From the recordings #6 (March, 2019), Fear Not, and "A" Christian Songs
While living in San Antonio, TX, this song was inspired by my roommate, Esmi who actually prayed a prayer to this effect. The fellowship that I was in at the time is the one mentioned in the song. I would probably change the words a bit if I were to write it today, but hopefully people will listen more to the 'spirit"of the son
Lyrics
A Broken and Contrite Heart
They’d only just adopted their little girl
With her big blue eyes and bouncy golden curls
But the Lord took her daddy before they could say goodbye
And she learns of her other Father as she hears her mother cry
She cries, “A broken and contrite heart You desire
Lord, break my heart and put me through the fire
Take me to those lonely places I don’t want to be
So that I might learn Thy grace is sufficient for me”
She married a man before she came to know Christ
He’s a hard worker, and her family thinks that he’s nice
And she knows that the Lord loves her much more than he ever could
But he’s never said ‘I love you,’ and she wishes that he would
She cries, “A broken and contrite heart You desire
Lord, break my heart and put me through the fire
Take me to those lonely places I don’t want to be
So that I might learn Thy grace is sufficient for me"
For fifteen years fervently they prayed
And dreamed of the building their church would have one day
Not a month after its opening, the rains flooded its floors
And tears come to the Pastor’s eyes as he asks God for one thing more
He prays, “A broken and contrite heart You desire
Lord, break my heart and put me through the fire
Take me to those lonely places I don’t want to be
So that I might learn Thy grace is sufficient for me”
She’s always been a mother and a wife
But now a sudden illness has threatened to take her life
She’s always been a servant, the one that they depended on
And she hates the thought of being the one who needs to be waited on
She cries, “A broken and contrite heart You desire
Lord, break my heart and put me through the fire
Take me to those lonely places I don’t want to be
So that I might learn Thy grace is sufficient for me”
He’d given the company the best years of his life
And they’d been good to his children and his wife
Then out of the blue came the notice — they were taking his job away
So he takes his pain to the One Who is faithful each and every day
He prays, “A broken and contrite heart You desire
Lord, break my heart and put me through the fire
Take me to those lonely places I don’t want to be
So that I might learn Thy grace is sufficient for me”
They tried to be the best parents they knew how to be
They fed and clothed their children and guided them spiritually
But their daughter says she hates her mother, and their son has gone astray
So they fall down on their knees for all that’s left to do is pray
They cry, ‘A broken and contrite heart You desire
Lord, break my heart and put me through the fire
Take me to those lonely places I don’t want to be
So that I might learn Thy grace is sufficient for me”
Lord, let me suffer until I’ve learned Thy grace is sufficient for me
Copyright 1999 Holy Spirit (via Paula Thorson)