The Collect (or Prayer) for Purity

A collect is a short, focused prayer that "collects" and gathers the prayers of the people in worship.
This collect comes at the start of our service. It begins, “Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid.” This reminds us God knows all about us (our little secrets)—and it ain’t pretty. This rightfully and wonderfully puts us in our place. Thus, we don’t come lightly or self-righteously into worship. Next we pray that God would "cleanse the thoughts of our hearts." This acknowledges the reality that when we come to worship, we are a distracted and sinful people, with cold hearts and wandering minds. So this prayer helps us come to God with great humility, aware that we cannot even worship God without his intervention in our hearts. Then we conclude by praying that by God's grace and help we might be able to "worthily magnify" (or praise) his holy name. When we worship rightly, it is only by God going before us and giving us hearts that love him.