The Collect

I promised the Collect today, and here it is, straight out of the 16th century. Its five parts are centered in and surrounded by God's glory, and we do well to observe it and use it as we speak our own requests. This prayer begins with an Invocation, naming our God, using any of the names that speak to our special need at the moment. Do I need His mercy, His comfort, His power? Name Him, remembering that we speak to a Person, not to Thin Air.

Secondly, what is the basis for my petition? What do I know about God's nature, His promises, His help in the past, that gives me cause to believe I can even make this request? Acts 1:24 shows this prayer by the apostles, "Lord, who knowest the hearts of all men [that's the basis . . . and here's the request:], show which one of these two thou hast chosen to take the place . . . from which Judas turned aside."

Thirdly, what IS my petition? Any request will do, never mind how minor or mundane. God is pleased to be approached. Our petitions, Walt Wangerin says, are the "obedience of a faithful people whose very plea is shaped by the will of their dear Lord."

Fourthly, the purpose. What is the broader benefit of God's answering my request? "So that . . . " what?

Here, in a prayer from the 1600's we see the four parts: Almighty God, who has blessed the earth that it should be fruitful and bring forth abundantly whatever is needed for the life of mankind: prosper, we beseech thee, the labors of the farmer, and grant such seasonable weather that we may gather in the fruits of the earth ever rejoicing in thy goodness, to the praise of your holy name. Do you begin to see how this kind of prayer begins with God, and ultimately seeks to glorify Him? How we are reminded in the midst of praying that all answers must be for our good and His glory?

Finally, we end our speaking in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, through whom alone we have access to God the Father, and a right to even expect a listening ear. As Wangerin says, "He it is who blew open the door between us and the transcendent Deity."

Good stuff, huh?