Prayer Course, "Forms of Prayer"

Prayer Course, Session VIII 14th Nov 2010
Forms of Prayer
I. Written Prayers
Throughout its history, the Christian Church has largely used written prayers in its worship. If you look in the back of the Psalter Hymnal, you will see liturgies for baptismal, the Lord’s Supper, marriage, excommunication, readmission to communicant status, ordination, and marriage. There are many written prayers within these liturgies. The same is true of the various Presbyterian churches, the Methodist Church, the Reformed Church in America, and of course those denominations noted for being “liturgical churches,” the Episcopal Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the various branches of Eastern Orthodoxy. Written prayers have been the norm for most of the life of the Church, and, indeed, in the synagogue before it.
It is quite understandable that this would be so in a society in which many, if not most, people could not read or write. Through a steady liturgy which did not change much from week, people could learn the form of the service and participate in it. They could learn prayers that said covered the most important aspects of life and of living as a Christian. Of course, there has always been the danger that learned prayers will be used as though the person speaking were a parrot, knowing the words, but not the intent or nature of the prayer – but for a sincere person, the prayers could give voice to the heart and say what needed to be said the Lord.
Some people have said that since written prayers can become lifeless and mechanical, the best way to pray is to use extemporaneous prayer at all times. The trouble with that idea is that we human beings are creatures of habit, and we may just use stock phrases time after time, without thinking about what we say. Extemporaneous prayer can also ignore entire topics or ideas, simply because the person praying has not thought of them.
There are advantages and perils to both written and extemporaneous prayers. Indeed, as I have been thinking about this, it has come to me that there is no “safe” method of living the Christian life. We cannot say, “If I do these things, and do not do those other things, I am certain to please God.” That is the way the Pharisees thought, and because they focused on their traditions and not on God, they became proud, and eventually they twisted their traditions away from the commands of God. Sin is not something we can avoid by setting up exactly the right system, because sin starts in the human heart. We have to be constantly aware of our need for grace. Without such an awareness, it is all too easy to fall into presumption and into taking God for granted.
Which is better: written prayers or extemporaneous prayers? Since the purpose of prayer is to enjoy the company of God and to share our hearts with him, we use whichever will enable us to do that. When I have a household repair job to do, I take my toolbox out and choose the best tools for what I am going to do. It is the same with prayer: what will best allow me to open my heart to God? Sometimes it will be a written form, sometimes it will be extemporaneous, sometimes a combination – and sometimes I have to call someone or attend a small group of some kind. A hammer is not the best tool for all household tasks, and no one kind or style of prayer is the best at all times and in all situations.
This morning I want to talk about some of the various forms of prayer that were developed in the Church over the centuries. While most of us use extempore prayer in personal devotions, in small group settings, and in worship, the use of various forms of prayer can add to our capacity to open our hearts to God. While we have the promise that the Holy Spirit will interpret our prayers to the Father, expressing our praise and concerns more fully than we are able, we also have the Apostle Paul saying, in 1 Cor 14:15, “I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also. The wisdom and insight of those who have gone before us in the Christian path can help us to express what we most deeply desire to God.
I am going to be using prayers mostly from the Episcopal tradition because that is what I am most familiar with, but most of these prayers reflect the forms that have been used across many different churches. As I said a moment ago, virtually all the denominations that are rooted in the Reformation have a variety of written prayers to be used in services. Some have many, others relatively few, but the written services of the various bodies tells us that written forms of prayer help us both to express our hearts to God and to inform our hearts about what is true and good.
II. The Collect
The first form of prayer I want to look at is the collect. This is a form of prayer that we use every week. It is a prayer form that developed in the western Church. It is hard to say how it got the name of “Collect.” It may have meant that a group of people had “collected” themselves together to worship, and they said the prayer together. Or it may have meant that the prayer was intended to collect together the silent prayers of those who had gathered. In liturgical churches, there is a collect assigned to each Sunday, along with specific Bible readings, and at Virginian Seminary one of the professors said that the collect of the day collected together the common theme of the readings.
At any rate, this short prayer is called a “collect,” and it has a simple form: an invocation of God, an ascription that focuses on one aspect of God’s character or attributes, a request related to that aspect, and usually a Trinitarian closing. I am going to show you three classic collects. Sometimes one part is missing, but that is the basic structure of the collect.
The first is the Collect for Purity. This is usually prayed at the beginning of the Communion service in Anglican congregations: “ALMIGHTY God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid; Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
The ascription focuses on God’s omniscience, and the request asks that the hearts that the Lord sees and knows will be cleansed, so that the worship to follow will be fitting for the Lord who is being adored.
The next two collects are found in the service of Morning Prayer, the Collect for Peace and the Collect for Grace. We always stand in need of both peace and grace, so they are used in every daily prayer service.
The Collect for Peace says, “O GOD, who art the author of peace and lover of concord, in knowledge of whom standeth our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedom; Defend us thy humble servants in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in thy defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries, through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
This collect actually has three ascriptions. The first is that God is the author of peace and one who loves concord, or peaceful relationships. The second acknowledges that eternal life is found only in relationship to the living God. The third focuses on the reality that serving God leads to freedom, while not serving God leads to enslavement by sin. Only the first ascription is reflected in the request: “Defend us thy humble servants in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in thy defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries, through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord” Life may bring many challenges, but if we are in the Lord’s hands and depending upon him, we can have peace even while we are beset on all side, for God is in control.
The Collect for Grace prays, “O Lord, our heavenly Father, Almighty and everlasting God, who hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day; Defend us in the same with thy mighty power; and grant that this day we fall into no sin, neither run into any kind of danger; but that all our doings, being ordered by thy governance, may be righteous in thy sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
The grace that this prayer asks for seems to be more sustaining grace than saving grace, but it does recognize quite clearly that without God’s gracious presence and power, we are in danger from outside ourselves and from within ourselves, and that it is only by his grace that we are able to do what is right and good.
The collect form is probably the most common form of written prayer. The prayer in our weekly bulletin is a collect. I have noticed that sometimes it is the collect appointed for that particular Sunday according to the Christian calendar, according to the Book of Common Prayer, although most of the time it is not. In any event, we use the collect form at Fairlawn week by week.
I think of the collect as the jewel of written prayers. It is a short form of prayer, but in recalling a particular quality of God’s character or one of his attributes, and then making a request in which that attribute is used on our behalf, it gives us a lot to consider as we pray. I use the Collect for Purity and the Collect for Grace in my daily prayers. While they are short, it still takes me some time as I pray, because one can adore the Lord while considering his character and attributes in using these prayers, and then recall particular aspects of one’s life and heart while making the request. A good collect can give much food for thoughtful prayer, as one applies it to oneself.
III. The Litany
While many of us are not familiar with the name “collect” for a prayer, we are familiar with the word “litany.” This is another ancient form of prayer. It is a form intended for congregational use, in which the leader makes a brief invocation or intercession and the congregation makes a reply. The reply is usually consistent over the entire litany or smaller sections of it.
Here is the Great Litany from the Book of Common Prayer. The Great Litany was the first prayer in English during the Reformation in England. It was translated and revised in 1545, about four years before the Book of Common Prayer was adopted. The roots of the Christian litany go back to the Fourth Century. The litany form may have been used in the prayers of the synagogue at the time of Christ and earlier.
Although I am not going to look at the entire Great Litany, here it is:
O GOD the Father, Creator of heaven and earth;
Have mercy upon us.
O God the Son, Redeemer of the world;
Have mercy upon us.
O God the Holy Ghost, Sanctifier of the faithful;
Have mercy upon us.
O holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, one God;
Have mercy upon us.

REMEMBER not, Lord, our offences, nor the offences of our forefathers; neither take thou vengeance of our sins: Spare us, good Lord, spare thy people, whom thou hast redeemed with thy most precious blood, and be not angry with us for ever.
Spare us, good Lord.

From all evil and mischief; from sin; from the crafts and assaults of the devil; from thy wrath, and from everlasting damnation,
Good Lord, deliver us.
