Prayer in Reformation Anglicanism II

The first of these homilies on prayer makes no distinction between the private prayer of the individual Christian and public prayers of the gathered community of faith. The second in the series, ‘An homily of the place and time of prayer’, is concerned with more obviously practical matters. The homilist commends the practice of keeping the Christian Sabbath, Sunday, aside for meeting together with God’s people and addresses our common prayers to him. Distractions of work and recreation ought to be put aside by the community on these occasions. Furthermore, there ought to be places constructed for prayer, so that people can gather there to do so. The true temples of God are in fact the bodies and minds of his people: there is no suggestion that a church building substitutes for this in any way. And yet, there is a good purpose in building meeting places for the people of God that encourage them in their reverent seeking after God.[1] Likewise: there is no place or time which is not fit for prayer. But setting aside a time and place for prayer is a particularly edifying practice to be greatly encouraged. 

The third homily is entitled ‘An homily wherein is declared that common prayer and sacraments ought to be ministered in a tough that is understanded of the hearers’. The title promises an exposition of a characteristic Reformation theme: that common worship ought to take place audibly and in the vernacular, and not in Latin. But there is a great deal more in this somewhat more lengthy sermon than the title gives us. The homilist takes up a definition of prayer which Augustine was thought to have authored: “Prayer is the devotion of the mind, that is to say, the returning to God through a godly and humble affection; which affection is a certain willing, and sweet inclining of the mind itself towards God”. 

There are, for the homily, three kinds of prayer – two being private with a third “common”. The first kind is that silent prayer which lifts up the mind to God, as exemplified by Hannah the mother of Samuel in I Sam 1. This is the sort of prayer that all Christians should be praying continually. The second sort of prayer is the private prayer that Jesus describes in Matthew 6, whereby the voice is used but used in private without great display of piety, since insincere posturing is so great a temptation for human beings. But there is a place for Public or Common prayer, since Scripture contains so many instances of it. And thus, for the preacher of this homily, there is no excuse for negligence in Common Prayer. In Common Prayer the people of God are united to call on him, which in itself is a demonstration of his power.

The practice of Common Prayer should, though, follow the principles for corporate worship already outlined in the writings of Cranmer and the other Reformers. That is: “Let all things be done to edifying”. It cannot be edifying for public prayers to be offered in a language that people simply do not understand. They cannot be edified if they do not comprehend what they are praying. This is as much a reason to forbid Latin as it is to be reticent about the public exercise of speaking in tongues. It is also a reason to commend careful instruction of the people in what they are praying so that when they say ‘Amen’ they know that to which they are assenting. Babbling a formula of words is of no spiritual value at all, and indeed is condemned most roundly in Scripture. If prayer is “a devotion of the mind which enforceth the heart to lift up itself to God” then the person who prays aloud without understanding what they are praying cannot be said to be praying at all. The congregation should be given a chance to prepare their hearts to pray, so that they are not simply mouthing that which is said without a readiness to agree with sincerity. 

As we have seen, the homilies are not offering a culturally different preference for a new style of praying, but are applying the theology of the Reformation to the Christian life as consistently and biblically as possible. To pray together is a significant reason that Christians gather. But they gather to pray to the God who has drawn them to himself in Christ, justifying them freely by his grace. They pray to God with no need for any other mediator than Christ himself, and as sinners but confident in Christ of meeting a gracious and merciful God in their hour of need.

And they are to pray in intelligible words – words that they understand. The prayer of the Christian as a creature of the word of God corresponds to that word by being something understood. There is no hint that prayer is a kind of mindless repetition of  a formula of talismanic sounds. Though there is a place for the inarticulate groanings of the inner being in private prayer, this is not tantamount to a form of mystical prayer. Public prayer must edify the congregation; they can only truly say ‘Amen’, and thus only truly pray, if they hear and understand what is prayed. 

III Prayer in the Book of Common Prayer

What then of prayer in the Book of Common Prayer? It is notable enough that it is called a ‘prayer’ book, and not by some other title – giving a hint as to what Cranmer and others thought that they were doing by preparing their liturgies. One feature that is prominent from the 1549 book onwards is the services for Morning and Evening Prayer designed as a replacement for the seven ‘offices of prayer’ that framed the monastic life. These were intended to be daily services of prayer accessible to any in the community who should be able to gather – a sign that, at least in principle, the routine of daily prayer was not the particular responsibility of a professionalized group but belonged to the laity as well. 

