21 July 2018

Prayers from Various Anglican Prayer Books

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There are many prayer books to be found among the Anglicans.  There are official editions of The Book of Common Prayer, there are alternative resources published officially for use with or in place of The Book of Common Prayer, and there are private efforts which are meant to be used with or to augment the provisions of The Book of Common Prayer.  The prayers below show some examples of such prayers at different times although not the present day.  As a matter of faith  all Anglican prayer makes reference to the Sacred Scriptures either by direct quotation or indirect reference albeit an indirect reference that remains recognisable as to its source and inspiration.

Although many Anglicans and other Christians today are content with prayers of a more free-form origin, in its classical form Anglican prayer is never far from the Holy Bible which is of course the Catholic heritage of the Church from its earliest days.  Today many Roman Catholics and Anglicans are unaware that the texts of the Holy Mass reference again and again the Sacred Scriptures of the Church as they are the most certain foundation for all worship of and prayer to God.


IN TIME OF ABUNDANCE.

Almighty God, whose loving hand hath given us all that we possess: 
Grant us grace that we may honour thee with our substance, 
and, remembering the account which we must one day give, 
may be faithful stewards of thy bounty, 
through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. 

The Book of Common Prayer

IN TIME OF AFFLICTION.

O FATHER, Lord of heaven and earth, to Thee do we turn now in this time of affliction. We are unworthy of the least of Thy mercies, but for the Saviour’s sake hear us.

Give us grace with all humility to recognise Thy loving hand at this season, and to glorify Thee by more entire dedication of ourselves, and all we possess, to Thy service.

We know not what the morrow may bring forth, but to Thee, who cares for the very least creatures of Thy hand, we would now commit all our anxieties. Oh, fill our hearts with Thy peace.

We pray also for all who are visited with like afflictions. Look with Fatherly love on them, and may Thy chastisements draw us all nearer to Thee, for the Redeemer’s sake. Amen.

from Daily Litanies for Family Worship
by a Layman
London: Longmans, Green, Reader, & Dyer
1867, p. 64.

FOR RAIN.    
[Read in Holy Scripture 1 KINGS VIII. 35.]

ALMIGHTY GOD, who art the ruler of all things, and who doeth what pleaseth Thee in the heaven above and in the earth beneath, we approach Thee with deep humility through the merits of thy Son. Thou has bidden thy people to come boldly unto the throne of thy grace, through that great High Priest who is passed into the heavens ; and we come to Thee pleading thy promise. 

Hast Thou not said, that whatsoever we ask believing, we shall receive ?   Lord, we believe ; help Thou our unbelief ; and at this time do for us exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think.

Thou hast laid thine afflicting hand upon thy servants, O Lord, and hast commanded the clouds that they give no rain. The heaven is shut up ; the skies are as brass over our head, and the earth as iron beneath our feet. The fields yield no meat, and the flock is cut off from the fold. We call upon Thee for mercy. 

Thou makest a fruitful land barren for the wickedness of them that dwell therein ; and again, Thou turned the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into water springs.  We confess that we have grievously sinned against Thee, and have justly provoked thy wrath and indignation against us. But stay thine avenging hand, we beseech Thee, O Lord, and have pity upon us. 

Cover the heaven with clouds, and prepare rain for the earth. Send us the early and the latter rain, and so preserve for us the kindly fruits of the earth, that in due time we may enjoy them. For thy Son’s sake, spare us, O Lord, who confess our sins unto Thee.  Hear us, for thy mercy is great ; and in the multitude of thy mercies look upon us. We humble ourselves beneath thy mighty hands, O Thou most Holy. 

Above all, sanctify our national trouble to the removal of our national sins. Grant us, we beseech Thee, the supply of our need, and all things that Thou sets necessary, both for our souls and for our bodies, for the sake of thy dear Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.


FOR FAIR WEATHER 
[and for when there has been too much rainfall]
[Read Genesis IX. 8-17.]

ALMIGHTY GOD, our Heavenly Father, who makest the sun to rise on the evil and on the good, let it please Thee of thy great mercy to forgive the iniquity of thy people, and be favourable to this our land. Remember, O God, thy covenant, that while the earth remaineth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease. And so increase our faith that we may trust in Thee, who givest us all things richly to enjoy, and whose tender mercies are over all thy works.

O God, who bindest up the waters in the thick cloud, and the cloud is not rent under them, be pleased to stay the clouds of heaven, that it may not rain, and grant such weather as that the ground may give its increase ; that our fields may yield the precious fruits brought forth by the sun ; and that our barns being filled with plenty, we may eat and bless Thee, the Lord, in whom we live, and move, and have our being ; and whose hand is ever open to supply the wants of every living thing.

We praise Thee, O God ; we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord, in whose hand are all things, and who workest all things after the counsel of thine own will. Let it please Thee of thine infinite goodness so to fill our hearts with thy Grace, that we may take no thought for the morrow ; but having food and raiment, may we therewith be content. Mercifully remove our unbelief, and disappoint our fears, that we confiding in the promises of thy Word and the bountifulness of thy providence, may pass our days in peace and quietness, knowing that we have our treasure in heaven and an inheritance that fadeth not away.

We humbly confess, O God, that we are not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which Thou hast showed unto thy servants ; but we plead the merits of thy Son, Jesus Christ, our Saviour. Hear us at this time, and bless us, O our God and Father, for His sake.  Amen. 

from The Family Prayer Book
or, Morning and evening prayers
for every day in the year,
Edited by The Reverend Edward Garbett, M.A.,
and The Reverend Samuel Martin,
London: Cassell, Petter, and Galpin, 1864,
p. 388.

THE DANGERS OF ABUNDANCE.

O God, in your love you have given gifts which our forebears neither knew or dreamed of.   Mercifully grant that we may not be so occupied with material things that we forget the things which are spiritual and thus,  even though we have gained the whole world, lose our souls; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Eric Milner-White  (1884-1963)
Daily Prayer
1941