A Month in Prayer Praying the Prayers of the Reformers October 24
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9) 
Thomas Cranmer (1489–1556)Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in your will,
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your Name.
Amen.
Jeanne d‘ Albret (1528-1572)
O God, my Father,
deliver me from this body of death
and from the miseries of this life,
that I may commit
no further offenses against Thee
and that I may enjoy the felicity
Thou hast promised me.
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
Adapted from the first 21 resolutions by Trevin Wax.
Lord God Almighty,
I understand that I am unable to do anything without your help,
so I ask you to enable me by your grace to fulfill your will.
Give me grace to do whatever brings most glory and honor to you,
pleasure and profit to me, and life and love to others.
Help me to number my days, spending my time wisely,
living my life with all my might while I still have breath.
Humble me in the knowledge that I am chief of sinners;
when I hear of the sins of others,
help me to not look upon them with pride,
but to look upon myself with shame,
confessing my own sins to you.
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
Adapted from the first 21 resolutions by Trevin Wax.
When I go through difficulties and trials,
remind me of the pains of hell
from which you have already delivered me.
Place people in my path who need my help,
and give me a compassionate and generous spirit.
Fill my heart with such love
that I would never do anything out of a spirit of revenge,
nor lose my temper with those around me.
Hold my tongue when I am tempted to speak evil of others.
Thank you for the gospel and for the hope of glory.
Help me to live in light of these truths every day of my life,
so that when the time of my death arrives,
I will rest assuredly in you,
and you will be most glorified in me.
In Christ’s name…Amen.
Thomas Cranmer (1489 –1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry's first marriage to Catherine of Aragon, paved the way for him to marry his second wife, Anne Boleyn, and saw Henry through his next four marriages. Cranmer supported the principle of Royal Supremacy which made the king was sovereign over the Church within his realm and ended official papal authority in England. During Cranmer's tenure as Archbishop of Canterbury, he was responsible for establishing the first doctrinal and liturgical structures of the reformed Church of England. Under Henry's rule, Cranmer did not make many radical changes in the Church, as Henry was basically a Roman Catholic in his theology and worship (aside from papal authority) and power struggles between religious conservatives and reformers. However, he succeeded in publishing the first official English worship service. When Edward, Heny’s young and passionately Protestant son, came to the throne, Cranmer was able to promote major reforms. He wrote and compiled the first two editions of the Book of Common Prayer, a complete liturgy for the English Church. Cranmer developed new doctrinal standards for the Eucharist, clerical celibacy, the role of images in places of worship, and the veneration of saints. After Edward’s death in his teens and the accession of the Roman Catholic Mary I, Cranmer was put on trial for treason and heresy. Imprisoned for over two years and under pressure from Church authorities, he made several recantations and apparently reconciled himself with the Roman Catholic Church after being promised his life. Mary however refused to show mercy to the man who had enabled her father to forsake her beloved mother and declare her illegitimate. On the day of his execution, Cranmer renounced the recantations that he had written or signed with his own hand and stated his hand would be punished by being burnt first. As the flames drew around him, he fulfilled his promise by placing his right hand into the heart of the fire while saying "that unworthy hand" and his dying words were, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit... I see the heavens open and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” Thus, Cranmer died a Protestant martyr.
Jeanne d‘ Albret (1528-1572) was the queen regnant of Navarre (now part of France) and after her husband’s death she ruled as Protestant. Jeanne was the acknowledged spiritual and political leader of the French Huguenot movement and a key figure in the French Wars of Religion. Jeanne was influenced by her mother who exposed her to humanist thinking and predisposed her to religious reform. This legacy was influential in her decision to convert to Calvinism. Her husband however remained a staunch Roman Catholic. He ordered her to recant her Protestant faith and when Jeanne refused, he issued orders to have her arrested and sent to Paris where she would subsequently be sent to a Roman Catholic convent. She eluded her captors, and soon afterwards her husband was killed in battle leaving Jeanne to believe and rule as she pleased. Jeanne declared Calvinism the official religion of her kingdom after publicly embracing the teachings of John Calvin on Christmas Day 1560. This public conversion made her the highest-ranking Protestant in France. Navarre became a safe haven for Protestant refugees facing severe persecution. She commissioned the translation of the New Testament into Basque and Béarnese for the benefit of her subjects. In addition to her religious reforms, Jeanne reorganized her kingdoms and made long-lasting reforms to the economic and judicial systems. She used her own jewelry as security to obtain a loan from Queen Elizabeth I of England to support the Protestants in the Wars of Religion and often accompanied her general Admiral de Coligny to the battlefield during intense fighting to inspect the defenses and rally the Huguenot forces. Jeanne also established a religious seminary. She died shortly after negotiating the marriage of her son, Henry to the Roman Catholic sister of the French king. The two would marry in exchange for concessions to the Protestant. Her death may have been a great mercy as the wedding provided the pretense for a horrific killing of Protestants, the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre. Much later her beloved son would convert to Roman Catholicism in exchange for the throne of France saying “Paris is worth a mass.” Henry IV founded the Bourbon line of French kings. This prayer is from her deathbed.
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), a preacher and theologian, is widely acknowledged to be America's most important and original philosophical theologian and one of the greatest intellectuals America has ever produced. His work is rooted in Reformed theology, and the Puritan heritage. Edwards also played a critical role in shaping the First Great Awakening, and oversaw some of the first revivals in 1733–35 at his church in Northampton, Massachusetts. Despite his brilliance he was dismissed from his congregation over disagreements. Throughout his life Edwards often went into the woods as a favorite place to pray and worship in the beauty and solace of nature as he viewed the natural world as evidence of God's masterful design. Edwards was married to Sarah Pierpont and they had eleven children. The Edwards opened their home to those in need on a regular basis. Edwards died from a smallpox inoculation shortly after beginning the presidency at the College of New Jersey (Princeton). He was hoping to demonstrate the safety of the vaccine especially to the Native Americans with whom he ministered. He was the grandfather of Aaron Burr, the third Vice President of the United States, who killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel.
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