From all blindness of heart; from pride, vainglory, and hypocrisy; from envy, hatred, and malice, and all uncharitableness,
Good Lord, deliver us.
From all inordinate and sinful affections; and from all the deceits of the world, the flesh, and the devil,
Good Lord, deliver us.
From lightning and tempest; from earthquake, fire, and flood; from plague, pestilence, and famine; from battle and murder, and from sudden death,
Good Lord, deliver us.
From all sedition, privy conspiracy, and rebellion; from all false doctrine, heresy, and schism; from hardness of heart, and contempt of thy Word and Commandment,
Good Lord, deliver us.
By the mystery of thy holy Incarnation; by thy holy Nativity and Circumcision; by thy Baptism, Fasting, and Temptation,
Good Lord, deliver us.
By thine Agony and Bloody Sweat; by thy Cross and Passion; by thy precious Death and Burial; by thy glorious Resurrection and Ascension, and by the Coming of the Holy Ghost,
Good Lord, deliver us.
In all time of our tribulation; in all time of our prosperity; in the hour of death, and in the day of judgment,
Good Lord, deliver us.

We sinners do beseech thee to hear us, O Lord God; and that it may please thee to rule and govern thy holy Church universal in the right way;
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee so to rule the heart of thy servant, The President of the United States, that he may above all things seek thy honour and glory;
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to bless and preserve all Christian Rulers and Magistrates, giving them grace to execute justice, and to maintain truth;
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to illuminate all Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, with true knowledge and understanding of thy Word; and that both by their preaching and living they may set it forth, and show it accordingly;
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to send forth labourers into thy harvest;
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to bless and keep all thy people;
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to give to all nations unity, peace, and concord;
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to give us an heart to love and fear thee, and diligently to live after thy commandments;
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to give to all thy people increase of grace to hear meekly thy Word, and to receive it with pure affection, and to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit;
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to bring into the way of truth all such as have erred, and are deceived;
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to strengthen such as do stand; and to comfort and help the weak-hearted; and to raise up those who fall; and finally to beat down Satan under our feet;
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to succour, help, and comfort, all who are in danger, necessity, and tribulation;
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

That it may please thee to preserve all who travel by land, by water, or by air, all women in child-birth, all sick persons, and young children; and to show thy pity upon all prisoners and captives;
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to defend, and provide for, the fatherless children, and widows, and all who are desolate and oppressed;
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to have mercy upon all men;
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to forgive our enemies, persecutors, and slanderers, and to turn their hearts;
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to give and preserve to our use the kindly fruits of the earth, so that in due time we may enjoy them;
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to give us true repentance; to forgive us all our sins, negligences, and ignorances; and to endue us with the grace of thy Holy Spirit to amend our lives according to thy holy Word;
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

Son of God, we beseech thee to hear us.
Son of God, we beseech thee to hear us.
O Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world;
Grant us thy peace.
O Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world;
Have mercy upon us.
O Christ, hear us.
O Christ, hear us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
The Great Litany begins with an invocation of each of the persons of the Trinity, and then confesses sin and appeals to God’s mercy, both for forgiveness and for protection from the things that lead to sin. The congregational responses are “Have mercy upon us” as the Trinity is invoked, and then “Good Lord, deliver us.” Then there are requests for the things that are required for life in this age, as individuals, as members of the Christian Church, and as citizens of a nation. While we were considering the Lord’s Prayer, we noted that the supplication for “our daily bread” included all that we need for life, and the petitions in this litany help us to remember and reflect on the specifics of daily bread. The response of the congregation to these requests is “We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.” There are three requests near the end of the Litany that focus on some difficult areas of spiritual growth and life – repentance, forgiveness of our enemies, and victory over sin and Satan.
The concluding requests of the Great Litany call upon Jesus Christ as our merciful Savior. This litany is a long and comprehensive one. There are other litanies that aer shorter and focus more on one area of life or one aspect of prayer, such as a litany of thanksgiving.
Here is the “Micah Sunday Litany,” available from the CRC Worship resources. It focuses on our responsibility to help those in need:
A MICAH SUNDAY LITANY
Leader: What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?
