What a Friend We Have in Jesus!

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30

The last several months have come with moments of discouragement, confusion, weariness and just plain ol’ spiritual attack. There have been lessons learned, dependency created and character built, but I can’t say I want to repeat them again. All of that to say, the hymn “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” has come to mind so often over the past couple of months especially when the Enemy has slyly crept in and whispered lies.

When, in my humanity, I’m prone to stew in bitterness, discouragement & self-pity, the Holy Spirit has so kindly given me this hymn, specifically these lyrics . . . “Oh what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer” as well as “Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged, take it to the Lord in prayer.” I am going to share the entire hymn below. The lyrics are a powerful reminder that no matter what we’re going through (big or small) – Jesus is our refuge. He is our ever faithful friend. Our strength and perspective can only be found in Him as we humbly kneel before His throne and cast our cares on Him because He cares for us (I Pet. 5:7).


As a side note, we try to teach Alexa a hymn every month. (Okay, so we got hung up on “Trust and Obey” for three months. I guess I was hoping the “obey” part would stick - ha.) “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” is the hymn she’s learning this month. There is nothing sweeter than hearing your little two-year-old randomly belt out, in Wal-mart no less, “What a friend we have in Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear!” I mean, she has no clue what’s she’s singing but we are confident these Truths are sinking into her heart.

And so yesterday, she said to me, “Mommy, I never be discouraged.” I knew this was from either a song or verse we were learning and so I had to run her repertoire through my head. It was from this hymn. Today, she said this phrase to both of us several times throughout the day. For instance, Alexa told daddy she pooped in her swimsuit but then she followed it up with “but I never be discouraged.” Precious! So maybe she is getting it! And once again, the Holy Spirit knew just how deeply I needed to hear this Truth from the blind faith of my two-year-old today. We should never be discouraged, take it to the Lord in prayer! 

What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry,
Everything to God in prayer.
Oh what peace we often forfeit,
Oh what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry,
Everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged,
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful,
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness,
Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden,
Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior still our refuge;
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
In His arms He’ll take and shield thee;
Thou wilt find a solace there.

Joseph Scriven