This week I have been invited to give a sermon for my local congregation. So, I have set about the task of crafting words which are faithful both to Scripture and to the listening ears of God’s people. Therefore, I decided that I would share this prayer by St. Augustine, expertly crafted and adept at its purpose, which is found in his Confessions, Book I, Chapter 1. I’ve slightly adapted its wording for updated syntax.
This prayer is aimed at those in moments of confusion, a restlessness which betrays weakened moorings. The antidote Augustine provides is that we creatures ought to find identity firmly rooted in the Creator, that “our hearts remain restless” until they find the source of rest designed for all human hearts, which is Christ in God. I find that Augustine goes about the task of his prayer in the way that I enjoy doing so myself. He applies Scripture to common individual experiences, so truth guides the one who prays. He is careful to include confession, forgiveness, and faith as the way forward. Ultimately, he roots our faith in the Giver of faith, the Creator, He who is unmovable though we feel tossed to and fro. I pray that it blesses you as it has blessed me.
"You are great, Lord, and greatly to be praised. Great is your power, and your wisdom is infinite It is you that man would praise; man, who is only a particle of your creation; man, who bears about him his mortality, the witness of his sin, the witness that you resist the proud, yet man would praise you, he who is only a particle of your creation. You awaken us to delight as we praise you, for you have made us for yourself, and our hearts remain restless until they rest in you. Grant it to me, Lord, to know and understand which is first, to call on you or to praise you? And again, to know you or to call on you? For who can call on you without knowing you? For the one without knowledge of you may call on you to be something you are not. Or is it rather that we call on you so that we may know you? but how shall anyone call on Him in whom they have not believed? and how shall anyone believe without it being preached to them? And they who seek the Lord shall praise Him, for they that seek Him shall find Him, and they that find him shall praise Him. I will seek you Lord, by calling on you, and I will call on you believing in you, for to us you have been preached. It is my faith then, Lord, which shall call on you, my faith which you have given me, wherewith you have inspired me, through the incarnation of your son, through the ministry of the preacher."