AN UNCOMMON PRAYER BOOK

An Uncommon Prayer Book


The works of Shakespeare, the King James Bible, and The Book of Common Prayer were all written within decades of one another (in the late 1500s and early 1600s), and each was destined to become a classic of the English language.

Most people know the lasting influence of Shakespeare and the King James Bible, but not as many know that The Book of Common Prayer, the official prayer book of Anglican and Episcopal churches, continues to be used by millions of people to guide their individual and corporate prayer.

Even non-Anglicans have found it a treasure I certainly have.

Prayer for the Ages

I first began using The Book of Common Prayer (BCP, from now on) when I was a Presbyterian. In that tradition, which was strongly colored by my early experiences in the evangelical community, prayer is the spontaneous expression of one's thoughts to God. I discovered, though, that after years of daily praying, my spontaneous expressions were trite, boring, and predictable. I was ready to give up prayer when I discovered the BCP.

It's not that I gave up spontaneous prayer which to me still must be the staple of one's prayer life but the BCP did help me move out of my boredom and triteness and taught me to pray better.


Long History

The first full edition of the BCP was composed by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer in 1552 for use in the new Church of England. The English church had just broken away from Roman Catholicism, and the English wanted to worship in, well, English, not Latin. Cranmer condensed five huge Latin volumes that guided Roman Catholic worship into one. The BCP has been revised in minor ways a couple of times since.

In 1979, the Episcopal Church in the United States updated the Elizabethan English (though still keeping an Elizabethan version of some prayers and services, which are usually referred to as "rite I" ). In large measure, the BCP we use today is the BCP of Cranmer's day. For the rest of this chapter, it is this American version to which I am referring.

Because the BCP is the official prayer book of the Episcopal Church, it includes the order for all sorts of services not only Sunday morning worship, but also baptisms, weddings, funerals, ordinations, and so on. For the individual prayer, it's not those sections that are most helpful, but the services called Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Compline.

As its name suggests, Morning Prayer is to be said in the morning and can be used for Sunday worship. Evening Prayer is designed for early evening, and Compline is ideal for the very end of the day. I'll let you explore Evening Prayer and Compline on your own. For this chapter, let me take you through Morning Prayer (specifically, Morning Prayer II, which is the rite that uses contemporary English).


Though Morning Prayer is designed for group worship, many people use it to guide their personal morning prayer. Some change every "we" and "us" to "I" and "me,'' but I prefer to keep the first-person plurals to remind me that others worldwide are using this to guide their prayers. This helps me experience in some small way my essential connection with these prayers.

This more formal approach to daily prayer may not be for you, or not for you at this time in your prayer life. If so, just skip the rest of this chapter and move on to the next section of the book.

If you're sticking with me, you'll be reading many quotes from Morning Prayer because you can't really get a feel for it otherwise.

To Begin

Morning Prayer begins with an opening sentence, a number of which are printed at the beginning under the headings of church seasons (see Chapter 33, "Prayer in the Liturgical Tradition," for more on church seasons) or "At any time." These are brief affirmations from scripture that set the tone for worship, such as these:


I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord" (Psalm 122:1).

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight,O Lord, my strength and my redeemer"(Psalm 19:14).

Then follows a confession of sin, which is a fuller way to prepare oneself:

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. . . .

I'll stop here because I've quoted this prayer in full already. As I said earlier, I try to pause after each phrase, however briefly, to allow my mind to let one specific sin come to mine. Then follows the pardon:

Almighty God, have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins, through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life. Amen.

Psalm Prep

Next comes the morning Psalm, which is introduced with these lines:

Lord, open our lips.And our mouths shall proclaim your praise.

This frame follows:

Glory be to the father, and to the son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.


Next comes another short theme sentence called an "antiphon," followed by a special psalm called "Venite" or another called "Jubilate." Don't let the Latin terms intimidate you; they are merely the first words of each Psalm in Latin. You can read either Psalm, but I like Venite best. The first stanza goes like this:

Come let us sing to the Lord,let us shout for joy to the rock of our salvationLet us come before his presence with thanksgivingand raise a loud shout to him with psalms.

Again, all this is designed to shape one's heart and mind to prepare for the hearing of Scripture, which is the heart of this service.

In the back of the BCP, you'll find suggested Scripture readings for each day, including a suggested Psalm, which is to be read next. After the Psalm is read, the "frame" is completed, as above, with: "Glory be to the father, and to the son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen."


Prayer Central

The next part, called "The Lessons," is comprised of three readings, one each from the Old Testament, New Testament epistles, and the Gospels. Here is the climax of Morning Prayer. The idea is that through Scripture God speaks to us, thus completing the dialogue of prayer. This is why the service spends a great deal of time preparing for this part: We want to be mentally and spiritually alert when God speaks.

