110+ John Wesley Quotes On Prayer, Holiness And Grace

John Wesley was an 18th century English theologian and Christian revivalist. He was a leader of the Methodist movement and is considered to be the founder of the Methodist Church. He was a major advocate for Christian holiness and the development of a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. Following is our collection on famous quotes by John Wesley on prayer, holiness, grace.

Top 10 John Wesley Quotes

1. Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.
2. People who wish to be offended will always find some occasion for taking offense.
3. We should be rigorous in judging ourselves and gracious in judging others.
4. You have one business on earth – to save souls.
5. Whosoever will reign with Christ in heaven, must have Christ reigning in him on earth
6. Having, First, gained all you can, and, Secondly saved all you can, Then give all you can.
7. Let your words be the genuine picture of your heart.
8. By justification we are saved from the guilt of sin…by sanctification we are saved from the power and root of sin
9. I judge all things only by the price they shall gain in eternity.
10. Not, how much of my money will I give to God, but, how much of God’s money will I keep for myself?

John Wesley Image Quotes

Let your words be the genuine picture of your heart. — John Wesley

John Wesley Short Quotes

• As long as you feel your own weakness and helplessness, you will find help from above.
• Nothing short of God can satisfy your soul.
• Cleanliness is indeed next to godliness.
• It is the work of God alone to justify, to sanctify, and to glorify.
• The man who never fasts is no more in the way to heaven than the man who never prays.
• Though I am always in haste, I am never in a hurry.
• A sour religion is the devil's religion.
• My ground is the Bible. Yea, I am a Bible-bigot. I follow it in all things, both great and small.
• You have nothing to do but to save souls; therefore spend and be spent in this work.
• A constant attention to the work which God entrusts us with is a mark of solid piety.

John Wesley Quotes About Prayer

I continue to dream and pray about a revival of holiness in our day that moves forth in mission and creates authentic community in which each person can be unleashed through the empowerment of the Spirit to fulfill God's creational intentions. — John Wesley

Bear up the hands that hang down, by faith and prayer; support the tottering knees. Have you any days of fasting and prayer? Storm the throne of grace and persevere therein, and mercy will come down. — John Wesley

God does nothing except in response to believing prayer. — John Wesley

God will do nothing but in answer to prayer. — John Wesley

God does nothing but by prayer, and everything with it. — John Wesley

with all prayer (Eph. 6:18)" All sorts of prayer- public, private, mental, vocal. Do not be diligent in one kind of prayer and negligent in others... let us use all. — John Wesley

I desired as many as could to join together in fasting and prayer, that God would restore the spirit of love and of a sound mind to the poor deluded rebels in America. — John Wesley

The neglect of prayer is a grand hindrance to holiness. — John Wesley

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. — John Wesley

I have so much to do that I spend several hours in prayer before I am able to do it. — John Wesley

John Wesley Quotes About Holiness

Always remember the essence of Christian holiness is simplicity and purity: one design, one desire: entire devotion to God. — John Wesley

My one aim in life is to secure personal holiness, for without being holy myself I cannot promote real holiness in others. — John Wesley

I believe that He was made man, joining the human nature with the divine in one person; being conceived by the singular operation of the Holy Ghost, and born of the blessed Virgin Mary, who, as well after as before she brought Him forth, continued a pure and unspotted virgin. — John Wesley

God would first, by this inspiration of his Spirit, have wrought in our hearts that holy love without which none can enter into glory. — John Wesley

As the more holy we are upon earth the more happy we must be. — John Wesley

Holy solitaries' is a phrase no more consistent with the Gospel than holy adulterers. The Gospel of Christ knows no religion but social; no holiness, but social holiness. — John Wesley

The first priority of my life is to be holy, and the second goal of my life is to be a scholar. — John Wesley

Singing is as much the language of holy joy as praying is of holy desire. — John Wesley

[Christ] does not give [men] light but from moment to moment; the instant He withdraws, all is darkness.... God does not give them a stock of holiness. — John Wesley

John Wesley Quotes About Grace

One of the greatest evidences of God's love to those that love him is, to send them afflictions, with grace to bear them. — John Wesley

All outward means of grace, if separate from the spirit of God, cannot profit, or conduce, in any degree, either to the knowledge or love of God. All outward things, unless he work in them and by them, are in vain. — John Wesley

The best helps to growth in grace are the ill usage, the affronts, and the losses which befall us. We should receive them with all thankfulness, as preferable to all others, were it only on this account, that our will has no part therein. — John Wesley

Preach 90% Law and 10% grace. — John Wesley

It cannot be that the people should grow in grace unless they give themselves to reading. A reading people will always be a knowing people. — John Wesley

Before I can preach love, mercy, and grace, I must preach sin, Law, and judgment. Preach 90% Law and 10% grace. — John Wesley

God's command to "pray without ceasing" is founded on the necessity we have of His grace to preserve the life of God in the soul, which can no more subsist one moment without it, than the body can without air. — John Wesley

John Wesley Quotes About Money

Money never stays with me. It would burn me if it did. I throw it out of my hands as soon as possible, lest it should find its way into my heart. — John Wesley

Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can. — John Wesley

Do not any longer contend for mastery, for power, money, or praise. Be content to be a private, insignificant person, known and loved by God and me....of what importance is your character to mankind, if you was buried just now. Or if you had never lived, what loss would it be to the cause of God. — John Wesley

John Wesley Quotes About Giving

Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergymen or laymen, they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon Earth. — John Wesley

When a man becomes a Christian, he becomes industrious, trustworthy and prosperous. Now, if that man, when he gets all he can and saves all he can, does not give all he can, I have more hope for Judas Iscariot than for that man! — John Wesley

Get all you can without hunting your soul, your body, or your neighbor. Save all you can, cutting off every needless expense. Give all you can. Be glad to give, and ready to distribute; laying up in store for yourselves a good foundation against the time to come, that you may attain eternal life. — John Wesley

Give me one hundred men who love only God with all their heart and hate only sin with all their heart and we will shake the gates of hell and bring in the kingdom of God in one generation. — John Wesley

A meek spirit gives no trouble willingly to any: a quiet spirit bears all wrongs without being troubled. — John Wesley

Purge me from every sinful blot; My idols all be cast aside: Cleanse me from every evil thought, From all the filth of self and pride. The hatred of the carnal mind Out of my flesh at once remove: Give me a tender heart, resigned, And pure, and full of faith and love. — John Wesley

Do all the good you can, by all the means you can. — John Wesley

Giving up witchcraft is, in effect, giving up the Bible. — John Wesley

Give me 100 men that hate nothing but sin, and love Jesus Christ, and we'll shake England for God. — John Wesley

The giving up of (a belief in) witchcraft is in effect the giving up of (a beilief in) the Bible. — John Wesley

John Wesley Quotes About Scripture

Try all things by the written word, and let all bow down before it. You are in danger of [fanaticism] every hour, if you depart ever so little from Scripture; yea, or from the plain, literal meaning of an text, taken in connection with the context. — John Wesley

Let it be observed, that slovenliness is no part of religion; that neither this, nor any text of Scripture, condemns neatness of apparel. Certainly this is a duty, not a sin. Cleanliness is indeed next to godliness. — John Wesley

In all cases, the Church is to be judged by the Scripture, not the Scripture by the Church. — John Wesley

John Wesley Quotes About Love

Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion? Without all doubt, we may. Herein all the children of God may unite, notwithstanding these smaller differences. — John Wesley

Humility and patience are the surest proofs of the increase of love. — John Wesley

There is no love of God without patience, and no patience without lowliness and sweetness of spirit. — John Wesley

It is no marvel that the devil does not love field preaching! Neither do I; I love a commodious room, a soft cushion, a handsome pulpit. But where is my zeal if I do not trample all these underfoot in order to save one more soul? — John Wesley

And now run the race which is set before thee, in the royal way of universal love. — John Wesley

Beware you be not swallowed up in books! An ounce of love is worth a pound of knowledge. — John Wesley

Riches naturally beget pride, love of the world, and every temper that is destructive of Christianity. — John Wesley

When you set yourself on fire, people love to come and see you burn. — John Wesley

Thou hidden love of God, whose height, Whose depth unfathomed no man knows, I see from far thy beauteous light, Only I sigh for thy repose. — John Wesley

Do no harm. Do good. Stay in love with God. — John Wesley

John Wesley Quotes About Salvation

I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death. — John Wesley

I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation. — John Wesley

I look on all the world as my parish; thus far I mean, that, in whatever part of it I am, I judge it meet, right, and my bounden duty, to declare unto all that are willing to hear, the glad tidings of salvation. — John Wesley

At four in the afternoon, I submitted to be more vile and proclaimed in the highways the glad tidings of salvation. — John Wesley

I see the necessity of preaching a full and present salvation from all sin. — John Wesley

Preach faith till you have it; and then, because you have it, you will preach faith. — John Wesley

John Wesley Quotes About Faith

I believe in my heart that faith in Jesus Christ can and will lead us beyond an exclusive concern for the well-being of other human beings to the broader concern for the well-being of the birds in our backyards, the fish in our rivers, and every living creature on the face of the earth. — John Wesley

It is good to renew ourselves, from time to time, by closely examining the state of our souls, as if we had never done it before; for nothing tends more to the full assurance of faith, than to keep ourselves by this means in humility, and the exercise of all good works. — John Wesley

Justifying faith implies, not only a divine evidence or conviction that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, but a sure trust and confidence that Christ died for my sins, that He loved me and gave Himself for me. — John Wesley

Faith is the divine evidence whereby the spiritual man discerneth God, and the things of God. — John Wesley

John Wesley Quotes About People

My fear is not that our great movement, known as the Methodists, will eventually cease to exist or one day die from the earth. My fear is that our people will become content to live without the fire, the power, the excitement, the supernatural element that makes us great. — John Wesley

I set myself on fire and people come to watch me burn. — John Wesley

The greater the share the people have in government, the less liberty, civil or religious, does a nation enjoy. — John Wesley

Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come for miles to watch you burn. — John Wesley

Let me do all the good I can, to all the people I can, as often as I can, for I shall not pass this way again. — John Wesley

The Church recruited people who had been starched and ironed before they were washed. — John Wesley

Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can. — John Wesley

Catch on fire and people will come for miles to see you burn. — John Wesley

John Wesley Quotes About World

I want the whole Christ for my Savior, the whole Bible for my book, the whole Church for my fellowship, and the whole world for my mission field. — John Wesley

I look upon all the world as my parish. — John Wesley

Passion and prejudice govern the world; only under the name of reason. — John Wesley

He who governed the world before I was born shall take care of it likewise when I am dead. My part is to improve the present moment. — John Wesley

May we not say, that true zeal is not mostly charitable, but wholly so? That is, if we take charity in St. Paul's sense, for love; the love of God and our neighbour. For it is a certain truth, (although little understood in the world), that Christian zeal is all love. It is nothing else. — John Wesley

Anything that cools my love for Christ is the world. — John Wesley

All worldly joys are less than that one joy of doing kindnesses. — John Wesley

If I had 300 men who feared nothing but God, hated nothing but sin, and were determined to know nothing among men but Jesus Christ and Him crucified, I would set the world on fire. — John Wesley

The church changes the world not by making converts but by making disciples. — John Wesley

John Wesley Famous Quotes And Sayings

I have never known more than fifteen minutes of anxiety or fear. Whenever I feel fearful emotions overtaking me, I just close my eyes and thank God that He is still on the throne reigning over everything and I take comfort in His control over the affairs of my life. — John Wesley

I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out. — John Wesley

October 6, 1774 I met those of our society who had votes in the ensuing election, and advised them 1. To vote, without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worthy 2. To speak no evil of the person they voted against, and 3. To take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side. — John Wesley

Let your words be the genuine picture of your heart. — John Wesley

You have nothing to do but to save souls. Therefore spend and be spent in this work. And go not only to those that need you, but to those that need you most. It is not your business to preach so many times, and to take care of this or that society; but to save as many souls as you can; to bring as many sinners as you possibly can to repentance. — John Wesley

Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God be for you, who can be against you? Are all of them together stronger than God? O be not weary of well doing! — John Wesley

Oh that God would give me the thing which I long for! That before I go hence and am no more seen, I may see a people wholly devoted to God, crucified to the world, and the world crucified to them. A people truly given up to God in body, soul and substance! How cheerfully would I then say, 'Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.' — John Wesley

The wearing of costly array is directly opposite to being adorned with good works. Nothing can be more evident than this; for the more you lay out on your own apparel, the less you have left to clothe the naked, to feed the hungry, to lodge the stranger, to relieve those that are sick and in prison. — John Wesley

As no good is done, or spoken, or thought by any man without the assistance of God, working in and with those that believe in him, so there is no evil done, or spoken, or thought without the assistance of the devil, who worketh with strong though secret power in the children of unbelief. All the works of our evil nature are the work of the devil. — John Wesley

I am never in a hurry, because I never undertake more work than I can go through with perfect calmness of spirit. — John Wesley

Is it not common to say to a child, 'Put your finger in that candle, can you bear it even for one minute?' How then will you bear Hell-fire? Surely it would be torment enough to have the flesh burnt off from only one finger; what then will it be to have the whole body plunged into a lake of fire, burning with brimstone? — John Wesley

We are always open to instruction, willing to be wiser every day than we were before, and to change whatever we can change for the better. — John Wesley

Once in seven years I burn all my sermons; for it is a shame, if I cannot write better sermons now than I did seven years ago. — John Wesley

Any 'Christians' who take for themselves any more than the plain necessaries of life, live in an open habitual denial of the Lord. They have gained riches and hell-fire. — John Wesley

Orthodoxy, or right opinion, is, at best, a very slender part of religion. Though right tempers cannot subsist without right opinions, yet right opinions may subsist without right tempers. There may be a right opinion of God without either love or one right temper toward Him. Satan is a proof of this. — John Wesley

[When I die] if I leave behind me ten pounds...you and all mankind [may] bear witness against me, that I have lived and died a thief and a robber. — John Wesley

I'd had the quintessential liberal arts experience, and I came out of college not having a clue of what to do. — John Wesley

The glories and the beauties of form, color and sound unite in the Grand Canyon - forms unrivaled even by the mountains, colors that vie with sunsets, and sounds that span the diapason from tempest to tinkling raindrop; from cataract to bubbling fountain. — John Wesley

One of the principal rules of religion is, to lose no occasion of serving God. And, since he is invisible to our eyes, we are to serve him in our neighbour; which he receives as if done to himself in person, standing visibly before us. — John Wesley

But as sickness and diseases have created the necessity of medicines and physicians, so the disorders of our rational nature have introduced the necessity of education and tutors. — John Wesley

The best of it is, God is with us. — John Wesley

Sing lustily and with a good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. — John Wesley

I could scarcely reconcile myself at first to this strange way of preaching in the fields, of which Whitfield set me an example on Sunday; having been all my life (till very lately) so tenacious of every point relating to decency and order, that I should have thought the saving of souls almost a sin, if it had not been done in a church. — John Wesley

This earthly body is slow and heavy in all its motions, listless and soon tired with action. But our heavenly bodies shall be as fire; as active and as nimble as our thoughts are. — John Wesley

