old Testament reading), memory work (Psalm 100), and then sometimes we read some Aesop with narration. This is a rough outline of our summer schedule since we are on summer break right now. And then while Willy is napping I work with Tom and Alissa and Emily on phonics and reading. This takes about an hour which is the length of William's morning nap so after waking him we grab our picnic quilt and a snack and head outside to spend the rest of the morning (1 1/2 to 2 hrs). And here again I have become aware of the changes Miss Mason has wrought in my thinking and acting. In previous years when I would be outside with the kids (out of necessity since we had no fence) I would sit like a bump on a log bored stiff or I would bring a book or magazine out and spend my time engrossed in that and occasionally correcting the children when needed.
Now I look forward to our times outside! We sit and listen to the birds singing and try to identify them, I direct their attention to the new plants and flowers that are growing and the buds, seeds and leaves that are springing forth from the trees and plants, we lay on the ground watching the ants at work, we dig for worms to observe, we plant seeds in the garden, we watch a starling bird couple bring meals to the nest of babies hiding in the lid to our propane tank. But most importantly I am engaging and enjoying my children. The other evening instead of watching them play on the slide and swing set in our backyard I got up there and played with them; we had a rollicking good time chasing each other and playing tag and it was such a delight to share the laughter and smiles with them as we played.
It has taken me some time to accept and act upon the knowledge that I must be with my children in order to see that they are properly trained and growing in the habit of obedience. Thankfully God has graciously made children much less stubborn and set in their ways than we adults and much more able to see and respond to the heart attitude of the authority in their lives so my small efforts are being rewarded.

step by step,
Jessica