For many people January and February are difficult months of the year. The short days and winter weather seems overwhelming. But perhaps this could be a season for cleansing and renewal in preparation for the coming Springtime. “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” Psalm 51:7.
I did not grow up with formal liturgies and prayers so it always surprises me when the words of prayers come to mind that I don’t remember learning! I think that perhaps because they were not drilled into me, on the occasions I have been exposed to them, I have remembered them because I have met Jesus in a profound way through the words of the Saints that have gone before us.
Recently the phrase ‘cleanse the thoughts of our hearts’ kept coming to my mind but it took about a week for me to remember the rest of the prayer. It goes like this:
“Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid: cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy name: through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
I was interested to find that this ‘Collect for Purity’ originates in the 9th century. Thomas Cranmer kept this one when he removed many of the other catholic prayers from his compilation of the Book of Common Prayer. He changed two words from the original. He removed ‘meritoriously’ from just before ‘worthily’ and changed the word ‘infusion’ to ‘inspiration’ to avoid the late medieval doctrine of human merit achieved through an infused grace.
It struck me that fasting as a means of grace is a cleansing that requires the ‘infusion’ of the Spirit (Infusion = “the act of adding something to something else in order to make it stronger or more successful”) AND the ‘inspiration’ of the Spirit (Inspiration =”a feeling of enthusiasm you get from someone or something, which gives you new and creative ideas, hope and encouragement.’).
When I looked up the word ‘meritoriously’ I found that it means “in a manner that is praiseworthy.” Perhaps we need to add it back into the prayer so that the way we ‘worthily magnify’ is an act of proclaiming the ‘praiseworthy deeds’ of the Lord.
Whether or not you come from a tradition that uses this Collect regularly, perhaps you could join me in meditating on the rich words of this ancient prayer as you fast and pray.
Almighty God,
to Whom all hearts are open,
all desires known,
and from Whom no secrets are hidden:
Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the infusion and inspiration of Your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love You,
and meritoriously worthily magnify Your holy name;
through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Here are a few ways that you could focus your fasting and prayer:
- Use the prayer below to reflect on your life with God. Read it line by line and ask God what He wants to cleanse in your life.
- Ask Jesus to show you the things you need to be fasting from in the coming weeks so that you can be ‘infused’ and ‘inspired’ by the Spirit.
- Spend time each day magnifying the Lord in a praise worthy manner
- Share with us what you feel God is saying to you. Do you have a picture, prayer or scripture for Inspire? How can we be praying for you and with you? Share with us: [email protected]
Sam
Definitions from Collins English Dictionary.
