Reformed Churchmen

We are Confessional Calvinists and a Prayer Book Church-people. In 2012, we remembered the 350th anniversary of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer; also, we remembered the 450th anniversary of John Jewel's sober, scholarly, and Reformed "An Apology of the Church of England." In 2013, we remembered the publication of the "Heidelberg Catechism" and the influence of Reformed theologians in England, including Heinrich Bullinger's Decades. For 2014: Tyndale's NT translation. For 2015, John Roger, Rowland Taylor and Bishop John Hooper's martyrdom, burned at the stakes. Books of the month. December 2014: Alan Jacob's "Book of Common Prayer" at: http://www.amazon.com/Book-Common-Prayer-Biography-Religious/dp/0691154813/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417814005&sr=8-1&keywords=jacobs+book+of+common+prayer. January 2015: A.F. Pollard's "Thomas Cranmer and the English Reformation: 1489-1556" at: http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Cranmer-English-Reformation-1489-1556/dp/1592448658/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420055574&sr=8-1&keywords=A.F.+Pollard+Cranmer. February 2015: Jaspar Ridley's "Thomas Cranmer" at: http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Cranmer-Jasper-Ridley/dp/0198212879/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422892154&sr=8-1&keywords=jasper+ridley+cranmer&pebp=1422892151110&peasin=198212879

Friday, April 4, 2014

(4 Apr 14) Church Soc: Formulary Friday, BCP Collects

Formulary Friday: Collecting our prayers Posted by Mark Smith, 4 Apr 2014


The distinctive structure of the Prayer Book Collects is very helpful in composing our own prayers, in private and public, says Mark Smith. The Prayer Book Collects are like precious, highly-polished jewels adorning a crown. They are the short prayers which ‘collect’ together particular concerns and themes expressed in the liturgy – and invariably combine clear and easily-memorable phrasing with a highly concentrated shot of sound doctrine. We’ll have the opportunity to look at particular Collects on other occasions, but for now, let me suggest that the distinctive structure of the Prayer Book Collects gives us a very helpful model for composing our own prayers – whether in our personal prayer times, or in public worship. The Collects begin with the Address. They start by addressing God – they remind us that prayer begins when we direct our gaze away from ourselves, and call upon the name of the Lord. In almost all of the Collects, the prayer is offered directly to the Father, following the model of Jesus in the Lord’s Prayer. They then move on, secondly, to the Acknowledgement. Having addressed God, we look to his character, rather than to our particular wants or needs – it orientates us to his glory, it helps us to see things from his perspective. So this might be an acknowledgement of God’s power or his grace, his love or his mercy. Thirdly, we have the Petition. These tend to be no-nonsense, stripping away all the verbiage we can use to obscure or disguise our requests, and getting to the heart of the matter. Again, it’s helpful for us to be thinking, as we pray – ‘what’s really at the centre of this prayer – what am I really asking for, what’s the deeper thing I need God’s grace to deal with?’ The petitions in the Prayer Book Collects ask for cleansing, for protection, for holiness and the power of service, for love, and God’s comfort in adversity. Fourthly, we get to the Aspiration. The conjunction ‘that’ often introduces the aim that lies behind the petition – do not pray, for instance, simply for pardon and peace – rather they are desired so that we may be cleansed from all our sins, and serve God with a quiet mind (Trinity XXI). Once we’ve identified the root of our need in prayer, we must consider how God’s answering of that need might have a greater role, a greater purpose. God does not answer prayer for our own selfish enjoyment, but for his greater glory. Fifthly and finally comes the Plea. We have come before God, we have called to mind his gracious character, we have presented our petitions and besought that they might be answered for his glorious purposes. We now close our prayer ‘through Jesus Christ our Lord’. Our Lord Jesus, the Prayer Book keeps reminding us, is our only mediator and advocate, and it is through him alone that we can draw near to the Father. Our greatest encouragement, when we pray, is that we have a Redeemer, by whose sacrifice we have been forgiven, and by whose Spirit we can cry, ‘Abba, Father’. As we’re in Lent, let’s see how those five stages are mapped out in the Ash Wednesday Collect, which the Prayer Book bids us say daily:


 For the rest, see: http://churchsociety.org/blog/entry/formulary_friday_collecting_our_prayers#When:06:00:00Z

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