A Proper Prayer
The following collect comes from the "Book of Worship" of the Evangelical & Reformed Church (1947). It's for the 1st Sunday of Lent: "We beseech thee, O Lord, by the mystery of our Savior's fasting and temptation, to arm us with the same mind that was in him toward all evil and sin; and give us grace to keep our bodies in such holy discipline, that our minds may be always ready to resist Satan, and obey the direction of thy Holy Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." I was delighted (and a bit surprised) to see this collect in a Reformed book on worship. 1st-it begins " by the mystery of our Savior's fasting and tempation...". The collect assumes and embraces the important idea that our Lord's 40 days of fasting in the wilderness, and His temptation, was for us and for our salvation. Most folks read Matthew 4.1-11 as, "Here are the three steps I need to follow to overcome sin." But in the collect we look to His ...