A reflection on liturgical prayer

Last night I was praying compline with my parents, and as I led us in prayer, it struck me what the Anglican tradition means by liturgical prayer “forming” us.

To give an example, one of the concluding prayers of compline reads:

grant that we may never forget that our common life depends upon each other’s toil.

As we pray this night in and night out, we are constantly invited to remember this fact and to act upon it in humility and mercy.

Or another example: the “Prayers and Thanksgiving” section of the Book of Common Prayer has some prayers for thanksgiving before a meal, one of which says:

Blessed are you, O Lord God, King of the Universe, for you give us food to sustain our lives and make our hearts glad (p. 835).

When we pause before a meal to say this, in a world where evil often deepens, it is an affirmation of the ultimate goodness of life and of the God Who provides it. For us who have struggled with mental darkness, it is, as the song goes, “good that we remind ourselves of this.” We are created for delight, and it’s similarly no coincidence we find food delicious: we are in part created for each other as part of the life God created for us, and God created us for.

This is the power of liturgical prayer such as the daily office, and I’ve found it a wonderful gift to partake in it.