Day 1 – Prevenient Grace: God Was Already There

Scripture: Luke 19:1-10

Before Zacchaeus ever climbed the sycamore tree, Jesus was already coming his way. That is one of the beautiful truths behind the Methodist understanding of prevenient grace. The word prevenient simply means “the grace that comes before.” Before we understand God, before we seek God, before we repent, before we make a decision to follow Christ, God is already at work in our lives. 

John Wesley’s own life illustrates this beautifully. Long before Wesley experienced his famous Aldersgate conversion, God had been shaping him. I’ve visited Wesley’s birth home in England, and the guide explained that as a small boy, Wesley nearly died when the family rectory caught fire. He was rescued through an upstairs window just before the roof collapsed! His mother, Susanna, later referred to him using the biblical phrase “a brand plucked from the burning.” 

Years later, Wesley studied at Oxford, helped form the group known as the “Holy Club,” traveled to Georgia as a missionary, struggled with his faith, and encountered Moravian Christians whose confidence in Christ deeply affected him. He was growing in his faith through each experience. 

Then, on May 24, 1738, Wesley attended a meeting on Aldersgate Street in London. As someone read from Martin Luther’s introduction to Romans, Wesley famously wrote that in that moment, his heart felt “strangely warmed.” It would be easy to say that God entered Wesley’s life that night. But God had been there all along. Looking backward, Wesley could see a trail of grace stretching through his entire life. That is prevenient grace. 

Perhaps you can see the same thing in your own story. Maybe God used a parent or grandparent who took you to church. Maybe a Sunday school teacher's kindness still comes to mind. Perhaps God used a friendship, a difficult season, a hymn, a sermon, or even something you did not recognize as spiritual at the time.

We often think our relationship with God begins when we decide to follow Jesus. Methodists believe something even more wonderful: before we ever reached toward God, God was reaching toward us. And that means we should never give up on another person. Someone in your family may seem far from faith. A neighbor may have no interest in church. Someone may walk through the doors of St. Andrew UMC unsure what they believe. We do not know what God is already doing in that person's life. Our job is not to manufacture grace. Our job is to participate in the grace God has already begun.

Next Step: Think back over your life today. Identify three people, experiences, or moments through which you now recognize that God was quietly drawing you closer. Then pray for one person who seems far from God, trusting that prevenient grace may already be at work.