Give us this Day our Daily Bread (Father of Love, Father Above)

This is a hymn of petition. The first line and title use ideas from the "Our Father" prayer, but the rest of the song is more free-form.

The hymn was written and composed by American popular songwriter Stephen Collins Foster (1826–1864).

Hymnals it is published in include:

Water's Choral Harp (1863)
A Companion to the Canadian Sunday School Harp (1865)
Heavenly Echos (1867)

More recently, the first verse has been changed from "Father above" to "Great God of love".

Downloads

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PowerPoint
slides

Downloadable sheet music with melody,chords, and harmonica tab; 1 page

Examples

Solo singer, piano accompaniment:

Singer, piano accompaniment - Country-style:

Lyrics

Father of love,
Father above
Send down thy blessing on each head;
Shield us from pride,
While we here bide,
Give us this day our daily bread,
Give us this day our daily bread.

Humbly we pray,
Humbly we say
Words that our Lord and Redeemer said;
Trustful and weak
Humbly we speak,
Give us this day our daily bread,
Give us this day our daily bread.

Make us resigned,
Patient of mind
While to the throne of thy grace we're led;
Make us content
With what is sent,
Give us this day our daily bread,
Give us this day our daily bread.

Sinful are we,
Thoughtless of thee,
While round our footsteps thy care is shed;
Though we forget,
Watch o'er us yet
Give us this day our daily bread,
Give us this day our daily bread.