Text · full lyrics
Take my life and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days;
Let them flow in endless praise,
Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of thy love.
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for thee,
Swift and beautiful for thee.
Take my voice and let me sing
Always, only, for my King.
Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages from thee.
Take my silver and my gold;
Not a coin would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use
Every power as thou shalt choose,
Take my will and make it thine;
It shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart it is thine own;
It shall be your royal throne,
It shall be your royal throne.
Take my voice and let me sing
Always, only, for my King.
Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages from thee.
The lyricist
Frances Havergal
The daughter of William Henry Havergal, a clergyman and composer of hymn tunes, Frances grew up in a musical rectory and trained as a singer and pianist; she also taught herself Greek and Hebrew. That ear for music carries through her hymns. "Take My Life and Let It Be" came to her across a sleepless night in 1874, during a five-day visit to a house where she had spent the days praying for the ten people staying in it; by her own account the verses formed and chimed in her heart one after another until the whole hymn was complete, and she wrote it out the next morning.