“I bet you just love that Mr. Darcy!” says one of the characters in a favorite movie of mine. And like millions of readers around the world, you may say ‘Yes, I do!’ But others of you may have no idea who Mr. Darcy is at all! Mr. Darcy is the creation of the imaginative mind of author Jane Austen and is one of the central protagonists in her famous novel, Pride and Prejudice. Those who know and those who don’t may be surprised to learn that Austen was a devout Christian. There are spiritual lessons to be learned from her novels. But in this post, I'm more interested in her personal spiritual life, especially how she prayed.
Jane Austen’s father, the Reverend George Austen, was a pastor in the Church of England. And he seemed to be a good one at that. Beyond caring for his flock, he tended his family well too. Spiritual conversations were the norm in the Austen household. Their family enjoyed an extended time of shared devotions at night as they read from novels, sermons, the Bible, and more. They also prayed together.
In fact, among her other writings, Austen composed prayers to be offered in these times of family worship. Only three have survived to this day, all preserved by her loving sister, Cassandra. Here is one:
Father of Heaven! whose goodness has brought us in safety to the close of this day, dispose our hearts in fervent prayer. Another day is now gone, and added to those for which we were before accountable. Teach us Almighty Father, to consider this solemn truth, as we should do, that we may feel the importance of every day, and every hour as it passes, and earnestly strive to make a better use of what thy goodness may yet bestow on us, than we have done of the time past.
We thank thee with all our hearts for every gracious dispensation, for all the blessings that have attended our lives, for every hour of safety, health and peace, of domestic comfort and innocent enjoyment. We feel that we have been blessed far beyond anything that we have deserved; and though we cannot but pray for a continuance of all these mercies, we acknowledge our unworthiness of them and implore thee to pardon the presumption of our desires.
Keep us oh! Heavenly Father, from evil this night. Bring us in safety to the beginning of another day and grant that we may rise again with every serious and religious feeling which now directs us.
May thy mercy be extended over all mankind, bringing the ignorant to the knowledge of thy truth, awakening the impenitent, touching the hardened. Look with compassion upon the afflicted of every condition, assuage the pangs of disease, comfort the broken in spirit.
More particularly do we pray for the safety and welfare of our own family and friends wheresoever dispersed, beseeching thee to avert from them all material and lasting evil of body or mind; and may we by the assistance of thy Holy Spirit so conduct ourselves on earth as to secure an eternity of happiness with each other in thy heavenly kingdom. Grant this most merciful Father, for the sake of our blessed Savior in whose holy name and words we further address thee.
Our Father which are in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory, forever.
Amen.
Austen's prayers give insight into her sincere faith as well as the religious practices of the day. Thinking about those prayers and how they reflect Austen’s own faith can give us helpful direction for our own practice of prayer.
1. Pray in the Context of Church
Austen’s prayers reflect the form and style of the prayer book of the Anglican church. In part, this means, their composition is beautiful! The Book of Common Prayer never sought to be overly flowery in its prayer language. Nevertheless, it did seek to reflect an intentionality of language that demonstrated humble worship when talking to the Almighty. Austen’s natural talent lifts the language even further.
But the point here is not to match the loveliness of her pen. Rather it’s to allow the natural rhythms of church life to influence how we pray. The prayerbook was designed to unite the church in Word and prayer. Our church may not have a formal prayerbook, but we are all listening to the same sermons, reading the same book in home fellowship group, and thinking on the same topic in Sunday School. Why not press on those activities as fuel for our prayer life as well? The recently established HFG Prayer Guide can be helpful toward this end too. Even the people of one church praying for the same things can be encouraging and effective in uniting our hearts toward God (e.g., Acts 4:31).
2. Pray with Family
Given the changes in time and culture, I’m not sure that many families today will resemble the Austen household. There will surely be some downsides to that. Nevertheless, we must do what we can, where we’re at—even if where means this cultural moment. Small changes can be made (like putting away phones and screens). But what really counts is intentionality with family.
Setting aside time every day or even a few times a week to talk about spiritual things will be immensely helpful. Again, leverage what you’re already doing: Did you listen to the same sermon? Talk about it. Were you all in different Sunday School classes? Discuss what was helpful. What have you been reading on your own in the Bible? Share it with one another.
Beyond that, reading devotional literature or even a book of the Bible together can help raise the collective thoughts of the family Godward. And that is amazing kindling for the fires of prayer (e.g., Psalm 63). Nothing moves us to talk to God—humbly, boldly, and faithfully—as having big and precious thoughts of God himself.
3. Pray Anchored to Christ
Again, following the Anglican tradition for formal times of prayer, Austen’s prayers end with the Lord’s Prayer (Matt 6:9–13). We can err in two common ways when it comes to the Lord’s Prayer. The first is to give it too much importance as a prayer that must be prayed verbatim. Surely, Jesus gave it as an outline, showing balanced priority and petitions in prayer. Yet, we can also err when we ignore it altogether. Fearing somehow we will be too liturgical (!), some evangelicals shun ever praying the words of the Lord’s Prayer. But that’s wrong too.
Now, my point isn’t really about whether or not to say these words in prayer. The point is that Austen’s prayers were anchored in Christ. By ending on his prayer from Matthew 6, she is returning to an emphasis on him. In all that concerns us, our hope and confidence in prayer is always rooted in Christ: “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Heb 4:14–16).
Moreover, that essential kingdom-minded form of prayer he gives as an example (Matt 6:9–13) should always loom large in how and what we pray. It is, after all, instruction from Jesus for his disciples. What's more, these instructions reflect his own thoughts in prayer. Those priorities will naturally flow from our hearts when we are experiencing a vibrant relationship with Christ. When we pray like Jesus that we have assurance of God answering (John 14:1–13).
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