I am new to Anglicanism. The style of worship is significantly different from what I've been used to. I do find, however, that I am able to engage more emotionally with God during worship these days. And while one reason for that is that I have been changed in important ways, another is the kind of worship I now participate in, Anglican worship.
As I continue to explore Anglican worship, I have one particular guiding light that is important to me. Before I adopt a particular worship practice, I need to understand it. I need to understand the significance of what I would be doing. Without this, my worship would become empty, just going through the motions. Worship - the worship that pleases God - is, first and foremost, a matter of the heart. A heart engaged in the worship of God needs a measure of understanding.
Before I moved to Peoria, I thought about crossing myself before my personal prayers. Understanding what that signifies, I decided to adopt that habit. Each Sunday there is water at the entrance of what will, in a few moments, become the sanctuary where we will worship God. The water is for a worshipper to apply to himself before entering. This was new to me. But again, once I was able to understand what it signifies, I decided to make that a practice of mine also.
Now, I want to take all of this and apply it to something else that Anglicans do: collects. A collect is a certain kind of prayer with a certain kind of structure. I think that it can be quite helpful to take a look at what that structure is. Having done some research (Let's hear it for the internet!) this is what I found.
A collect usually has five parts.
1. Address - The prayer begins by naming the God of our worship.
2. Acknowledgement - The quality or characteristic of God is mentioned upon which the prayer request is based.
3. Petition - We ask for a specific thing that we need: guidance, forgiveness, faith, etc.
4. Aspiration - The result that we hope will come out of the granting of our petition.
5. Pleading - The prayer is said through Jesus Christ.
You can see this structure in the Prayer of Preparation that we pray.
1. Almighty God,
2. to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid:
3. Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
4. that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name;
5. through Christ our Lord.
My goal in writing this goes beyond simply explaining an Anglican-style prayer. I'd like to suggest that this may have lessons about your personal prayers as you consider the structure of a collect.
1. How do you understand the God whom you are addressing?
2. What is He like and what has He done for you? How does that relate to what you will request?
3. What exactly are you asking for?
4. What are you hoping for if He grants your request?
5. Do you understand how Jesus' intercession affects your prayers?
I think that some quiet meditation on questions like these can lead to a richer prayer life which, in turn, will lead to a richer relationship with the God who hears our prayers.
As I continue to explore Anglican worship, I have one particular guiding light that is important to me. Before I adopt a particular worship practice, I need to understand it. I need to understand the significance of what I would be doing. Without this, my worship would become empty, just going through the motions. Worship - the worship that pleases God - is, first and foremost, a matter of the heart. A heart engaged in the worship of God needs a measure of understanding.
Before I moved to Peoria, I thought about crossing myself before my personal prayers. Understanding what that signifies, I decided to adopt that habit. Each Sunday there is water at the entrance of what will, in a few moments, become the sanctuary where we will worship God. The water is for a worshipper to apply to himself before entering. This was new to me. But again, once I was able to understand what it signifies, I decided to make that a practice of mine also.
Now, I want to take all of this and apply it to something else that Anglicans do: collects. A collect is a certain kind of prayer with a certain kind of structure. I think that it can be quite helpful to take a look at what that structure is. Having done some research (Let's hear it for the internet!) this is what I found.
A collect usually has five parts.
1. Address - The prayer begins by naming the God of our worship.
2. Acknowledgement - The quality or characteristic of God is mentioned upon which the prayer request is based.
3. Petition - We ask for a specific thing that we need: guidance, forgiveness, faith, etc.
4. Aspiration - The result that we hope will come out of the granting of our petition.
5. Pleading - The prayer is said through Jesus Christ.
You can see this structure in the Prayer of Preparation that we pray.
1. Almighty God,
2. to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid:
3. Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
4. that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name;
5. through Christ our Lord.
My goal in writing this goes beyond simply explaining an Anglican-style prayer. I'd like to suggest that this may have lessons about your personal prayers as you consider the structure of a collect.
1. How do you understand the God whom you are addressing?
2. What is He like and what has He done for you? How does that relate to what you will request?
3. What exactly are you asking for?
4. What are you hoping for if He grants your request?
5. Do you understand how Jesus' intercession affects your prayers?
I think that some quiet meditation on questions like these can lead to a richer prayer life which, in turn, will lead to a richer relationship with the God who hears our prayers.
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