John Wesley believed that Jesus is God's means of grace. For him, the "means of grace" were also "works of piety" (spiritual disciplines) and "works of mercy" (doing good to others). He said that means of grace are: "...outward signs, words, or actions, ordained of God, and appointed for this end, to be the ordinary channels whereby he might convey to men, preventing, justifying, or sanctifying grace."
Wesley talked about a variety of works of piety:
He also emphasized the importance of fasting and participating in Christian community.
John Wesley considered prayer an essential part of Christian living, calling it, in many of his writings, the most important means of grace. Christians were to pray constantly, without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). He wrote in A Plain Account of Christian Perfection:
Whether we think of; or speak to, God, whether we act or suffer for him, all is prayer, when we have no other object than his love, and the desire of pleasing him.
All that a Christian does, even in eating and sleeping, is prayer, when it is done in simplicity, according to the order of God, without either adding to or diminishing from it by his own choice.
How have you experienced prayer in your own life? Do you agree with Wesley that it is the most important means of grace, more important than the Bible?
Bible Study
John Wesley read the Bible every day, usually early in the day or late in the evening. A scholar, he could read the scriptures in their original languages and wrote commentaries on the Bible. His Explanatory Notes on the New Testament and his sermons are a part of the Doctrinal Standards of The United Methodist Church. John Wesley gave Methodists advice on how to read the Bible. Read Wesley's advice and try it. Is his approach helpful to you? What is your method of searching the scriptures?
Fasting
The spiritual reasons for fasting have been pretty much lost on today's society, particularly in Protestantism. Many United Methodists are surprised to learn that John Wesley fasted two days a week, Wednesdays and Fridays, in his younger days. Later he fasted on Fridays. Charles Yrigoyen, Jr., in John Wesley: Holiness of Heart and Life writes:
Wesley was convinced that fasting, abstaining from food or drink, was a practice firmly grounded in the Bible. People in Old Testament times fasted (Ezra 8:23). So did Jesus and his followers (Matthew 4:2; Acts 13:3), and Wesley saw no reason why modern Christians should not follow the same pattern. His plan of fasting sometimes allowed for limited eating and drinking. He found that fasting advanced holiness.
John Wesley: Holiness of Heart and Life copyright © 1996 Charles Yrigoyen, Jr., p. 33.
John Wesley believed that God's grace is conveyed through the Lord's Supper and that it is a major way God nourishes us. Has your experience of Holy Communion been nourishing to your spiritual growth? If you are one of the many Christians who do not take communion very often, do Wesley's arguments help you to see the sacrament in a different perpective? Read the entire sermon.
John Wesley: Holiness of Heart and Life
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Wesleyan Steps to Christian Perfection
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John Wesley and Women
| Introduction | Susanna Wesley | Jane Cooper | Grace Murray |
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Graphics
The drawing near the top of most the web pages for Holiness of Heart and Life depicts the Reverend John Wesley (1703-1791) at age 48. All of the black and white drawings have been scanned by Nancy A. Carter for the General Board of Global Ministries, United Methodist Church from public domain nineteeth century or early twentieth century Methodist history books. Please acknowledge this web site, John Wesley: Holiness of Heart and Life, http://gbgm-umc.org/umw/wesley/, if you reproduce these. We now have some graphics available in high resolution format, suitable for print media.
