We had a larger congregation at the renewal of the Covenant than we have had for many years: and I do not know that ever we had a greater blessing. Afterwards many desired to return thanks, either for a sense of pardon, for full salvation, or for a fresh manifestation of his grace, healing all their backslidings.” From his statement above, Wesley brings to our attention the missional essence of Covenant prayer, namely: the desire to return thanks to God; For a sense of pardon; For full salvation or for a manifestation of his grace and healing all backslidings – John Wesley

Backsliding is a severe, missional challenge with severe personal and corporate consequences. Prophet Jeremiah described a backslider as someone who once forsook his or her wicked ways, walked before God with a humble heart and enjoyed the blessings and favour of God (Jer 3). Sadly, God’s people backslide mostly after times of great blessing and prosperity. However, we see one generation after another backsliding against God. Jeremiah’s heart cry was: “Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married to you…” (Jeremiah 3:14). “O Lord…our iniquities testify against us…for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee” (14:7). “(Jerusalem’s) transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased” (5:6).

God told Hosea, “My people are bent to backsliding from me…” (Hosea 11:7). “How shall I pardon thee for this? Thy children have forsaken me and sworn by them that are no gods; when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery…The house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the Lord” (verses 7, 11).

Backsliding, also known as falling away or described as “committing apostasy”, is a term used within Christianity to describe a process by which a church or ‘an individual who has converted to Christianity reverts to pre-conversion habits and/or lapses or falls into sin when a person turns from God to pursue their desire.’ The concept of apostasy connotes an intentional defection from the faith through rebellion, turning away, and falling from God’s standard.

Gospel truth never harmed anyone. According to Marcus Aurelius, ‘what harms is to persist in self-deceit and ignorance.’ John Wesley sought to renew the church rather than establish a new denomination. Hence, he still has much to teach the global church. Wesleyan protocols, including prayer, revival, and holiness, offer missional inspiration for our renewal today. Amid church decline and divisions, Wesley evokes hope, especially in his renewal of Covenant service, with a focus on empowering persons to become Christians and grow as Christians. Beyond institutional tendencies to maintain the system rather than turning to God, Wesley models an expectant faith guided by the Holy Spirit.

Wesley’s mission inspired him to proclaim in one of his famous sermons, “Salvation by Faith,” ‘Here is comfort, high as heaven, stronger than death! What! Mercy for all? For Zacchaeus, a public robber? Mary Magdalene, a common harlot? Methinks, I hear one say, “Then I, even I, may hope for mercy! And so, thou mayest, thou afflicted one, whom none hath comforted … Whatsoever your sins be, ‘though red like crimson,’ though more than the hairs of your head, ‘return ye unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon you; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.’ [1] Wesley’s vision about Covenant service is to raise a renewed missional church ‘with faith rooted in Jesus Christ.’

In his journal, 1st January 1775, John Wesley wrote, “We had a larger congregation at the renewal of the Covenant than we have had for many years: and I do not know that ever we had a greater blessing. Afterwards, many desired to return thanks, either for a sense of pardon, full salvation, or a fresh manifestation of his grace, healing all their backslidings.” From his statement above, Wesley brings to our attention the missional essence of Covenant prayer: the desire to return thanks to God for a sense of pardon, full salvation, or a manifestation of his grace and healing, all backslidings.

John Wesley’s Covenant Prayer started with Richard Alleine, a Puritan who published it in 1663. John Wesley adapted it and first used it in 1755, encouraging people to pray this covenant prayer at the beginning of each new year, first about personal and corporate reaffirmation of relationship with God: Father in heaven, 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 by 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.

The renewal of the Covenant with God takes us further into our goal of Christlikeness and heals all backsliding. Prophet Jonah Jonah’s response to his backsliding resonates with John Wesley’s writings in his journal, 1st January 1775 (Jonah 1). God had a controversy with Jonah, which affected everyone around him just as any act of personal backsliding promoted corporate backsliding. Personal and corporate backsliding in the church today hits everybody: family, leadership, training, and even the nation in general. Backsliding puts the church and its membership in danger if not healed. Using the words of John Wesley, renewal of Covenant offers a missional opportunity for ‘many to return … for a sense of pardon … for full salvation … for a fresh manifestation of his grace, healing all their backsliding.’ The Covenant prayer beyond annual institutional recitation summons us to return to God like Jonah crying out for pardon from the belly of his hell, for full salvation and deliverance.

Beloved, have you backslidden and refused to return to Jesus Christ? Covenant prayer without you swallowing your fear, guilt and condemnation may amount to pouring water in a broken cistern. Covenant prayer is effective, renewing, and redeeming when we receive and believe the message of hope, a message of strength and power in Jesus. The renewal of the Covenant for the healing of a backsliding church calls us to earnest prayer like Jonah in the whale’s belly. The renewal of the Covenant is to open a new, renewing dawn of healing, a church set free from decline, anointed, and back on its mission schedule under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

If God can restore everything for Jonah, He can restore His church through the renewal of the missional Covenant and promise to the backslidden church: “Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord….they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the Lord their God. Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God” (Jeremiah 3:20-22). One of the hymns by Charles Wesley, ‘Sinners, turn; why will ye die? provide a renewing step-by-step process and response for healing a backslider or church. Let us prayerfully sing this hymn:

Verse 1
Sinners, turn; why will ye die?
God, your Maker, asks you why:
God, who did your being give,
Made you with Himself to live;

He the fatal cause demands,
Asks the work of His own hands:
Why, ye thankless creatures, why
Will you cross His love, and die?

Verse 2
Sinners, turn; why will ye die?
God, your Saviour, asks you why:
God, who did your souls retrieve,
Died Himself, that you might live;

Will you let Him die in vain?
Crucify your Lord again?
Why, ye ransomed sinners, why
Will you slight His grace, and die?

Verse 3
Sinners, turn; why will ye die?
God, the Spirit, asks you why:
He who all your lives hath strove,
Wooed you to embrace His love;

Will you not His grace receive?
Will you still refuse to live?
Why, ye long-sought sinners, why
Will you grieve your God, and die?
Verse 4
Can you doubt if God is love,
If to all His yearnings move?
Will you not His word receive?
Will you not His oath believe?

See, your dying Lord appears!
Jesus weeps: believe His tears!
Mingled with His blood they cry
”Why will you resolve to die?”

[1] John Wesley’s sermon, “Salvation by Faith,” Wesley’s Standard Sermons, ed. Edward H. Snyder (London: The Epworth Press, 7th ed, 1968), p. 49.