FOR MAXINE AND THENA

a small token of enormous thanks

AND FOR CRAIG

who shares the riches of the prayer book,
and His grace, so wisely

Contents

Introduction

1 Morning and Evening Prayer

2 The Collects

3 Prayers for Families and Individuals

4 Liturgical Year

5 Psalms

6 Baptism

7 Compline

8 The Catechism

9 Holy Communion

10 In Sickness and in Death

Conclusion (and More Surprises)

Acknowledgments

Suggested Guides to the Book of Common Prayer

Praise for The Riches of Your Grace

About the Author

IVP Formatio

Introduction

Nearly fifteen years ago, I was at a weekend retreat off the coast of Washington—there were wood cabins, homey food, occasional views of the snowcapped Olympic mountains. Good friends were the speakers, and I went largely to hear and support them. On the wet Saturday morning, colorful raincoats draped and dripping over unused chairs, we were divided into groups of eight and asked that we go around the circle sharing our names, telling where we were from, and answering the question, “What has shaped you as a Christian?”

My stomach tightened hearing the last question, and more so as my turn got closer. Was I pathetic not to know? The complete absence of faith in my childhood? The books of C. S. Lewis? Our group’s leader clearly wanted something more specific than “the Holy Spirit” or “Scripture.” As the woman two to my left was telling us about her time working in Uganda, I suddenly realized my answer. The Book of Common Prayer. It was a surprise—and made total sense.

Week after week, in the pews at church, praying at home with the small red book, texting a collect to my sister late at night, the prayer book’s words had steadied and shaped me. When my kids were small and I was too weary to form a coherent thought, when marriage was so hard I wanted to give up, when my sin felt so acute I was too ashamed to pray, when I knew I was supposed to praise God but felt little enthusiasm, the prayer book was my life preserver. Its words of grace and confession, its prayers in their set patterns, have been the primary means of God’s love and grace to me.

When it was my turn and I answered, “the Book of Common Prayer,” there were raised eyebrows and perplexed stares. Was it strange that a 450-year-old British book could have that capacity? Did my circle-mates find it odd that I had been shaped by saying the same antiquated words every Sunday? I was dressed in my green fleece and faded jeans, but perhaps they thought the prayer book was only for people who wore tweed jackets and read dead English poets.

I knew my answer was true—and the more I have reflected on it since that rainy morning, the more I know I was given a gift. The language is old, and the prayers are set, but the prayer book has been constant in showing me God’s tender understanding of my heart and in conveying His loving character and steady presence—for being what the prayer book calls a “means of grace and hope of glory.”

Theologian Lesslie Newbigin writes, “The business of the ...