A Service of Evening Prayer for Epiphany

I invite you to join with me in praying the Daily Office of Evening Prayer as we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany.

In order to actually pray with me, you can find the Evening Prayer Office of the 2019 Book of Common Prayer, here.

We conclude by singing the hymn, "As with Gladness Men of Old."  It is on page 200 of the Sing to the Lord hymnal (Nazarene), or you can find it, here. 

A Prayer To Be Prayed By Those in the Wesleyan Tradition

 Here is my most recent YouTube video.  It introduces a prayer that I think is a great prayer for anyone in the Wesleyan/Methodist tradition to pray.  I would especially encourage those who are a part of the Wesleyan-Anglican Society to take this prayer up during the Daily Office.

Almighty God, in a time of great need you raised up your servants John and Charles Wesley, and by your Spirit inspired them to kindle a flame of sacred love which leaped and ran, an inextinguishable blaze.  Grant, we ask you, that all those whose hearts have been warmed at these altar fires, being continually refreshed by your grace, may be so devoted to the increase of scriptural holiness throughout the land that in this our time of great need, your will may fully and effectively be done on earth as it is in heave; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

(My YouTube channel can be found, here.)

Evening Prayer on Holy Saturday

 

Evening Prayer on Good Friday

Join me in Evening Prayer on this Good Friday.  The prayer service can be downloaded here.

Evening Prayer: Wednesday of Holy Week

 You can join in the service and pray along with me by downloading the liturgy from the 2019 Book of Common Prayer, here.

Evening Prayer: Tuesday of Holy Week

 For those who would like to join in the service, the liturgy is taken from the 2019 Book of Common Prayer and can be found here.

Evening Prayer: Monday of Holy Week

 For those who would like to join in the service, the liturgy is taken from the 2019 Book of Common Prayer and can be found here.

The Continued Value of Written Prayers

Today, I was searching my blog for a particular quote, when I ran across a post that I had made back in 2012.  It was a response to a colleague who, as a part of an assignment for a "Spiritual Formation" class, had interviewed me about my regular use of written prayers.  The specific question that he had asked was, "How does your use of written or rote prayers help you to know God and to grow in your faith?"  

Ironically, I am currently teaching a class on Spiritual Formation, and I recently recommended to my class their taking a look at the Book of Common Prayer.  It is likely that, if I were to be asked that same question today, my answer may include some additional elements, but I think that the original answer that I gave back in 2012 still rings true.  And, perhaps it may be helpful for some who, today, may have a similar question about the value of written prayers.  -  With that in mind, I have copied my original response, below:

I have, for the past 12 years [now 21 years], or so, prayed the Daily Office as a part of my spiritual disciplines.  At times, it has just been Morning Prayer.  At other times, I have prayed Morning and Evening Prayer.  I also pray the Litany on Wednesdays and Fridays.

In praying the Daily Office, I have most often used John Wesley’s The Sunday Service of the Methodists in North America, which was his (slight) revision of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer from the Church of England.  -  John Wesley faithfully prayed the Daily Office each day, and he passed on to the Methodists in North America a Prayer Book for their use each Lord’s Day.

In addition, I use other written prayers from the BCP and other sources in both corporate worship and personal devotions.

These prayers do not replace, but supplement my other prayers.

I find that God uses these prayers to help to shape me as a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ.  The prayers have been prayed by Christians back to the early Church all the way up to today from around the world.  In this regard, God reminds me that, while my relationship with the Lord is deeply personal, it is not at all isolated.  God has made us to be a people, not just individualistic, “Lone Ranger” Christians.  -  The prayers serve as a sort of catechism in molding me in the Christian faith and life.

God uses these prayers to help me to pray beyond myself, as well.  By that I mean that they keep me from focusing just on my own concerns and move me to pray for those things that God would have me be concerned about.  Thus, God shapes my outlook and shapes me in Christlikeness. 

The prayers give me words that better articulate my own prayers.  They help me say what needs to be said.

Through these prayers God teaches me about my relationship to God, in that they set my priorities in prayer.  They call me to confession, but also remind me of God’s mercy, grace and forgiveness.  They remind me that thanksgiving is more than with “our lips,” but “with our lives.”

