John Wesley, the preacher and hymn-writing brother of the more famous and prolific hymn poet Charles, gave directions for singing in his Select Hymns of 1761. These instructions are sound advice to this day and merit repeating. Wesley wrote these instructions to his congregation regarding that hymnbook and its tunes:

It is not essential to have a great singing voice, but lack of one is not an excuse to remain silent. Singing is commanded in Scripture (Psalm 96:1-2, Ephesians 5:19, e.g.). It is not an option for the believer. And it is not optional for men! Take a look at the men who sang in Scripture (Moses, David, even Jesus Himself), and you will quickly note that mighty men and leaders were fully involved in the praise of God through song. God never asks us to do something that cannot be done in His strength. “Make a joyful noise” (Psalm 100:1) is a quality of the heart for which a trained voice is not prerequisite. The Bible clearly teaches that singing in worship is primarily a response to God for His acts (Creation and Redemption) and for His attributes. So it should be the best singing that we can offer. But God is honored in our sincere effort and desire to offer our best, which will always be less than His perfection.

One aid to a fuller appreciation and understanding of a hymn or psalm text (and we should be singing both) is to read through the text ahead of time; so a printed Order of Worship can be very significant to good preparation. In the case of a Psalm, read the entire psalm and become familiar with its context. Another help is to try to sing stanzas in phrases, according to punctuation, rather than simply singing one word followed by the next. The organist or other participating instrumentalists should attempt to lead the congregation this way, “breathing” with the text and connecting words or thoughts that are not separated by punctuation. This approach is very helpful to greater comprehension of the meaning of a hymn text.

One of the most significant activities in gathered worship is corporate communication with God on the part of His children. Our heavenly Father desires and requires such communication. Prayer and praise are the two most obvious examples of this, and our singing is often one or both of these. One expedient way to note that a hymn is a prayer hymn is to discover direct address of the Father, Son or Holy Spirit in its text.