Jesus, Possess Me Whole!

“Jesus, Possess Me Whole!”

The prayer Christians across America
need to be praying for ourselves right now!

David Bryant with Audrey Del Campo

CHRIST NOW family:

If you, like I, are longing for what we call an “American CHRIST Awakening” as our nation stands at another defining precipice, then this guest blog post is for you.

A few weeks ago, I shared a prayer with you by Charles Spurgeon, a 19th-century spiritual giant, giving you my thoughts about how each line of this famous prayer should be reflected in how we pray for the Church in America. I called it the “greatest prayer for a Christward revival ever prayed.” You can read the blog post here.

Today, I want to introduce you to another remarkable prayer.

However, I would term this one as the most strategic prayer Christians across America need to be praying for themselves.

It was written by the world-changing 18th-century evangelist John Wesley. I believe if this short, five-line heart cry became the overriding desire of every Jesus follower in America, God’s answer to his people would transform the entire moral and spiritual climate and direction of our country!

Now, let me introduce you to our guest blogger, Audrey Del Campo. Rev. Audrey, a personal friend and powerful preacher, is a young millennial Gordon Conwell Seminary graduate who serves as the assistant pastor at the Presbyterian church my wife and I attend.

In her brief essay, she has written a deeply meaningful analysis of Wesley’s powerful request in order to help all of us pray as he did.

You won’t regret spending the next three minutes with her!

Wesley’s prayer for a personal Christ Awakening

John Wesley spearheaded both the First and Second Great Awakenings that not only transformed Great Britain but also the American colonies as the new nation was being launched.

Although he preached hundreds of sermons over 40 years, itinerating across England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, above all, he poured out countless hours of prayer for the awakenings that came.

Clearly, the fullest answers to this prayer would be nothing short of a Christ-focused revolution inside our lives and within our churches—and ultimately throughout our nation.

When I think of how our ministry works toward what we call an “American CHRIST Awakening,” at the heart of what we envision is a miraculous work of God that causes the whole Church to become fully alive to the whole Christ.

What does that look like? It looks like the answer to Wesley’s simple prayer—but in ways exceedingly above and beyond what we ask or think (Ephesians 3).

God is “no respecter of persons,” the Bible tells us. What he has done in the past, he is able, willing, and ready to do for any generation—not only for one person but also for a multitude.

Of course, the answer to Wesley’s prayer is impossible—EXCEPT for the transforming grace of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. With that grace, there are no limits to what God could do for the Christian movement in America! Why not cry out to the Father asking for a whole nation populated with millions of Christians who are passionate for the glory of Christ!

Now, be blessed by the deep, heartfelt thoughts of our guest blogger, Audrey Del Campo.

“Jesus, Possess Me Whole!”
Audrey Del Campo

This week, I’ve been blown away by God’s nearness through this prayer by John Wesley:

O Lord, may nothing dwell in my soul
But your pure love alone
Till my every thought, word, and act be love.
Yes, Lord, may your love possess me whole;
You’re my joy, my treasure, my crown!

This prayer takes my breath away. Consider what Wesley is praying here.

What if we prayed like this throughout the whole Body of Christ in our nation? What would it look like for the Father to answer us? Would we call that revival?

O Lord, may nothing dwell in my soul but your pure love alone

This is a bold prayer. A dangerous prayer. It’s an invitation to allow God’s hand to reach down, scoop out everything that is not of Him, and fill us with Christ.

Till my every thought, word, and act be love.

What would our lives look like if every thought, word, and act were love?

But not the kind of love that culture and society redefine over and over again—but the true love of Christ?

What would it look like for us to continuously ask God to empty from us all that’s not of Him and then to fill us with all of Himself?

Yes, Lord, may your love possess me whole.

This line gets me every time.

Speaking like this is transferring ownership of my life from me to Him. We do this the moment we confess Jesus as Lord and Savior.

However, if we’re honest, there’s a fight for the throne of our hearts every day. Who are we allowing to sit on the throne? Who is Lord? Who is King?

Are we yielding just a part of ourselves to Him or allowing Him to possess us whole?

You’re my joy, my treasure, my crown!

This journey of surrender leads to an increased awareness of who Christ is in our lives, and that leads to praise! He is our joy. He is our treasure. He is our crown. He is everything!

A prayer for the whole Body of Christ

Friends, as I’ve been praying these words over my own life, I’ve also been pleading it for my congregation. It feels like a prayer we need to lift up over every church in America today, don’t you think?

May Christ’s love be what dwells within our walls.

May that love push us outside these walls so the community around us may know Him through our thoughts, words, and actions that display His heart.

May His love possess us whole and take full ownership of our dreams, vision, assignment, and purpose, and lead us to His dreams, vision, assignment, and purpose for us.

May we glorify and exalt the name of Jesus, fully knowing that He is our joy, our treasure, and our crown.

Jesus our Shepherd
draws us in and leads us to a place of surrender.

Jesus our Peace
fills us and gives us all we need to take those bold steps.

Jesus our Righteousness
covers us and gives us our identity because we are in Him and He in us.

Jesus our Healer
restores and rejuvenates us so that we can live for Him
and point others to Him as the one who can heal them too.

Dear Abba,
may we know Your love in Christ—
not just in our head, not just in our heart, but in our gut.
Lord Jesus, have Your way.
Yes and amen!
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Enjoy more from Audrey in her new book, Wind and Waves: Resting in His Promises. It is a 40-day devotional book written to encourage and bring peace in the middle of the storms of this life. While we may not be able to control the storms, the Lord teaches us that we can still trust that He is good and that the wind and waves still know His name. Through this book, Audrey hopes to inspire, encourage, and equip you to remain steadfast through the tempest.

It is available now at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

About the Author

Audrey Del Campo is an ordained pastor through ECO, serving at a local church in New Providence, NJ. She is a preacher, worship leader, songwriter, and now author of her first book, Wind and Waves. She loves to minister through worship and the Word of God. Audrey hopes to inspire, encourage, and equip the Church to remain steadfast through the tempest by locking eyes with Jesus and believing that a Christ awakening is coming for this generation.

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