A home recording of this song is available here.
What do you say when you close your eyes in prayer?
What do you tell God when you call upon His name?
Do you say, “I love You, Lord, for being who you are”?
What do you say when you close your eyes in prayer?
What do you say when God knows just who you are?
What do you tell Him when He sees inside your heart?
Do you say, “I’ve done wrong, Lord, and I want to do right”?
What do you say when God knows just who you are?
What do you say when God knows the words you’ll use?
What do you tell Him? He already knows your needs.
Do you say, “I thank You, Lord, for all you do for me”?
What do you say when God knows the words you’ll use?
What do you say when your thoughts distract your prayers?
What do you tell God when the words refuse to come?
Do you cry, “I need help, Lord. I can’t live on my own!”?
What do you say when your thoughts distract your prayers?
About this song:
Years ago I was introduced to the concept of ACTS, an acronym that represents the four elements of prayer:
- Adoration: praising God for who He is (and not for what He’s done for us)
- Confession: admitting our sins to God and asking His forgiveness
- Thanksgiving: thanking God for His many perfect gifts
- Supplication: asking God’s help for ourselves and other people as well
Maybe I’m wrong, but I think many Christians concentrate on asking for God’s help and for the things we want rather than necessarily what we need. At times, we’re all probably guilty of that.
In my prayers, I try to focus on adoration. The very fact that God is not only somewhere “out there” but lives inside us listening to us is worthy of adoration–and praise.
I strongly believe that if we were to spend more of our prayer time thanking God for His “every good and perfect gift,” we wouldn’t have time to pray selfishly.
I wrote this song in 1990, basing it loosely on the ACTS principle. It’s very slow and prayerful and–I hope–thought-provoking. You may download the free lead sheet here.
One really nifty thing resulted from this song. Jeff Ferrier, who was the pianist in the Gospel Chickenhouse house band and an amazing musician, took a recording of me singing “When You Close Your Eyes in Prayer” with guitar accompaniment and wrote a beautiful two-voice arrangement with piano accompaniment.
Look for me again next Wednesday. Better still, subscribe to receive these weekly posts by email.
Best regards,
Roger
Links you might be interested in:
As I Come Singing. . . 