One of the most important prayers, for me, is the Collect of Purity.  While it is not a part of the Daily Office, it is a part of the regular Sunday service of worship, and I have incorporated it as part of my personal disciplines.  It is prayed by Anglicans and others every Sunday.  It has been said that it summarizes well what Wesley was talking about when he spoke of Christian Perfection (or Entire Sanctification).  It is a part of the context in which Wesley developed and articulated this biblical doctrine.  -  As I recall, P.F. Bresee once responded to some Episcopalians by saying something like, Why do you consider it strange that Nazarenes claim that God answers the prayer that you pray every Sunday? 

Since we are called to live under God’s sanctifying grace each day, the Collect of Purity is a prayer that helps me to seek God’s face, each day to the end that God might “cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of [God’s] Holy Spirit that [I] might perfectly love [God] and worthily magnify [God’s] holy name through Christ our Lord.”

Through these prayers, God focuses my day.  God draws me to Himself.  And then, in Evening Prayer, God puts my day in perspective and review.  -  At this point, I simply could not conceive of not including written prayers as a part of my spiritual discipline.

Deus Misereatur

For those who pray Evening Prayer using John Wesley's The Sunday Service of the Methodists in North America, the response to the New Testament lesson is Psalm 67, also known as the Deus misereatur.  (For those who use other forms of the Book of Common Prayer, this is one of the choices for the New Testament response, but in Wesley's brevity, he did not provide multiple choices!)

Since my pattern has been to read through the Old and New Testaments, along with the Psalms, during Morning and Evening Prayer without following a lectionary, there have been times when I end up reading the very Psalm that I would otherwise use for a response to the Old or New Testament lesson.  This morning, however, I read the 67th Psalm (which I will read as a response in Evening Prayer).

One of the striking things, when this happens, is the difference in language between Wesley's Prayer Book and the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (which is what I usually use).  And so, I thought I would post both versions on my blog.  -  For what it's worth, I would confess that, while I pray using Wesley's Prayer Book, if I were to hold a public service, I almost always would use a modern English version (e.g., the new ACNA texts).  The problem with that is the desire at a couple of points to make the kind of editing changes that Wesley made when providing The Sunday Service for the Methodist people.

Here are the two versions of the Psalm.  First will be the version as it appears in the Office of Evening Prayer in The Sunday Service:

God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and shew us the light of his countenance, and be merciful unto us.
That thy way may be known upon earth; thy saving health among all nations.
Let the people praise thee, O God: yea, let all the people praise thee.
O let the nations rejoice and be glad; for thou shalt judge the folk righteously, and govern the nations upon earth.
Let the people praise thee, O God: yea, let all the people praise thee.
Then shall the earth bring forth her increase; and God, even our own God, shall give us his blessing.
God shall bless us: and all the ends of the world shall fear him.

And now, the version found in the NRSV.

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us,
that your way may be known upon earth, your saving power among all nations.
Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.
Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.
Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.
The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, has blessed us.
May God continue to bless us; let all the ends of the earth revere him.

 

Glory be to the Father,

and to the Son,

and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning,

is now, and ever shall be:

world without end.

Amen.

Taking Up the Daily Office for Lent

The Constitution of the Wesleyan-Anglican Society encourages members of the Society to pray the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer, as well as to pray the Litany on Wednesdays and Fridays. 

I have made this a habit for years and find it to be an important part of my spiritual life.  Though there have been occasions when I have been able to pray the Daily Office in a group, usually this is something that I do alone.  -  And yet, I am keenly aware that I am not alone.  Rather, I am joined by sisters and brothers around the world and throughout time, from various traditions within the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. 

Over the years, I have prayed using various versions of the Book of Common Prayer including the 1662, the 1928, the 1979, the ACNA version, and Wesley's The Sunday Service.  This latter one is the version that I have most often used.  -  A link to each of these BCP versions can be found on the sidebar of this blog.

We are now in the beginning days of Lent.  If the praying of the Daily Office is not a current practice for you, I want to encourage you to take it up during this Lenten season.  -  Perhaps you will find it to be as spiritually profitable as I have, as you join in the prayers of the People of God around the world and throughout history!