Almighty God, To You All Hearts Are Open

Almighty God, To You All Hearts Are Open
This is the first line of a beautiful prayer called the Collect for Purity. The full prayer goes like this: "Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen." It is a wonderful way to prepare your heart for worship on Sundays or as a great way to start your day. Originally, it was a prayer that the priest would pray before entering the sanctuary to prepare his own heart for worship. During the reformation, Anglican Archbishop Thomas Cranmer translated it from Latin into English and pulled it into the beginning of the Sunday service for everyone to pray together. The prayer recognizes that God is with us, that he knows us and knows all things. As the David writes in Psalm 139: O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. What a terrifying thought! But this prayer doesn’t cause us to run away and try to hide from God — ‘where could we run from God’s presence?’ Psalm 139 reminds us again — it invites us to turn to the Lord in faith. Our Bishop has sometimes described faith as living wide open to God, ready to receive all that he has for us. One of the reformers, John Calvin, wrote that “Faith is like an empty, open hand stretched out towards God, with nothing to offer and everything to receive.” This prayer is humbly stretching out that hand, admitting that we can’t even come and worship unless the Spirit cleanses us and strengthens us first. The design features a lovely little church, with its doors open, symbolizing our openness to God. May we all live more and more with hearts wide open to God in faith.

About the Shirt:
Comfort Colors 1717 is a garment-dyed t-shirt; a fully customizable tee made with 100% ring-spun cotton. The soft-washed, garment-dyed fabric brings extra coziness to your wardrobe while the relaxed fit makes it an excellent daily choice. The double-needle stitching throughout the tee makes it highly durable, while the lack of side seams helps the shirt retain its tubular shape. 

.: Heavyweight fabric (6.1 oz/yd² (206.8 g/m²))
.: Relaxed fit
.: Pre-shrunk 100% ring-spun US cotton
.: Available in 62 colors
.: Sewn-in label

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Thank You!
We are so grateful to you for supporting us and our sacramental apparel business. We’re a local Anglican parish priest and his wife doing ministry, raising kids, and serving our neighbors. We’re in love with the beauty of the Lord and his church. Thanks for joining us in wearing that love on your sleeve!