Thoughts on the Divine Service
18. The Prayer of the Church
Dear friends,
Once we’ve sung the Offertory, only one thing remains before the Service of the Word concludes: the Prayer of the Church.
I’ve written a bit about prayer already with the Collect of the Day, the prayer that “collects” the themes of the day’s Scripture readings and prays them back to God. The Prayer of the Church serves a different function. It follows St. Paul’s exhortation, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Timothy 2:1-2).
If the petitions of the Prayer of the Day sound rather general (in The Lutheran Hymnal, it was called “The General Prayer”), there’s a reason for that: this is the Prayer of the Church for all people.
“Prayer of the Church” does have a local meaning: though only the pastor prays out loud, it is for all in church participate. This is especially evident in the form where the pastor’s portion ends with “…let us pray to the Lord:” the congregation responds, “Lord, have mercy,” and that’s the actual prayer! In the other form, the pastor prays the petition, concluding with “Lord in Your mercy,” and the congregation responds, “Hear our prayer.” That’s an affirmation that they share in the prayer that’s been offered. It’s tempting to daydream and respond robotically, which is the fault of the daydreamer, not the prayer. As we said before, prayer is a discipline—but faith delights to pray, and faith delights to pray for (and with!) fellow saints!
“Prayer of the Church” has a greater meaning, though: it is not only the prayer of those gathered for worship at Good Shepherd. It is what the people of God pray about, throughout the world. So, for instance, last Sunday we prayed “for the spread of the Gospel, that the Lord who made Jesus a light to all nations would fill our hearts with joy and use our voices to spread His salvation to the ends of the earth.” This is not merely the prayer of Christians in the Treasure Valley, but the prayer of Christians everywhere: when we pray such a petition, we are praying with believers in Japan, Ghana and Belize.
Likewise, when we pray for the sick, we name those whom we know; but we are also praying for the sick who are named in the prayers of Christians in Newfoundland, New Zealand and Argentina, just as they are praying for those whom we name. And as we pray for authorities, nations and daily bread, we are praying for “all people, for kings and all who are in high positions.”
It’s not that we’re all using the same script or synchronizing to pray at the same moment: rather, we rejoice that, somewhere in the world, there are always a people of God praying for us as we are praying for them. That, I think, is a profound comfort and part of being the body of Christ. Let me offer an illustration: imagine that, on the Last Day, I meet a Christian who lived his entire life in, say, Portugal, so that our paths never crossed in this life. I introduce myself, and he says, “It is good to meet you. I prayed for you often, as you did for me.” Though the world would make us feel alone, we are joined in Christ with believers around the world. The Prayer of the Church is one exercise of that unity, with the comfort that God delights to hear us pray. What joy!
Nerdy Notes? Of course!
• If you listen to a few Sundays of the Prayer of the Church, and you’ll notice a pattern: the order of the petitions are normally prayers for the Church and church workers, then for authorities and citizens, then for households, for the sick, for those receiving Holy Communion and thanks for the saints who have gone before us.
• Where do our Prayers of the Church come from? While some forms are available in the hymnal, the LCMS makes prayers available each week: these are petitions that were composed by pastors and collected into a database. They are designed to pray the pattern I just mentioned, in the words of that Sundays’ readings.
• “Lord, in your mercy/hear our prayer” is called the responsive form. The pastor offers the petition, and the congregation responds essentially by saying, “Amen! This is our prayer, too.”
• “…Let us pray to the Lord/Lord have mercy” is called the ektene (EK-tay-nay) form. Ektene is a Greek word that means “earnest.” These are normally shorter petitions as the Church prays earnestly for all people.