Wesley Corpus

Groaning for the Spirit of Adoption Source: Hymns and Sacred Poems (1740), Part I Author: Charles Wesley (attributed) --- Still let me run, or end my race; I cannot chuse, I all resign; Contract or lengthen out my days; Come life, come death; for Christ is mine. Groaning for the Spirit of Adoption.54 Father, if thou my Father art, Send forth the Spirit of thy Son, Breathe him into my panting heart, And make me know, as I am known: Make me thy conscious child, that I May “Father, Abba, Father” cry. I want the Sp’rit55 of power within, Of love, and of an healthful mind; Of power, to conquer inbred sin, Of love to thee, and all mankind, Of health, that pain and death defies, Most vig’rous, when the body dies. When shall I hear the inward voice, Which only faithful souls can hear! Pardon, and peace, and heavenly joys Attend the promis’d Comforter: He comes! And righteousness divine, And Christ, and all with Christ is mine! 54A manuscript draft of this hymn is can be pieced from two collections: the first four and a third stanzas appear on a looseleaf page (numbered page 22) in Special Collections of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary Library, in a volume titled “Presidents of the British Wesleyan Conference”; the remained is found on a looseleaf page (numbered page 23) in MARC, DDCW 6. 55Spelled out as “Spirit” in manuscript draft.