People: God, open our ears, our hearts and our minds to your call.
Leader: In a world of injustice, violence and pain, forgive us for turning away from the suffering of your people.
People: God, open our ears, our eyes and our hearts to the needs around us.
Leader: Teach us to walk more closely with you. Empower us to walk hand-in-hand with those in need so that, together, we may reflect your good intentions for the world.
People: God, use our hands and our hearts to serve others.
Leader: Challenge us on life’s journey to do justice, love kindness and to walk humbly with you, O God. Amen.
IV. Confessions
At Fairlawn we use a collect each week. I cannot recall using a litany here, but I do know that we use another form of prayer each week, the prayer of confession. There seem to be about five or six confessions, rotating on a weekly basis. One is based on a confession from the Communion service of the Book of Common Prayer, another is based on the liturgy of John Knox, and one is from the Psalter/Hymnal. I do not know the source of the other prayers of confession.
They all have some things in common: an admission of the various ways in which we sin, an acceptance of responsibility, and an appeal for mercy, based not on our merit or even upon our repentance but upon the Lord Jesus. Some prayers of confession simply say “for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord,” while others will appeal to his work on the cross.
Here are the two confessions from The Book of Common Prayer. The first is used in Morning Prayer and the second in Communion.
A General Confession (From Morning Prayer)
To be said by the whole Congregation, after the Minister, all kneeling.
ALMIGHTY and most merciful Father; We have erred, and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against thy holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; And we have done those things which we ought not to have done; And there is no health in us. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. Spare thou those, O God, who confess their faults. Restore thou those who are penitent; According to thy promises declared unto mankind In Christ Jesus our Lord. And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake; That we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, To the glory of thy holy Name. Amen.
A General Confession (From Holy Communion)
ALMIGHTY God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Maker of all things, Judge of all men; We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, Which we, from time to time, most grievously have committed, By thought, word, and deed, Against thy Divine Majesty, Provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us. We do earnestly repent, And are heartily sorry for these our misdoings; The remembrance of them is grievous unto us; The burden of them is intolerable. Have mercy upon us, Have mercy upon us, most merciful Father; For thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, Forgive us all that is past; And grant that we may ever hereafter Serve and please thee In newness of life, To the honour and glory of thy Name; Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The first confession contains the phrases, “and there is no health in us” and “miserable offenders,” which point to the Reformed doctrine of total depravity, or as RC Sproul has put it, “radical corruption.” While in the common grace of God, we are not as bad as we could be, the warping nature of sin has touched every aspect of our being. Part of the departure of the Episcopal Church from orthodox Christian faith was the elimination of those two phrases in the 1979 edition of the BCP. But when we confess our sins, it is a good thing to admit that we are sinful to the core of our being and that our only hope is the grace of God. It may be tempting to think, “We human beings may be imperfect, but we’re not all that bad.” If we want to feel better about ourselves by this thought, we can do so – but then it is also very easy to depend upon our own efforts and not the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus as the basis of our standing before God.
One reason why the Christian church has used written prayers is to teach sound theology. Unfortunately, poorly written prayers can teach unsound theology. Written prayers are useful for giving words to thoughts and emotions we may be struggling to express in our own words. It is necessary, however, to be sure that the written prayers we use not only give the words we need to speak our hearts to God, but also express the truths of the Bible. Since prayer is communion with God, we want to express our hearts to God, but we also want to hear his heart, and only Biblical truth will let us know God’s heart and will.
V. A Bidding Prayer
I want to conclude our look at forms of prayer with two more prayers. One is another form of prayer and the other is simply a classic prayer that I have found useful both in congregational settings and in helping me in my personal prayers.
The first is what is known as a “bidding prayer.” That is, the officiant at worship asks, or bids, the prayers of the congregation for certain areas of life, both temporal and spiritual. The following is the only example of this sort of prayer I have seen, but there are others, I am sure.
A Bidding Prayer.