Again, the specific readings for the day are found at the back of the BCP. Daily readings are divided into two years, so if you were to follow this guide, you would read nearly the entire Bible in two years.

After each reading, it is appropriate to say, "The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God," and then wait in silence, for sometimes in the silence of meditation, a feeling or a thought comes that makes the passage just read speak to your personal situation this is indeed a word from the Lord that is to be listened to closely. But even when no specific word comes as such, the simple act of meditating on Scripture reveals general truths that can enrich us.

After each reading and meditation, (or for me, after all three readings), a "Canticle" is said. A canticle is merely a passage of the Bible that is song-like (in fact, when Morning Prayer is said in church, these canticles are often sung). One of my favorites is Canticle 15, "The Song of Mary," also called the Magnificat, which was the prayer of Mary after hearing the news that she was pregnant with Jesus. Yet her words transcend that setting. The first lines go like this:


My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my savior;
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed,
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.


There are 21 canticles to choose from, so it is easy to say one after each reading and not become repetitive.


This section ends with a reciting of the Apostles' Creed, which is one of the oldest summaries of Christian teaching. This is a concise and poetic way to rehearse the main story line of the entire Bible, from creation to ultimate redemption:


I believe in God, the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth.I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.


There is a certain amount of jargon here, and not every part is equally comprehended, even by the best of theological minds. It is not critical that you understand everything, but as you say it, you affirm that this, in fact, is the teaching of scripture and that in saying it, you desire to "grow into" the creed over time.

The Prayers

"The Prayers" is the prosaic title of the last part of Morning Prayer, which opens with the Lord's Prayer followed by one of two "suffrages" or petitionary prayers set in responsive form. One person or group says the first line up to the semi-colon, another person or group responds to the end of the sentence. For private prayer, though, Suffrage A would be said simply, like this:

Show us your mercy, O Lord;
And grant us your salvation.
Clothe your ministers with righteousness;
Let your people sing with joy.
Give peace, O Lord, in all the world;
For only in you can we live in safety.
Lord, keep this nation under your care;
And guide us in the way of justice and truth.
Let your way be known upon earth;
Your saving health among all nations.
Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten;
Nor the hope of the poor be taken away.
Create in us clean hearts, O God;
And sustain us with your Holy Spirit.


As you can see, this prayer includes petitions for the church (both ministers and people), for the nation, for the world, for the poor, and for hope. I find this an elegant way to pray for these larger issues.


This is followed by the daily "collect," a prayer that sums up a theme for the day. Some of these are listed by the day of the week and others by theme. One of my favorites is the Collect for Guidance:

Heavenly Father, in you we live and move and have our being: We humbly pray you so to guide and govern us by your Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our life we may not forget you, but may remember that we are ever walking in your sight; through Jesus Christ, our lord. Amen.

Grand Finale

Near the end of Morning Prayer comes one of the finest prayers in the entire BCP, "The General Thanksgiving":


Almighty God, Father of all mercies,
we, your unworthy servants, give you humble thanks
for all your goodness and loving kindness
to us and to all whom you have made.
We bless you for your creation, preservation,
and all the blessings of this life;
but above all for your immeasurable love
in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ;
for the means of grace and the hope of glory.
And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies,
that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise,
not only with our lips, but in our lives,
by giving up our selves to your service,
and by walking before you
in holiness and righteousness all our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit,
be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen.

This is packed; each phrase has a wealth of meaning that can take a lifetime to uncover. You may want to commit this to memory. I've found no better full and yet concise expression of my thankfulness to God.

The service then concludes with one of three final sentences of Scripture, like this one: "May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen" (Romans 15:13).

In case you're wondering: Morning prayer takes anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes, or longer, to pray, depending on how much meditation you do after each Scripture reading and how many canticles and the like you include.

Rich Resource

The BCP has more prayer resources still. In addition to Evening Prayer and Compline (which are not as full as Morning Prayer), there is a section of "Prayers and Thanksgivings" useful for all sorts of occasions. There are collects for each week of the year, and then some. All 150 Psalms, in a very readable translation, are included. And, as I mentioned, there are guides to Scripture reading, both daily and weekly, that will get you through the Bible in an orderly way.


Perhaps you can see why the BCP is not merely the official prayer book of Episcopalians but is also a resource for anyone interested in deepening his prayer life. Most major bookstores carry a copy in their "Religion" or "Spirituality" or "Prayer" sections, or you can order it through Amazon.com or some other online book dealer. (It is published by Oxford University Press, and its full title is The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church but I've never heard anyone call it that!) Also, your local Episcopal church may have copies it might be willing to give or sell you.