Praying the Hours
Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice. - Psalm 55:17
For over a thousand years, the Catholic Church has advocated for a liturgy of the hours - a simple pattern of stopping 7 times a day to pray. These are set prayers and not the spontaneous sort. Many Christians of other kinds have started a sort of liturgy of the hours - perhaps not doing the same 7 times as the Catholic Church recommends. Many have found that having set times to pray throughout the day is really helpful in bringing structure and clarity to their days.
Would you be willing to try something approaching this type of prayer? Just try it on and see if it fits - do you like it, does it help you focus, does it keep you feeling connected to God and/or your purpose in life?
Consider this: set an alarm or a reminder or some other trigger for twice a day when you know you’ll have at least a moment or two to refocus. Then choose a prayer. You might consider one of these:
The Lord’s prayer (or a modern translation of it, like Brenna Rubio’s, at the bottom of this devotional)
A breath prayer like you see on @blackliturgies on Instagram
A contemplation: maybe a word or phrase (“I am beloved” or “love me/send me”)
The Jesus prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.”
Then try to take 30 seconds to take a deep breath and pray that prayer twice a day at your appointed times over the coming week… and then reflect on how it went for you.
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O great God - our Mom, our Dad - be our deepest love and highest loyalty, whatever else tries to claim our hearts.
Bring the kinship of heaven with all its
healing, hope, and salvation
laughter, liberation and justice
May your priorities be our priorities.
May we reject any crumbs tossed to us from the table of oppression.
We look to you as our true source of provision.
Make us agents of peace, helping us lean into rhythms of
Sabbath and Jubilee,
forgiveness and rest,
experiencing and encouraging freedom and flourishing.
Rescue us from the forces of empire, both outside of us and inside of us. Protect us.
You’re the best. Amen.
(Brenna Rubio, City Church prayer, 7-2020)