GOOD Christian People, I bid your prayers for Christ's holy Catholic Church, the blessed company of all faithful people; that it may please God to confirm and strengthen it in purity of faith, in holiness of life, and in perfectness of love, and to restore to it the witness of visible unity; and more especially for that branch of the same planted by God in this land, whereof we are members; that in all things it may work according to God's will, serve him faithfully, and worship him acceptably.
Ye shall pray for the President of these United States, and for the Governor of this State, and for all that are in authority; that all, and every one of them, may serve truly in their several callings to the glory of God, and the edifying and well-governing of the people, remembering the account they shall be called upon to give at the last great day.
Ye shall also pray for the ministers of God's Holy Word and Sacraments; for Bishops [and herein more especially for the Bishop of this Diocese], that they may minister faithfully and wisely the discipline of Christ; likewise for all Priests and Deacons [and herein more especially for the Clergy here residing], that they may shine as lights in the world, and in all things may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour.
And ye shall pray for a due supply of persons fitted to serve God in the Ministry and in the State; and to that end, as well as for the good education of all the youth of this land, ye shall pray for all schools, colleges, and seminaries of sound and godly learning, and for all whose hands are open for their maintenance; that whatsoever tends to the advancement of true religion and useful learning may for ever flourish and abound.
Ye shall pray for all the people of these United States, that they may live in the true faith and fear of God, and in brotherly charity one towards another.
Ye shall pray also for all who travel by land, sea, or air; for all prisoners and captives; for all who are in sickness or in sorrow; for all who have fallen into grievous sin; for all who, through temptation, ignorance, helplessness, grief, trouble, dread, or the near approach of death, especially need our prayers.
Ye shall also praise God for rain and sunshine; for the fruits of the earth; for the products of all honest industry; and for all his good gifts, temporal and spiritual, to us and to all men.
Finally, ye shall yield unto God most high praise and hearty thanks for the wonderful grace and virtue declared in all his saints, who have been the choice vessels of his grace and the lights of the world in their several generations; and pray unto God, that we may have grace to direct our lives after their good examples; that, this life ended, we may be made partakers with them of the glorious resurrection, and the life everlasting.
And now, brethren, summing up all our petitions, and all our thanksgivings, in the words which Christ hath taught us, we make bold to say,
OUR Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
This prayer covers many aspects of the requests the apostles taught us to pray for – for the Church, for “kings and all in authority,” for spiritual well-being, for our life together, for health and strength. There are also thanksgivings for God’s common grace in living upon a fruitful earth and for the grace he has shown us in the lives of those who have followed him in years past. When I have experienced this prayer in worship, the leader did not just read these biddings for prayer as quickly as possible, but rather with slowly and with pauses from one topic to the next. In that way, the entire congregation is united in prayer, but each person can frame the prayers on a particular subject from his or her own knowledge and perspective.
The final prayer I want to look at is the General Thanksgiving used at the end of Morning Prayer:
Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we, thine unworthy servants, do give thee most humble and hearty thanks for all thy goodness and lovingkindness to us, and to all men; [particularly to those who desire now to offer up their praises and thanksgivings for thy late mercies vouchsafed unto them.] We bless thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all, for thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we beseech thee, give us that due sense of all thy mercies that our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful; and that we show forth thy praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to thy service, and by walking before thee in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.
This is a short prayer, but it covers a lot of ground. It gives thanks to God for both common and saving grace. It offers an opportunity for members of the congregation to offer their own particular thanks for special blessings they have received. And it concludes the thanks with an appeal to be enabled to respond to God’s graciousness in the best way possible, living a life that honors God, extends his kingdom, and reflects his character.
Many congregations that uphold biblical teachings rely almost exclusively on extemporaneous prayer for their congregational worship and in small groups of various kinds. Extemporaneous prayer can express the needs and thanks with great precision because it can state specifics about both. But just as we have the treasure of theological though from the great Reformers, we also have the treasure of the worship and prayers of those who have gone before us. That gives us two great resources for our prayer – the written prayers from the past, and our insights into the present situation and its blessings and needs. I believe that we need both to enjoy our time with God as we lift our prayers and praise to him.