Lift Up Your Hearts

A Prayer Book for Anglicans

Andrew Davison

• Publisher: SPCK Publishing
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN: 9780281061495
• eBook ISBN: 9780281065417
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

An accessible, adult, catholic prayer book which can become the well-used friend of the reader -- it can be kept and prayed with. This is not another book for the shelf but to accompany us in our journey. We can add our own comments in the margins, highlight a prayer we will use regularly, add extra ribbons and use the blank pages at the back of the book to supplement this volume with other prayers that we come across which we will find useful. We can make this our working journal of prayer as we lift up our hearts, day by day, to God. When we pray we learn to pray; as we pray we enter into that rich experience of prayer which George Herbert describes in his poem at the front of this book.

1

Praising God together

The experience of going to church begins before we actually arrive at the place where the service will be celebrated. There are things that we should do in order to get ourselves ready to worship God. Every Sunday is in fact a mini-Easter, a celebration of the Lord’s Resurrection, the first day of the week and a time for new beginnings. Sunday is also the time when the Christian community gathers and together we offer worship to God and serve one another in his name.

Beginning any day is important, not just beginning Sunday in a way that will help us celebrate properly the amazing acts of God. When we wake from sleep we want to give thanks for the rest we have enjoyed and we anticipate all that the day will hold. We then need to prepare ourselves for the things that we know we will be doing and the things that will happen for which we cannot be prepared.

In this chapter you will find material to begin the day with acts of praise and prayers that will help us enter the day with joy. There are also prayers to offer for all those who are going to be involved in ministry in any way – not just the clergy and other ministers, but the welcomers and coffee makers, the bell-ringers and the servers.

As we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus we are also reminded that we have shared in his resurrection through our baptism, and as we come to church it is a good opportunity to remember our own baptism and those who have guided us in the faith, not least our godparents. The life that Jesus gives us is an abundant life and it is that which we wake to celebrate.

Prayers of praise

May the Lord be blessed for ever for the great gifts that he has continually heaped upon me, and may all that he has created praise him. Amen.

(St Teresa of Avila, 1515–82)

You are holy, Lord, the only God

and your deeds are wonderful.

You are strong, you are great.

You are the Most High, you are almighty.

You Holy Father, are King of heaven and earth.

You are Three and One, Lord God, all good.

You are Good, all Good, supreme Good,

Lord God, living and true.

You are love, you are wisdom.

You are humility, you are endurance.

You are rest, you are peace.

You are joy and gladness.

You are justice and moderation.

You are all our riches and you suffice for us.

You are beauty, you are gentleness.

You are our protector,

you are our guardian and defender.

You are courage, you are our haven and our hope.

You are our faith, our great consolation.

You are our eternal life, great and wonderful Lord,

God almighty, merciful Saviour.

(St Francis of Assisi, c. 1182–1226, ‘The Praises of God’)

The Te Deum

We praise you, O God,

we acclaim you as the Lord;

all creation worships you,

the Father everlasting.

To you all angels, all the powers of heaven,

the cherubim and seraphim, sing in endless praise:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,

heaven and earth are full of your glory.

The glorious company of apostles praise you.

The noble fellowship of prophets praise you.

The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.

Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you:

Father, of majesty unbounded,

your true and only Son, worthy of all praise,

the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.

You, Christ, are the King of glory,

the eternal Son o...

Table of contents

• Cover page
• About the author
• Title page
• Imprint
• Dedication
• Verse
• Table of Contents
• Foreword
• Introduction
• 1 Praising God together
• 2 Confession and forgiveness
• 3 Prayer and silence
• 4 Praying with the word of God
• 5 Praying for the world
• 6 Peace and reconciliation
• 7 Prayers at meals
• 8 Thanksgiving and the Holy Spirit
• 9 Praying the Our Father
• 10 Communion and the Sacrament
• 11 Blessing and the world; work and the day’s ending
• Appendix: Prayers and devotions
• Sources and acknowledgements
• Suggestions for further reading
• Search items