Gay and costly apparel directly tends to create and influence lust.... The fact is plain and undeniable, it has the effect both on the wearer and beholder. You kindle a flame, which, at the same time consumes both yourself and your admirers. — John Wesley

To abandon all, to strip one's self of all, in order to seek and follow Jesus Christ naked to Bethlehem where He was born, naked to the hall where He was scourged, and naked to Calvary where He died on the cross, is so great a mystery that neither the thing nor the knowledge of it, is given to any but through faith in the Son of God. — John Wesley

They say I killed six or seven men for snoring. Well, it ain't true. I only killed one man for snoring. — John Wesley

My mother was the source from which I derived the guiding principles of my life. — John Wesley

Fierce and poisonous animals were created for terrifying man, in order that he might be made aware of the final judgment in hell. — John Wesley

The Bible knows nothing of solitary religion. — John Wesley

It is the Spirit that sheds the love of God abroad in their hearts, and the love of all mankind; thereby purifying their hearts from the love of the world, from the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. It is by Him they are delivered from anger and pride, from all vile and inordinate affections. — John Wesley

In returning I read a very different book, published by an honest Quaker , on that execrable sum of all villanies, commonly called the Slave-trade. — John Wesley

The readiest way which God takes to draw a man to himself is, to afflict him in that he loves most, and with good reason; and to cause this affliction to arise from some good action done with a single eye; because nothing can more clearly show him the emptiness of what is most lovely and desirable in the world. — John Wesley

As theories increased, simple medicines..were forgotten, at least in the politer nations. ...Medical books, were immensely multiplied,...(towards) an abstruse science, quite out of reach of ordinary men. — John Wesley

The longer I live, the larger allowances I make for human infirmities. I exact more from myself and less from others. — John Wesley

The wicked will gnaw their tongues for anguish and pain; they will curse God and look upwards. There the dogs of hell, pride, malice, revenge, rage, horror, despair, continually devout them. — John Wesley

To slay the sinner is then the first use of the Law, to destroy the life and strength wherein he trusts and convince him that he is dead while he lives; not only under the sentence of death, but actually dead to God, void of all spiritual life, dead in trespasses and sins. — John Wesley

If we suffer persecution and affliction in a right manner, we attain a larger measure of conformity to Christ, by a due improvement of one of these occasions, than we could have done merely by imitating his mercy, in abundance of good works. — John Wesley

In using all means, seek God alone. In and through every outward thing, look only to the power of His Spirit, and the merits of His Son. Beware you do not get stuck in the work itself; if you do, it is all lost labor. Nothing short of God can satisfy your soul. Therefore, fix on Him in all, through all, and above all...Remember also to use all means as means-as ordained, not for their own sake. — John Wesley

On every occasion of uneasiness, we should retire to prayer, that we may give place to the grace and light of God and then form our resolutions, without being in any pain about what success they may have. In the greatest temptations, a single look to Christ, and the barely pronouncing his name, suffices to overcome the wicked one, so it be done with confidence and calmness of spirit. — John Wesley

I want to know one thing, the way to heaven; how to land safe on that happy shore. God Himself has condescended to teach the way; for this end He came from heaven. He hath written it down in a book. Give me that book! At any price give me the Book of God! — John Wesley

Thanksgiving is inseparable from true prayer; it is almost essentially connected with it. One who always prays is ever giving praise, whether in ease or pain, both for prosperity and for the greatest adversity. He blesses God for all things, looks on them as coming from Him, and receives them for His sake- not choosing nor refusing, liking or disliking,anything, but only as it is agreeable or disagreeable to His perfect will. — John Wesley

Life Lessons by John Wesley

1. John Wesley taught that faith should be expressed through action and service to others, emphasizing the importance of living a life of service and charity.
2. He also emphasized the importance of self-examination, self-discipline, and self-improvement as a means of living a life of holiness.
3. Finally, he taught that the Christian life should be one of joy, emphasizing the importance of rejoicing in the Lord and living in the power of the Holy Spirit.