I’ve been praying for most of my life, but I learned something new this week. You may have heard of a prayer called a collect. You can run across them in prayer books or hymnals.
It turns out that collects have a formal structure that I never knew about. I have even taught classes on “How to Pray” and “Spiritual Disciplines,” but I didn’t know this, so it surprised me, and I’ve been fooling around with it a little bit. The word collect comes from the Latin phrase ecclesia collecta, which means that it is a prayer prayed by and for the church community.
The collect has a special form, much like a haiku. There are five parts:
Address
Attributive phrase
Petition (one or more)
Desired result
Termination or doxology
The address just defines the recipient of the prayer — something like “Dear God,” or “Loving God.”
The attributive phrase says something about God, like “who made the world and all that is in it,” or “our help in days of turmoil.”
Then comes the petition, when we ask for something, like “open my mind,” or “bring your peace to those who are suffering.”
The desired result could be “… so that I will understand your Word for me today,” or “… that they might be comforted.”
A termination can be as simple as “Amen,” or more complex, such as “in the name of your blessed son Jesus.”
The Lord’s Prayer
One famous collect is The Lord’s Prayer.
Our Father - address
Which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name - attributive phrase
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven - petition
Give us this day, our daily bread - petition #2
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. - petition #3
Lead us not into temptation - petition #4
But deliver us from evil - petition #5
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. - desired result
Amen. - termination
Examples
Here are some example collects:
Lord, strengthen and support all who are unjustly accused or undervalued. Comfort them with the constant thought that you know the whole truth, and in your own good time you will make their righteousness shine like light. Give them grace to pray for those who do them wrong, and hear and bless them when they pray. Amen.
(Source: Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894), revised from Prayers Ancient and Modern.)
Almighty, everlasting God, Lord, Heavenly Father, Whose Word is a lamp to our feet and a light on our way: Open and enlighten my mind that I may understand Thy Word purely, clearly and devoutly, and fashion my life according to it, in order that I may never displease Thy Majesty; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lord Jesus, our king, Light and Life, illumine, waken, strengthen my heart through Thy power and Holy Word to everlasting life. Glory, laud and honor be unto Thee, Who with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reign forever. Amen.
(Collects, Devotions, Litanies From Ancient and Modern Sources, The United Lutheran Publication House, 1925, Ed. Paul Zeller Strodach)
Here’s one that I wrote:
Loving and gracious God,
Bring us your grace and peace,
That we might live our diverse lives together in harmony and without malice,
Through the example of your son, Jesus.
Amen.
Now you are ready to try one on your own. I think the process of trying to write a collect can be a blessing all on its own.
