Verse 1
Father of light,[1] from whom proceeds
Whate’er thy ev’ry creature needs,
Whose goodness providently nigh
Feeds the young ravens when they cry;
To thee I look; my heart prepare,
Suggest, and hearken to my pray’r.

Verse 2
Since by thy light myself I see
Naked, and poor, and void of thee,
Thine eyes must all my thoughts survey,
Preventing what my lips would say:
Thou seest my wants; for help they call,
And ere I speak, thou know’st them all.

Verse 3
Thou know’st the baseness of my mind
Wayward, and impotent and blind,
Thou know’st how unsubdu’d my will,
Averse to good, and prone to ill:
Thou know’st how wide my passions rove,
Nor check’d by fear, nor charm’d by love.

Verse 4
Fain would I know, as known by thee,
And feel the indigence I see;
Fain would I all my vileness own,
And deep beneath the burden groan:
Abhor the pride that lurks within,
Detest and loath myself and sin.

Verse 5
Ah give me, Lord, myself to feel,
My total misery reveal:
Ah give me, Lord, (I still would say)
A heart to mourn, a heart to pray;
My business this, my only care,
My life, my ev’ry breath be pray’r.

Verse 6
Scarce I begin my sad complaint,
When all my warmest wishes faint;
Hardly I lift my weeping eye,
When all my kindling ardors die;
Nor hopes nor fears my bosom move,
For still I cannot, cannot love.

Verse 7
Father, I want a thankful heart;
I want to taste how good thou art,
To plunge me in thy mercy’s sea,
And comprehend thy love to me;
The breadth, and length, and depth, and height
Of love divinely infinite.

Verse 8
Father, I long my soul to raise
And dwell for ever on thy praise,
Thy praise with glorious joy to tell,
In extasy unspeakable;
While the full pow’r of FAITH I know,
And reign triumphant here below.

[1] Wesley changed “light” to “lights” in the second edition.