The Prayer Book was intended to be a school for prayer. Its prayers are crafted so as to be vivid in imagery and easily memorable. Take the line “we have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep”, from the general Confession, for example. The biblical and agricultural image is vivid and yet appropriate; it conveys exactly what is intended, with the language of Isaiah 53 in the not-to-distant background. The rhythm of the line (technically speaking “anapestic”) draws emphasis on the key words “strayed” “ways” and “sheep”. The language is quite concrete and direct. At its best, the Book of Common Prayer in its various editions achieved this didactic effect very well indeed. 

Furthermore, public prayer was designed to be truly congregational. It was certainly to be led by the Minister, but the congregation were invited to pray aloud, either alongside him or in response. The place of the choir was in effect being taken by the congregation, who were to find their voices now. Whether of course this is what happened in practice is doubtful. No doubt illiteracy and inattentiveness meant that the Minister would continue to read the service for the most part on his own. Nevertheless, there was in this form of service an intention to encourage participation by the congregation as a reflection of the more egalitarian theology of the Reformation. 

In public prayer, Christians were to pray as they were in private: by confessing their sins, by thanking God, by praising him and by bringing before him their common needs. As the exhortation before the general confession reads:

And although we ought at all times humbly to acknowledge our sins before God; yet ought we most chiefly so to do, when we assemble and meet together to render thanks for the great benefits that we have received at his hands, to set forth His most worthy praise, to hear his most holy Word, and to ask those things which are requisite and necessary, as well for the body as the soul.

We shall consider each forms of prayer these briefly. From 1552 onwards, the striking thing about the daily services was the prominent place given to the general confession of sins. By 1662, both Morning and Evening Prayer would begin in this way. The practice of auricular confession and priestly absolution had been abolished because, it was argued, it placed a mediator other than Christ between the believer and God. But the gospel of justification by faith was not a declaration that the Christian had moved to a state of sinlessness. Indeed, the basis for the gathering of the Christian church was the shared need of fallen sinners. The act of general confession reminded the congregation of that common need, and indeed of their assurance of forgiveness. The confession takes place, indeed, in the light of the promises of the gospel. 

Confession begins with the reading out of Scriptures that both remind the congregation of their sins, and point to the promises of the merciful Father. The verses from 1 John 1:8-9 are typical of this theme:

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us: but if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The exhortation that follows likewise aims to bring to the notice of the congregant the reality of ongoing sin in their lives and the promises of God in Christ. It enjoins the congregation to “accompany me with a pure heart and humble voice unto the throne of the heavenly grace”. The basis, that is to say, of the Christian confession of sin is not fear of punishment but humble expectation of grace. 

And thus follows the confession itself, which articulates a thoroughgoing doctrine of sin in the life of the believer. A number of metaphors are used: the straying sheep; the trespasser against the holy laws of God; and sin as sickness (“there is no health in us”). This last expression is a radical statement of the situation before God even of the baptized Christian. There is by nature nothing that simply commends the person to God. Not simply our actions, but the “devices and desires of our own hearts” are blameworthy. We have an orientation within that is badly askew. But the prayer turns around the plea for the Lord God to “have mercy upon us miserable offenders”, as he himself has promised in Christ Jesus. The final petition of the prayer is that the believer might live a “godly, righteous and sober life” – a striking recognition that the changed heart of the believer is the work of God. In the Service of Holy Communion, too, the congregational response to the reading of the Law is the same in structure: Lord, have mercy on us, and incline our hearts to keep this law. Keeping the law of God requires, in fallen human beings, a change of heart that can only be brought about by a work of God. Mercy precedes reform, and not the other way around. It is worth nothing, as well, that the declaration of absolution by the Priest is not conditional. There is no penitential requirement.

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[1] Church buildings, therefore, are not simply constructed according to practical needs, but to encourage reverence – not for themselves, but for the God to whom we pray.