Wesley Corpus

Last updated: December 2, 2009. "Prayer for Those Convinced of Sin" (1743)1 cf. Baker list, 73 Editorial Introduction: Early Methodism understood itself as an instrument for helping those on the "way of salvation," not an exclusive gathering of the saved. The way this was expressed in the General Rules, the foundational document for the movement, was that the sole condition required to join the Methodists was "a desire to flee the wrath to come, to be saved from their sins." The General Rules then describe the set of practices in which Methodists embodied this desire. From its earliest edition there was a hymn appended to the General Rules titled "A Prayer for those who are Convinced of Sin." This hymnic prayer gave voice to the longing that was so central to Methodist identity. While it is unsigned, Charles Wesley's authorship is confirmed by its presence in MS Thirty, 57-59; and its inclusion in Hymns and Sacred Poems (1749), 2:89-91. Editions: Charles Wesley. "Prayer for those who are convinced of Sin." Appended to John Wesley's Nature, Design, and General Rules of the United Societies.... Newcastle: Gooding, 1743. over 20 edns. during Wesley's life; hymn in almost all editions, no variants