You that have bestowed on us these communal prayers lifted in one voice, that promised to grant the requests of two or three agreeing in your name, now fulfill the requests of your servants. Give us in this present age the knowledge of your truth and bestow on us in the future age, everlasting life.
Now we get to the heart of the matter. We are now turning to God and asking that all of the prayers we make in the Liturgy are granted. We ask to be enlightened in this present age so that we may comprehend all that we are about to hear, and we ask for life everlasting. This sums up the first part of the Liturgy and sets the stage for what comes after. Next is the little entrance and the readings from Scripture.
There is a tradition of changing these prayers based on the season. The Monks at New Skete in New York have come out with a book entitled Sighs of the Spirit. In this book the Monks have researched ancient manuscripts and have found that the prayers did change based on the season. Every now and again I like to shake things up and throw in one or two new prayers. I always get comments after the liturgy about the prayer so I know people are listening.
