REFORMING PUBLIC WORSHIP: BEGIN WITH PRAYER
Dear Friends,
At least once a month I share the flow of our 10am service when we have Holy Communion. I describe the flow as: First, Jesus gathers His people; then, God speaks to us by His Word written; then, we enter into Holy Communion; and then the Holy Spirit sends us out. I have used non-technical words, but I believe this is one valid way to understand how the English Reformation understood the flow of the service of public worship where the Lord’s Supper, or Holy Communion, is celebrated. Today I will look at just one part of this flow, or order, namely the key role that good prayer plays in Jesus gathering His people.
The English Reformation, as seen in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, emphasized the Biblical notion that prayer to the Triune God is the proper place to begin common/public worship. It does this by having two prayers prayed to begin the service.
In the 1662 service, the service begins with the Presbyter (the pastor or ordained elder) praying the Lord’s Prayer while the people kneel in prayer. This is both a prayer, and a reminder to the congregation that Jesus taught us to pray and that He wants us to pray. It is a reminder that we are together because of Jesus, and we should desire to grow in knowing Him as our Lord and Saviour. We gather to receive from Him. At our 10am service we put this teaching into practice in two ways. First, prior to every public worship service, you will see the minister, the service leader, and the musicians gather together in front of the congregation to pray. We do not necessarily pray the Lord’s Prayer, but we pray to the Lord for ourselves and for those who will gather in worship. Then, after the service leader calls everyone to attention, the service leader prays that the Lord will be present and move with power in our midst as we praise the Triune God and receive from Him.
Next, the 1662 Prayer Book has the congregation pray a profound prayer together. It is popularly known as The Collect for Purity. It is both a prayer for us to pray, and a concise theology of prayer and public worship. It goes like this. “Almighty God, unto whom all hearts be open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid; cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of Your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love You and worthily magnify your Holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
When we pray this prayer, we are not only praying together in common, in public. We are also learning about prayer. The prayer is trinitarian. We humble ourselves because we confess together that God, to Whom we are speaking, is Almighty God. We also humble ourselves by acknowledging that we come into God’s presence knowing that He sees into our hearts and knows what is in and on our hearts. He knows my every desire. God knows my every secret. We further humble ourselves by acknowledging that the thoughts of our hearts need cleansing by God. We are not perfect. So, we ask God to pour out His Holy Spirit upon us to cleanse the thoughts of our hearts. At the same time, we ask for the same Holy Spirit, which cleanses us, to help us perfectly love God and to magnify His Name (which is Holy). Finally, we do not pray in our own name or strength. We pray through Jesus our Lord.
Why do we gather? We gather to be in the presence of the Triune God together; to be open to Him; to repent; to receive from Him; and to respond to Him with love and praise. At Messiah, after a brief time of greeting and welcoming each other, we pray this 16th century prayer together. Think about it, this Sunday, Christians all over the world will begin their Communion service praying the Collect for Purity. Think about it, Christians have been praying this prayer to begin Holy Communion since 1549.
Come, let us worship!
George +