How to Pray
For the “Ponderings” these past few weeks, we have been talking about prayer. I remember listening to a lecture where the speaker talked about how people are often never taught how to pray. This is true at least in the non-denominational and Baptist world I grew up in. There was, of course, teaching through example, but these prayers were always extemporaneous. Now, there is nothing wrong with extemporaneous prayers; however, after you hear them long enough, you can usually figure out what the person is going to pray because we all have our go-to prayers. So, if we are going to pray, and we are going to have somewhat rote prayers, even when “spontaneous,” then shouldn’t we know how to pray? In the Gospel according to Matthew, we are told how to pray by Christ:
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, forever. Amen
The Lord’s Prayer is often the prayer that we teach our children; it is required to be known for confirmation, and it is repeated in each service, in the daily offices, at baptism, at weddings, and at Holy Communion. It is a beautiful and profound prayer (more than I think most of us realize). However, the prayer itself also teaches us how to pray.
Within our Anglican heritage, we pray “collects.” Collects for the day, the Collect for Purity. Additionally, there are collects said throughout the week and those on specific days. The purpose of a collect is to "collect" or "gather" the intentions of those praying. There are at least 3 parts to a collect (Address, Petition, and Doxology), though normally there are five:
Address
The prayer begins by naming God. This section establishes the focus of worship and sets the tone for the prayer.Acknowledgment
This part highlights a characteristic or quality of God relevant to the prayer, such as mercy, goodness, or power. It provides the theological basis for the petition that follows.Petition
This section presents a specific request or need, such as guidance, forgiveness, or peace. The petition is often linked to the attribute of God mentioned in the acknowledgment.Aspiration
Here, the prayer describes how the granting of the request will benefit the faithful or further God’s will.Conclusion/Doxology
The collect concludes by invoking Jesus Christ as mediator, or a doxology that praises God.
When we think about the Lord's Prayer, we can begin to see these elements outlining the prayer. We have the address “Our Father, who art in heaven”. The acknowledgement is found in “hallowed be thy name”, stating that God is holy. For the next section of the prayer, we have petition and aspiration woven together. We pray for God’s kingdom to come and for his will to be done “on earth as it is in heaven.” We continue to ask for our daily bread, forgiveness, and deliverance from temptation and evil. Now we may look at that and see a lot of petitioning and very little aspiration. However, by praying these requests, we are aspiring to participate in God’s kingdom being made here on earth as it is in heaven. We are praying for God’s help that we might bring the forgiveness and holiness reflected in heaven here to earth. That we might turn from temptation and evil and seek to love and forgive. The prayer then ends in a doxology (words of praise): “For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.”In the Lord’s Prayer, we are given both a prayer and a formula for how to pray.
This formula becomes the outline for both our written and spontaneous prayers. We begin each Holy Communion service with the Collect for Purity, in which we seek to orient and gather our intentions to approach God with pure hearts and minds. We address God as “Almighty God”. We acknowledge that he is omniscient and knows our hearts and desires: “unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid.” Next, we ask (petition) for him to “cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit”, with the aspiration “that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy Name”. And lastly, we conclude by invoking our Mediator and Advocate: “through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
Praying using this outline prevents us from rambling, gives order to our prayers, and helps keep us out of heresy (no, “Dear Jesus, ... in thy son’s name we pray. Amen.) Go through the collects and prayers within the Book of Common Prayer, and you will see this formatting again and again. Pray them and be formed and taught how to pray. If you are looking for inspiration to apply this to your own prayers, read the prayers of Lancelot Andrews, Jeremy Taylor, John Cosin, and William Laud. Not only will you be blessed by the beauty of these prayers, but they may just teach you how to pray.
As always, Pax et Bonum,
Fr. Aaron