I am no longer my own, but thine.

Put me to what thou wilt,

rank me with whom thou wilt.

Put me to doing,

put me to suffering.

Let me be employed for thee

or laid aside for thee,

exalted for thee

or brought low for thee.

Let me be full,

let me be empty.

Let me have all things,

let me have nothing.

I freely and heartily yield all things

to thy pleasure and disposal.

And now, O glorious and blessed God,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

thou art mine, and I am thine.

So be it.

And the covenant which I have made on earth,

let it be ratified in heaven.

Amen

Adapting wording already in existence, John Wesley published this prayer in 1780. It’s a central plank of the annual Covenant Service which Methodists often hold at Watchnight Services marking the turn of the calendar year, or perhaps on the first Sunday after that. The prayer speaks powerfully into that moment of new beginnings and resolutions but seems equally apt as we prepare to enter Passiontide, for it cannot fail to remind us of Jesus’ own prayer in Gethsemane: “Father … remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.” Each line of the Covenant Prayer echoes this handing over of self, this relinquishing of control, this streamlining one’s own longings in line with the longings of God. It is a notoriously testing prayer to pray. It is also regarded as a jewel of Methodism and one of its most distinctive gifts to the wider Church.

Wesley’s simple phrases burn with the fire of love and culminate in a declaration of mutual belonging: “Thou art mine and I am thine”.  In fact, there are also echoes here of marriage vows, of entering into a covenant with a beloved one “for better for worse; for richer for poorer; in sickness or in health”. You can hear something of that love in the way the prayer is sung below and, in its accompanying video, we come across a handful of inspiring figures whose lives have visibly embodied it.