The Collect is a short, tightly structured prayer that makes only one petition and serves to “collect” all the voices of the individual congregants into one prayer. A Collect usually has the following elements:
Address - the invocation is to God the Father
Acknowledgement - the quality of God upon which our request is founded
Petition - the request being made to God to meet a basic need
Aspiration (not always included) - a reason or purpose for the petition beyond the need itself
Pleading - the way to the Father is through the intercession of his Son and our Lord, Jesus Christ
Here’s an example taken from the Book Of Common Prayer, see if you can identify all the elements:
Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid, cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your name, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
Reference - The Collects of Thomas Cranmer compiled and presented by, Fredrick C. Barbee and Paul F. M. Zahl.