Grant us the faith to know you and love you

Grant us the faith to know you and love you

Faith is a gift from God. At the Presentation of the Candidates in the Common Worship Baptism service, the president, addressing the whole congregation, reminds us that, “Faith is the gift of God to his people.”

We need the gift of faith to be able to know and appreciate God’s gift of love. Not that having faith in God causes him to love us; he loves us whatever we believe — nothing can separate us from that (I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God — Romans 8:38-39). But without faith, we wouldn’t be able to truly experience God’s love for ourselves. It would be odd to say, “I don’t really have faith in, believe in, your existence, but nevertheless, it’s good that you love me” — odd and pretty ridiculous.

God loves each and every one of us; as much, and more, as if we were each the only one too love. God loves each and every one of us so much that he was willing to sacrifice himself on a cross for us, to die a hideous death, for us, each one of us — you, me, our families, friends and neighbours, even people we don’t like very much.

But without faith, we couldn’t experience God’s love. With faith, we can truly know his love, experience it, appreciate it, and share it. With faith, we can begin to love God too. And our love for God, tiny as it is in comparison to his love for us, will greatly magnify how we know and experience God’s love for us.

True and humble king,
hailed by the crowd as Messiah:
grant us the faith to know you and love you,
that we may be found beside you
on the way of the cross,
which is the path of glory. Amen.

Additional Collect for Palm Sunday
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council