For the Book of Common Prayer

When I started planning how I would propose to my wife, I wanted to have something special to say before I pulled out the ring and asked her to marry me. In particular, I wanted it to come right from my heart. But I am not quick with words, and I was not confident in my ability to come up with something on the spot. Then it occurred to me that our relationship was so deep and meaningful that if I wanted to express my feelings about it, I needed to prepare ahead of time, think it through, and write it out, so that it could be really special and touch her heart. Upon having this realization, my appreciation for the Book of Common Prayer also grew.

The BCP is an Anglican prayer book that contains prayers, instructions and liturgies for various services, and other historical church documents. It even has schedules for passages to be read during church services and daily devotions (called the Lectionary and the Daily Office, respectively). It was originally written during the English Reformation by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, so that the people in the Church of England (which was part of the Catholic Church at that time) could worship in their own language, rather than in Latin. Since then, it has been translated, culturally adapted, and updated for new languages, cultures, and time periods, but many of the forms and prayers have stuck around because they have been found meaningful across cultures through time and space.

The Book of Common Prayer is important to Anglicans because prayer is central to what we do as Anglicans. The Anglican church is a praying church. Prayer shapes us in ways that we don't fully understand. So the Anglican reformers thought it important for us to have prayers that are grounded in Scripture and the Tradition of the Church. They carefully wrote prayers for us that are well prepared, well thought out, and full of truth (which is how I wrote my proposal speech to my wife - and she said yes!).

Here's an example from the prayers for mission (Morning Prayer II, p. 101 of the 1979 BCP):

Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. Amen.

Reading, praying, and worshiping in this tradition has changed me. It takes my focus away from needing to come up with things to pray that are novel so that I can be reminded of what's true and focus on saying what needs to be said. It helps me remember who God is and what He has done for me when I come before Him in prayer. It helps me see the things I need to pray for that I wouldn't have seen on my own. Most importantly, it gives me a framework from which I can listen to God and be open to the movement of the Holy Spirit with fewer distractions.