Christians often ask how spiritual growth actually happens. How are hearts changed, habits healed, and love made holy? In the Wesleyan tradition, the answer is beautifully concrete. God forms us through what John Wesley called the means of grace.
The means of grace are the ordinary practices through which God continually pours out transforming grace. They are not spiritual shortcuts or techniques for self-improvement. They are God’s chosen instruments for shaping us into the likeness of Christ.
What Are the Means of Grace?
Wesley defined the means of grace as outward signs, words, or actions ordained by God and appointed for this end: to be the ordinary channels through which God conveys prevenient, justifying, and sanctifying grace.
In plain language, these are the practices through which God reliably meets us. Wesley consistently named practices such as searching the Scriptures, prayer, the Lord’s Supper, fasting, Christian conferencing, and works of mercy.
As he explains in Sermons on Several Occasions, these practices are not optional extras. They are the God-given environment in which spiritual life is sustained and deepened.
The Word: Scripture That Shapes the Heart
Wesley called Scripture the primary means of grace. Through the written Word, the living Word addresses us, convicts us, comforts us, and teaches us to love rightly.
“The word of God is living and active,” the author of Hebrews writes (Hebrews 4:12, NIV). Wesley believed that regular engagement with Scripture was essential not only for right belief but for holy living.
Reading, hearing, and studying the Bible places us under God’s formative authority. As William Abraham notes in The Logic of Evangelism, Scripture is not merely informational. It is sacramental in character, a means through which God acts upon us.
Prayer: Opening Ourselves to God’s Work
Prayer is the means of grace that trains us in dependence. In prayer, we do not inform God of what God does not know. We open ourselves to what God longs to give.
Wesley urged Methodists to practice both personal and communal prayer. He understood prayer as cooperation with grace, not competition with it. As we pray, our desires are reordered, our loves are clarified, and our wills are aligned with God’s will.
Jesus himself promised, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find” (Matthew 7:7, NIV). Prayer does not twist God’s arm. It trains our hearts to receive what God is already eager to pour out.
Sacrament: Grace We Can Taste and See
Wesley held a robust theology of the sacraments, especially the Lord’s Supper. He referred to Communion as a converting ordinance and urged frequent participation.
In the sacrament, grace is not merely remembered. It is received. God meets us through bread and cup, strengthening faith and nourishing love.
Thomas Oden writes in Classic Christianity that the sacraments are visible words through which God confirms the promises of the gospel. Wesley agreed. The table is not a reward for the righteous but food for pilgrims on the way to holiness.
Works of Mercy: Grace in Action
Wesley insisted that works of mercy are means of grace alongside works of piety. Visiting the sick, feeding the hungry, caring for the poor, and seeking justice are not simply moral obligations. They are channels through which God forms holy love in us.
Jesus identifies himself with the needy, saying, “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat” (Matthew 25:35, NIV). In serving others, we encounter Christ and are reshaped by that encounter.
Kenneth Collins explains in The Theology of John Wesley that holiness for Wesley was never inward alone. Grace received must become grace expressed.
Why the Ordinary Matters
The genius of the means of grace is their simplicity. God does not require extraordinary spiritual feats. God meets us in ordinary practices faithfully repeated over time.
The means of grace do not earn God’s favor. They place us where grace is already flowing. As Kevin Watson emphasizes in A Blueprint for Discipleship, transformation occurs as believers consistently show up to the practices God has promised to use.
Through Word and prayer, sacrament and mercy, God patiently forms us into people of love.
A Closing Prayer
Gracious God,
Thank you for meeting us in ordinary practices.
As we open Scripture, teach us.
As we pray, shape our desires.
As we receive your sacraments, strengthen our faith.
As we serve others, form your love within us.
Make us faithful to the means through which you make us holy.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
R Y A N S T R A T T O N 