"O Most Loving Heavenly Father" - Some Backstory Details

 

[From my weekly letter to my congregation sent today: 29 November 2023]

Recently I sent out a prayer for Thanksgiving on social media. Several of you commented on it, one or two asked about its origin, and some of you used it as a family-gathering devotion. So, here’s the story.

The prayer originally comes from William Bright and was published in his “Ancient Collects and Other Prayers” in 1864. That prayer caught the attention of some and was published in the Episcopal Church’s Book of Common Prayer in 1928, and in the Presbyterian’s Book of Common Worship in 1946. It was from the Presbyterian Book of Common Worship (1946) that I first stumbled on it and fell in love with it.

But, I felt like I needed to tweak it a bit. This is how it reads originally:

O MOST loving Father, who willest us to give thanks for all things, to dread nothing but the loss of thee, and to cast all our care on thee, who carest for us; Preserve us from faithless fears and worldly anxieties, and grant that no clouds of this mortal life may hide from us the light of that love which is immortal, and which thou hast manifested unto us in thy Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Besides updating the older, classic English, I felt that it needed some changes of other language. For example, “to dread nothing but the loss of thee,” bugged me to no end. I understood what was being aimed at in those words, but felt they needed to be clearer. Therefore I changed it to echo Isaiah 8:11-13. I also made a thought that comes at the end of the prayer much stronger and sharper.

All tweaked and tidied up, I have used this prayer for two decades. I have spent many hours reflecting and meditating on what is being asked, and what is being presented. I have used it to pray for myself. I have used it to pray for my family. I have used it to pray for you (yes, you specifically and for Heritage more broadly). I have even used it to pray for our denomination of Christ’s church.

That all said, I present you the prayer, all tweaked and tidied up by little old me:

O MOST LOVING HEAVENLY FATHER, who desires us to give thanks for all things, to fear nothing but you, and to cast all our cares on you who cares for us; preserve us from faithless fears and worldly anxieties, and grant that no clouds of this mortal life may hide from us the light of your immortal love, which you have made clear to us in your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.

I welcome you to use it. As you mull it over, spend a bit of time thinking through what our most loving heavenly Father desires us to do (that’s the first part of the prayer). As you muse, you may well see that he desires these three things of us, and we fall short. Viola! A time of honest acknowledgment to the Father and cry for help to do those things.

Then ponder over the two requests in this prayer, the first dealing with faithless fears and worldly anxieties (know anyone who needs help here?). The second that the clouds of this mortal life would not hide from us the light of God’s immortal love in Jesus Christ. Just as when winter has settled in:

the sky all clouded, grey, and bleak

steely gloom thick as fortress walls,

then ruptures through

explosions of sun’s crystal light

to warm our hearts

and lift our faces bright.

(Me, trying my hand at a little poetry)

What situation of life are you in at the present? Can you see how this prayer is fitting for that season, or this one over here? I have spent long spells of time soaking in these words, and allowing them to guide me in prayer. I happily give them to you.



Pastor Mike