Give Me the Faith Which Can Remove

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1. Give me the faith which can remove and sink the mountain to a plain; give me the childlike praying love, which longs to build thy house again; thy love, let it my heart o'er-power, and all my simple soul devour.

2. I would the precious time redeem, and longer live for this along, to spend and to be spent for them who have not yet my Savior known; fully on these my mission prove, and only breathe, to breathe thy love.

3. My talents, gifts, and graces, Lord, into thy blessed hands receive; and let me live to preach thy word, and let me to thy glory live; my every sacred moment spend in publishing the sinner's Friend.

4. Enlarge, inflame, and fill my heart with boundless charity divine, so shall I all my strength exert, and love them with a zeal like thine, and lead them to thy open side, the sheep for whom the Shepherd died.

Words by: Charles Wesley
Music by: Henry Carey;
harm. from The English Hymnal

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Story of the hymn Give Me the Faith Which Can Remove by Charles Wesley

Background

Wesley looks back with longing to the intense zeal of his early evangelistic work after his conversion in 1738. He then prays for a fresh empowerment - faith strong enough to "remove" mountains (echoing Matthew 17:20 and Mark 11:23), childlike praying love, and a burning desire to rescue souls.

John Wesley later edited his brother's often highly personal language for wider use. The familiar opening stanza ("Give me the faith which can remove / And sink the mountain to a plain...") became the standard beginning of the shortened version that appears in most hymnals. Later collections (including the 1780 "Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodists") further refined the text.

Context in Wesley's Life

Charles wrote the hymn around the time of his marriage to Sarah (Sally) Gwynne in 1749. After years of intense itinerant preaching, he was settling more into family life in Bristol while still deeply committed to gospel ministry. The poem reflects both nostalgia for the early fire of the Methodist revival and a continuing passion for evangelism, self-surrender of gifts and talents, and Christ-like love for the lost.

The hymn is a prayer for active, working faith - faith that not only believes but moves obstacles, rebuilds God's house, and drives the preacher to "spend and be spent" for those who do not yet know the Saviour. Its themes of mountain-moving faith, soul-winning zeal, and total consecration have kept it in use, especially in Methodist, Free Church, and other Protestant traditions. Common tunes associated with it include Carey's Surrey (Henry Carey) and others such as Stella or settings linked to Mozart. The text remains in the public domain.

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