The Book of Common Prayer- Prayer of General Thanksgiving

Our heritage as Anglicans includes The Book of Common Prayer (BCP), a collection of prayers and prescriptions for worship to be used both individually and collectively.  The BCP was primarily composed by Thomas Cranmer who was the Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the English Church during much of the Protestant Reformation in the British Isles.  He sought to make available to common folk the great prayers and liturgies of the Church. 

Here at Holy Trinity we are most familiar with the Eucharistic liturgies, but the BCP also includes prayers and liturgies for baptisms, weddings, funerals, ordinations and much more.  It includes “Daily Offices” which are adapted from the Benedictine monastic tradition of praying the hours of the day.  The Daily Offices in our BCP include Morning, Noon and Evening Prayer, and Compline for the close of the day.

The Offices for morning and evening include a prayer that has become a favorite of mine, The General Thanksgiving.  This is a prayer composed by the Rt. Rev. Edward Reynolds, the Bishop of Norwich, and was first included in the BCP in its 1662 revision at the encouragement of the Puritans who complained that there simply were not enough prayers of praise and thanksgiving.  Here is Bishop Reynold's prayer:

The General Thanksgiving

Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all whom you have made.  We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory.  And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen.