[Page 85]

A PRAYER under Convictions.

I.
1 FATHER of Light, from whom proceeds
2 Whate'er thy Ev'ry Creature needs,
3 Whose Goodness providently nigh
4 Feeds the young Ravens when they cry;
5 To Thee I look; my Heart prepare,
6 Suggest, and hearken to my Pray'r.
II.
7 Since by Thy Light Myself I see
8 Naked, and poor, and void of Thee,
9 Thine Eyes must all my Thoughts survey,
10 Preventing what my Lips would say:
11 Thou seest my Wants; for Help they call,
12 And ere I speak, Thou know'st them all.
III.
13 Thou know'st the Baseness of my Mind
14 Wayward, and impotent and blind,
15 Thou know'st how unsubdu'd my Will,
16 Averse to Good, and prone to Ill:
17 Thou know'st how wide my Passions rove,
18 Nor check'd by Fear, nor charm'd by Love.
IV.
19 Fain would I know, as known by Thee,
20 And feel the Indigence I see;
21 Fain would I all my Vileness owr,
22 And deep beneath the Burden groan:
23 Abhor the Pride that lurks within,
24 Detest and loath myself and Sin.
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V.
25 Ah give me, LORD, myself to feel,
26 My total Misery reveal:
27 Ah give me, LORD, (I still would say.)
28 A Heart to mourn, a Heart to pray;
29 My Business this, my only Care,
30 My Life, my ev'ry Breath be Pray'r.
VI.
31 Scarce I begin my sad Complaint,
32 When all my warmest Wishes faint;
33 Hardly I lift my weeping Eye,
34 When all my kindling Ardors die;
35 Nor Hopes nor Fears my Bosom move,
36 For still I cannot, cannot love.
VII.
37 Father, I want a thankful Heart;
38 I want to taste how good Thou art,
39 To plunge me in thy Mercy's Sea,
40 And comprehend thy Love to me;
41 The Breadth, and Length, and Depth, and Height
42 Of Love divinely infinite.
VIII.
43 Father, I long my Soul to raise
44 And dwell for ever on thy Praise,
45 Thy Praise with Glorious Joy to tell,
46 In Extasy unspeakable;
47 While the Full Pow'r of FAITH I know,
48 And reign triumphant here below.

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Title (in Source Edition): A PRAYER under Convictions.
Author: Rev. Charles Wesley
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Genres: hymn

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Wesley, John, 1703-1791. Wesley, Charles, 1707-1788. Hymns and sacred poems: Published by John Wesley, ... and Charles Wesley, ... London: printed by William Strahan; and sold by James Hutton; and at Mr. Bray's, 1739, pp. 85-86. x,[6],223,[1]p.; 12⁰. (ESTC T31323; OTA K034809.000) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [Vet. A4 f. 254].)

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The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.

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