Lancelot Andrewes

People often wrote to John Chapman, a respected 19th-century monk and abbot, asking for his guidance on prayer. He often advised them, “Pray as you can, not as you can’t.” Scripture introduces us to a wide variety of ways to pray that can be adjusted to fit our various temperaments. I mention this by way of introduction to Lancelot Andrewes (1555-1626). While I doubt any of us are in his league, we can learn from his deep devotion to prayer. He rose daily at 4 AM to begin five hours of personal prayer and meditation. He converted a spare room into a chapel situated for prayer, equipped with an altar, prayer desk, kneeler, and candles. He began with a prayer “before prayer” in which he asked to be in the right frame of mind and free of any “troublesome or wandering thoughts when I pray.” He centered the first portion of prayer on confession, the middle part on praise and thanksgiving, and the concluding time in intercession and petition. Regarding confession, I appreciate his candor when he prayed, “Two things, I recognize, O Lord, in myself: Nature, which thou hast made;’ Sin, which I have added.” He found the practice of writing prayers an invaluable way to organize his thoughts and engage his senses. His prayers were often written in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew since he regarded these ancient languages as more expressive for prayer. He prayed for everyone who had associations with him, from people in the mines to royalty in the court. Nothing seemed to escape his prayerfulness. Most of his prayer practices would have been lost to us but his assistant compiled Lancelot’s writings and prayers after his death into a collection titled Private Prayer. It’s organized around a series of morning and evening prayers since he believed prayer should be “The key to open the day and the bar to shut in the night.” Keep in mind the following prayer was not intended for publication, but as his own personal prayer to open the day: