Wesley Corpus

Send our long-desir'd Messias, Us to teach thy perfect way; Faithful, fervent as Elias, Let us in the Spirit pray, Let the power to us be given, (Weak and helpless as we are) Power to shut, and open heaven, All th' omnipotence of prayer. Desiring to Pray. Hymn IV.24 Jesu, thou sovereign Lord of all, The same thro' one eternal day, 23A manuscript precursor of this hymn appears in MS Occasional Hymns, 55-56. 24A manuscript precursor of this hymn appears in MS Occasional Hymns, 56-58. Page 36 Attend thy feeblest followers' call, And O! Instruct us how to pray; Pour out the supplicating grace, And stir us up to seek thy face. We cannot think a gracious thought, We cannot feel a good desire, 'Till thou who call'dst a world from nought, The power into our hearts inspire; And then we in thy Spirit groan, And then we give thee back thy own. Proceeds from thee the wish to pray, The longing wish which now we feel; But O! We know not what to say, We would, but cannot, Lord, reveal The load our fainting spirits bear, Or tell thee all our wants in prayer. Lost in a labyrinth of sin, Long have we wandred to and fro, The wilderness hath shut us in, And only faith the way can shew, And only prayer can lend the clue, To guide our weary footsteps thro'. Tormented, destitute, distrest, Scatter'd in the dark, cloudy day, We labour for that farther rest, And fain would force our hearts to pray, And strive and pant with endless care To heave away the mountain-bar. Dost thou not, Lord, our trouble see, Our sore, unprofitable pain? A thousand times we bow the knee, Approach thee with our lips in vain, Present with lifted hands and eyes, An heartless, lifeless sacrifice. Page 37 A thousand times o'erwhelm'd with woe, We groan impatient at thy stay, Ready to let the promise go, Ready to cast our shield away, The fruitless labour to forbear, And fold our arms in sad despair. Jesu, regard the joint complaint Of all thy tempted followers here, And now supply the common want, And send us down the Comforter, The spirit of ceaseless prayer impart, And fix thine agent in our heart.