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SDA Hymnal 319

Lord, I Want to Be a Christian

Words: Traditional SpiritualMusic: Traditional SpiritualTune: I WANT TO BE A CHRISTIAN10.6.10.6 with Refrain

Studio

1Lord, I want to be a Christian
In my heart, in my heart;
Lord, I want to be a Christian
In my heart.

RefrainIn my heart, in my heart,
In my heart, in my heart.

2Lord, I want to be more loving
In my heart, in my heart;
Lord, I want to be more loving
In my heart.

3Lord, I want to be more holy
In my heart, in my heart;
Lord, I want to be more holy
In my heart.

4Lord, I want to be like Jesus
In my heart, in my heart;
Lord, I want to be like Jesus
In my heart.

Scripture
Romans 10:9; 1 John 3:2

The verse

Meter
8.6.8.3 · the hymnal prints 10.6.10.6 with Refrain
Foot
anapestic (da-da-DUM) · 59% of beats fit
Rhyme
ABAB
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

Lord, I want to be a Christian/˘/˘˘˘/˘8A
In my heart, in my heart;˘˘/˘˘/6B
Lord, I want to be a Christian/˘/˘˘˘/˘8A
In my heart.˘˘/3B

Verse 2

Lord, I want to be more loving/˘/˘˘//˘8A
In my heart, in my heart;˘˘/˘˘/6B
Lord, I want to be more loving/˘/˘˘//˘8A
In my heart.˘˘/3B

Verse 3

Lord, I want to be more holy/˘/˘˘//˘8A
In my heart, in my heart;˘˘/˘˘/6B
Lord, I want to be more holy/˘/˘˘//˘8A
In my heart.˘˘/3B

Verse 4

Lord, I want to be like Jesus/˘/˘˘//˘8A
In my heart, in my heart;˘˘/˘˘/6B
Lord, I want to be like Jesus/˘/˘˘//˘8A
In my heart.˘˘/3B

Refrain

In my heart, in my heart,˘˘/˘˘/6A
In my heart, in my heart.˘˘/˘˘/6A

Counted by machine from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. It cannot hear emphasis or a poet’s licence, so treat it as a place to start reading, not the last word.