NOT FAR FROM Port Hope, Ontario, stands a monument with this inscription:

"Four miles north, in Pengally's Cemetery, lies the philanthropist and author of this great masterpiece, written at Port Hope, 1857."

Above the inscription are the words of this beloved hymn.

Joseph Scriven, its author, was a man who had experienced the friendship of Jesus through a life filled with personal tragedy.

When Scriven was a young man in Ireland, his fiancee accidentally drowned the evening before their wedding.. Soon after this he set sail for Canada.

He seemed destined to live his life alone, with Jesus as his only close friend.

Scriven never intended to publish this hymn. He wrote the words to accompany a letter to his mother., who was ill in far-off Ireland.

He had no material resources to send her; only a reminder that the most perfect of friends, Jesus Himself, was nearby.

What a Friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry Everything to God in prayer!

O what peace we often forfeit, O 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 Saviour, 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 Medlicott Scriven {1819-1886}

"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don't forget to thank Him for His answers.

If you do this, you will experience Gods peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand.

His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus."