Wesley Corpus

Did I require nothing to be done, as well as to be avoided Was an eternal reward promised to no-work Were My positive laws no laws at all Was the pattern I set thee negative only But thou hast done thy duty to God at least, for thou hast prayed to Him! What didst thou pray for For My Spirit to help thy infirmities For strength to tread in My steps For power, not only to avoid all sin, but to fulfill all righteousness Didst thou pray that thy righteousness might exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees -- might not rest in externals, but be an inward vital principle Didst thou pray for a clean heart for the renewal of thy mind for a right spirit duly conformed to My image Didst thou pray for a soul continually ardent to do My will on earth as it is done in heaven If thou prayedst for anything short of this, or if praying for this thy heart went not along with thy lips, thou prayedst as a fool or an heathen prayed; and thy prayer itself was the greatest of thy abominations. If thou didst pray for this power which I had promised not to any particular order but to every one of My disciples earnestly desiring it, why went not thy endeavor along with thy prayer Because great men, the chief priests and eiders, said it need not Whom, then, oughtest thou to have believed, Me or them Behold, I had told thee before: obey God rather than men. Thy blood be on thy own head.'