Piety/Worship

Lessons on Prayer from Godly Old Anglicans

Posted on by Carl Robbins

Thomas-CranmerA few years ago (recognizing my own immaturity in this most necessary spiritual discipline) I began studying prayer. I carefully examined the forms of prayer in the Bible: from the Psalms to the Lord’s Prayer (in Matthew 6) to Christ’s High Priestly prayer (in John 17) to the Apostle Paul’s prayers (Ephesians 1, for example).

We began to be much more impassioned about our corporate prayer meetings and intentionally biblical in our pastoral prayers in our Lord’s Day services.

We even became intentional about the prayers we encourage you to use. On most Sundays we have a Prayer for Preparation on the front of our worship bulletin. You’ll notice that it’s taken from The Book of Common Prayer (BCP).

The BCP was first assembled in 1549 in England, largely by Thomas Cranmer.  Cranmer was an Anglican bishop who had deep sympathies with the Protestant Reformation and was eventually burned at the stake (by Roman Catholic authorities) at the age of 67. His final statements were “as for the pope, I refuse him, as Christ’s enemy, and Antichrist with all his false doctrine.”

As Cranmer was writing the BCP, he wrote “collects” for each Sunday Service.  These collects are what we have printed on the front of our bulletin as an aid to help you prepare for worship. The collect refers to the “collecting up” of the petitions of individuals into one prayer. A collect is a short prayer that asks for one thing only and usually consists of five parts.

1. The Address – where God alone is addressed, never the saints or any other object.

2. The Acknowledgment – reflects some quality of God related to what we will be asking for in the Petition: His power, His Grace, His Kindness, His Wrath.

3. The Petition – here is the Actual Prayer concerning basic needs: cleansing, forgiveness, protection, guidance, comfort, provision.

4. The Aspiration – a stated desire for sanctification and usefulness

5. The Pleading – “Through Jesus Christ our Lord”. Christ is our only mediator and advocate. Through Jesus alone can we draw near to the Father

So, understanding this structure for brief prayer, here is one of the more famous collects from the BCP:

1. Almighty God

2. Unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known & from whom no secrets are hid

3. Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of Thy Holy Spirit.

4. That we may perfectly love thee and worthily magnify Thy holy Name.

5. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen

Carl Robbins
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Carl Robbins
Carl is a native of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, a graduate of Crichton College and Covenant Theological Seminary. Pastor Robbins has served churches in South Carolina, Oklahoma and Nevada. In addition Carl has served on the board of crisis pregnancy centers, Christian schools and seminaries. He has spoken to college groups, medical school forums, state legislative groups, seminary chapels and church conferences. His special passion is training pastors in developing countries. Carl and wife Sandy have been married for 37 years(!) and are the parents of three believing, adult children: John and his wife DeAnna and their children (Bray, Emmie Ruth, and Maggie Grace), James and his wife Megen and their children (Jack and Lainey Janice), and Sarah and her husband Andrew Holmes. Carl and Sandy love OU football, big dogs, good Mexican food, and the beach—any beach, any time.