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In response to your recent post, my current favourite prayer is as follows:

Be present, O merciful God,
and protect us through the silent hours of this night,
so that we who are wearied
by the changes and chances of this fleeting world,
may rest upon your eternal changelessness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN

https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-worship/worship/texts/daily2/night/variations.aspx

I find even just the first line a powerful comfort on a dark autumn night: 'Be present, O merciful God'.

Stephanie Edwards
St Mary Magdalene's, Adelaide
Adelaide, South Australia
stephaniebcp@gmail.com
11 May 2015

One of the sadnesses of so much Anglican worship today is that that lovely prayer which originated in the C of E 1662 Book of Common Prayer, the General Thanksgiving, is seldom used in public worship. Like most clergy, I have only one sermon, which has come with variants throughout the years - its theme is Gratitude, and that the Christian is above all else a grateful person. The General Thanksgiving is an excellent prayer which can be used on so many different times and places and I be delighted if it could be more used in our churches.

Thank you for the opportunity to share my 'sermon theme' with a wider audience.

Canon Ralph Mallinson
St. John with St.Mark, Bury
Bury, Lancashire, England. Province of York
ralphandhelen@rmallinson.fsnet.co.uk

My favorite prayer in the BCP? The one we bishops get to pray with some regularity:

'O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.'

A prayer for the church in our day!!

Christopher Epting
Trinity Cathedral
Davenport, Iowa (USA)
ccepting@aol.com
11 May 2015

(Ed: One of our editors agreed that this is a favourite from the American prayer book - making more appearences than any other prayer in that book)

I suppose that extemporaneous prayer could be likened to organ improvisation. It requires thought and much practice to do well. You would not want to listen solely to improvisations, and all improvisers draw on material from the works of the great composers. And yet improvisation can allow an organist to offer something personal and topical to a service, for example commenting on the next hymn. But I cannot resist paraphrasing Garrison Keillor: “to many persons God has given improvising talent, though not as many as think so”. (I fear this may apply to me!)

Michael Leuty
St Peter's
Nottingham, UK
11 May 2015

Earlier letters

We launched our 'Letters to AO' section on 11 May 2003. All published letters are in our archives.