The Collected Prayers of John Knox

Come and take a look inside the prayers of the famous Scottish Reformer John Knox. One of the largest oppositions to his ministry, Queen Mary of the Scots is said to have said, “I fear John Knox’s prayers more than all the assembled armies of Europe." John Knox was one of the Reformation's greatest prayer warriors, famous for crying out to God and praying,  “Give me Scotland, Lord, or I die!”.  Various prayers of Knox from six varying themes make up this book, with the sections listed below.

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Table of Contents:

Introduction: John Knox’s Theology, Spirituality, and Practice of Prayer

Section One: Penitential Prayers

1.         A Confession

2.         A Confession of Our Sins, Framed to Our Time, Out of the Ninth Chapter of Daniel

3.         Another Confession for All States and Times

4.         Another Confession and Prayer Commonly Used in the Church of Edinburgh on the Day of Common Prayer

5.         A Confession of Sins and Petitions Made unto God in the Time of Our Extreme Troubles, and yet Commonly Used in the Churches of Scotland before the Sermon

6.         Another Prayer of Confession

7.         A Confession of Our Sins Which We Use in the Time When the Eternal Correcteth Us with Any of His Appointed Scourges for Declining from the Purity of His Word, Whether It Be in Doctrine or Life

8.         A Confession of Sins with Prayer for Remission of the Same to be Used in These Troublesome Days

Section Two: Thanksgiving for Deliverance

9.         Thanksgiving for Our Deliverance, with Prayers

10.       A Thanksgiving unto God after Our Deliverance from the Tyranny of the Frenchmen, with Prayers Made for the Continuance of the Peace between the Realms of England and Scotland

Section Three: Supplications in Times of Difficulty

11.       A Prayer in Time of Affliction

12.       A Prayer Meet to be Used When God Threateneth His Judgments

13.       A Prayer for Mercy on England and Scotland

14.       A Prayer Used by John Knox after the Regent Murray’s Death

15.       A Prayer for the King

16.       A Complaint of the Tyranny Used against the Saints of God Containing a Confession of Our Sins, and a Prayer for the Deliverance and Preservation of the Church and Confusion of the Enemies

17.       A Prayer on Being Separated from His Congregation

18.       A Prayer of John Knox on His Deathbed

19.       A Prayer to be Said in Visiting the Sick

20.       A Prayer at the Close of an Exhortation to Seek God’s Mercy

Section Four: Prayers for the Needs of the Church

21.       A Prayer for the Whole Estate of Christ’s Church

22.       A Prayer Made at the First Assembly of the Congregation When the Confession of Our Faith and Whole Orders of the Church Was There Read and Approved

23.       A Prayer Used in the Assemblies of the Church, as Well Particular as General

24.       The Confession That Shall Go before the Reading of the Law and before Every Exercise

25.       A Confession of Sin after Reading Deuteronomy 27–28 and Spending Time in Self-Examination

26.       The Closing Prayer after an Appointed Fast

27.       A Confession of Sins to be Used before Sermon

28.       Another Manner of Prayer after the Sermon

29.       The Prayer for Public Repentance

30.       The Thanksgiving for the Repentance of the Offender

31.       A Prayer for the Obstinate

32.       The Last Prayer before the Excommunication

33.       The Invocation of the Name of Jesus Christ to Excommunicate the Impenitent, Together with the Sentence of Excommunication

34.       Prayer When the Previously Excommunicated Is Received into the Church

35.       A Prayer in Concluding the Reception of the Previously Excommunicated

36.       The Prayer at the Election of Superintendents or Other Ministers

37.       The Prayer in the Election of the Elders and Deacons

38.       A Godly Prayer

39.       Prayer at the End of John Knox’s Sermon on Isaiah 26:13-21

Section Five: Prayers for Sacramental Occasions

40.       A Prayer Used at Baptism

41.       A Prayer after Baptism

42.       A Prayer Said at the Lord’s Supper

43.       A Prayer of Thanksgiving after the Lord’s Supper

44.       Prayers Used in the Churches of Scotland in the Time of Their Persecution by the Frenchmen, but Principally When the Lord’s Table Was to be Administered

45.       A Prayer after the Lord’s Supper

Section Six: Prayers for the Routine of Daily Life

46.       A Form of Prayers to be Used in Private Houses Every Morning and Evening

47.       A Prayer to be Said before Meals

48.       Another Thanksgiving before Meal

49.       Another Prayer before Meals

50.       A Thanksgiving after Meals

51.       Another Thanksgiving after Meat

52.       Yet Another Thanksgiving after Meat

53.       A Godly Prayer to be Said at All Times

54.       A Godly Prayer

55.       A Prayer to be Said of the Child, before He Study His Lesson

56.       A Prayer to be Said before a Man Begin His Work

57.       Evening Prayer

Author

John Knox (ca. 1514–1572) was a pastor whose ministerial labors helped lead the Protestant Reformation in Scotland.

Editor

Brian G. Najapfour has been a minister of the gospel since 2001 and has served both in the Philippines and in the United States. He is the author of numerous books including The Very Heart of Prayer: Reclaiming John Bunyan’s Spirituality and Jonathan Edwards: His Doctrine of and Devotion to Prayer.

Endorsements

“Here for the first time in a single volume are the extant prayers composed by the sixteenth-century Scottish Reformer John Knox. The outward circumstances of their origin reflect a lifetime of tumultuous events and ardent struggle for the advance of Christ’s kingdom in the face of entrenched political and ecclesiastical opposition. Similarly, their inward springs disclose a spirit steeped in the lamentation and confession of sin, hope for mercy, and confident trust in the providence of God that are characteristic of the Psalms, and a heart fixed on the perfect priesthood, sacrifice, and prevailing intercession of the Lord Jesus. Prayers that originally appeared in settings as diverse as Knox’s History of the Reformation of Religion in Scotland, his letters to beleaguered congregations, or his manuals of worship are here conveniently arranged in a classification according to their theme and their suitable occasions.” — from the foreword by R. Sherman Isbell

“The surest method by which to know a man’s real theology is to give attention to his degree of devotion to God in prayer. John Knox’s prayers, as presented to us in this fine collection, reveal to us his reverence for the God of heaven and his deep respect especially for the holiness of God. Saved and fully justified as the true believer is in this life, he still owes to God a deep reverence and genuine godly fear. Our generation would do well to read this precious collection of Knox’s prayers and study to cultivate a more biblical fear of displeasing our great God and heavenly Father.” — Maurice Roberts, minister in the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)

“I love reading the prayers of our forefathers—especially at times when I become weary of my own prayers. Their prayers were so spontaneous yet so biblical, so familiar with God yet so reverent of Him, so bold yet so humble, so earnestly zealous yet so calmly confident, so penitential yet so hopeful, so congregational yet so private, so full of pressing needs yet so full of abounding thanksgiving for deliverance, and so ordinary yet so extraordinary. All of this and more is true of John Knox’s extant prayers collected together in this edifying book. The Collected Prayers of John Knox contains a surprising variety of Christ-centered petitions for a surprising variety of occasions. Read these prayers for the uplifting of your own soul to God and for providing solid substance for your own prayers.” — Joel R. Beeke, president, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan