My Favorite Hymns

I began loving hymns when I was in high school at Starehe Boys' Centre. A hymn sometimes jazzed me so much that I would strut into my dormitory at night while singing it without fearing what others would say.

After leaving Starehe in April 2007, I joined a close-knit choir of All Saints' Cathedral Nairobi. I learnt quite a few hymns in the choir whose members made me develop an interest in the gospel of Christ.

Today, I thought it wise to tell you about my favorite hymns - the ones I enjoy listening to over and over again because of their beautiful melodies and inspiring lyrics. Here they are:

1. Father Hear the Prayers We Offer: I first learnt this hymn on a lovely Saturday afternoon in 2007 during a choir practice at All Saints' Cathedral. It touched me so much that I sang it to my family in December 2012 (Christmas Day, I think). The hymn is a prayer in which we ask God to be our strength in times of weakness and our guide in our wanderings. It's a wonderful hymn, simple though it is.
2. And Can It Be?: I cannot remember when I first heard this hymn. All I know is, I came to like it so much that I sang it to a fellow chorister at All Saints' Cathedral one Saturday afternoon in 2012 or 2013. The chorister corrected me that I was getting the lyrics wrong, something I later confirmed was true. The hymn now makes me believe Christ can set me free from the guilt and condemnation that assaults my soul sometimes.
3. 'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus: I first heard this simple but powerful hymn in my home church here in Kiserian. It rouses me to trust Jesus and all He says in the Bible, especially His parables and Sermon on the Mount. When we sang the hymn in my home church one Sunday morning in 2014 or 2015, I sang it so enthusiastically that the preacher recognized me. In her sermon, she urged me to join the choir.
4. My Faith Looks Up to Thee: This is another hymn that I first heard in my home church here in Kiserian. When Mum heard me play it on my piano keyboard a few years ago, she sang its first verse from memory. That surprised me because she isn't that much educated and it has been many years since she left the school where she learnt the hymn. It seems I inherited my sharp memory and love of hymns from her.
5. Who is on the Lord's Side?: I cannot remember when I first heard this phenomenal hymn. But I remember it sounded familiar to my ears when I first heard it in my home church. Later on, I was pleased to find it in a hymnal that my friend Michael Njeru lent me. It's one of my favorites, especially because it encourages us to be "right, loyal, noble, true and bold".
6. Have You Been to Jesus?: I first heard this hymn in August 2007 at All Saints' Cathedral during the church mission month. Its melody is sublime, its lyrics, edifying. And knowing it probably explains why I am often changing the way I do things in light of new insight gained as I mature in Christ.
7. I Want to Walk With Jesus: I first learnt this pleasant hymn in 2010 at All Saints' Cathedral during a choir practice that my friend Ruth Wangire led. Imagine Ruth asked me to accompany the choir on the piano and I hadn't heard the hymn before! Now that I have memorized its lyrics, it encourages me to walk with Christ.

Those are my favorite hymns. Of course, I have others I couldn't mention to keep my story from becoming too long. And some of them, like "Amazing Grace" and "What a Friend We Have in Jesus", are so familiar with Christians that mentioning them here will sound like a cliché.

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed the above story on my favorite hymns, you might also enjoy another one on "People Need the Lord".