Patterns of Daily Christian Prayer

[AngCath]

This is an important topic and has recently surfaced in STR in the Anglican Breviary thread.

I'll start by asking the question: what is essential in daily prayer? simplicity? variety?

As a regular of the Daily Office, I look forward to everyone's thoughts.

 

[karen freeinchristman]

In my circumstances (busy life - wife, mother, ordinand, part-time employee), simplicity is high on the list. Ease of use. This is why I find the Morning Prayer (Common Worship), from the Church of England website, so helpful. Everything is provided - the readings from the lectionary are integrated with the daily liturgy, the collects are there, and the alternative prayers/canticles are all linked. With this, I have been able to finally get stuck in to a good regular discipline.

At the moment, morning prayer is all I seem to manage, with the occasional evening prayer or night prayer (compline). I love compline.

 

[TomUK]

Simple. with basic variation to keep it interesting.

Daily prayer can become too much like finding the correct page and simply reading the new material. Prayer should gradually build through the seasons not change endlessly from day to day.

 

[Secundulus]

I'll start by asking the question: what is essential in daily prayer? simplicity? variety?

I think that the only thing essential is consistency. The rest can be adapted to the needs and character of the individual.

 

[TomUK]

Purely to provoke discussion, consistency is quite a vague term. Consistency could be something as simple as that one prays each day or could be that the same words are used each time.

How do you understand it?

 

[Secundulus]

Purely to provoke discussion, consistency is quite a vague term. Consistency could be something as simple as that one prays each day or could be that the same words are used each time.

How do you understand it?

I mean that whatever rule one adopts, he should stick to it faithfully and not allow other things to interfere.

For instance, if one's rule is to say the daily office each day then he should find a way to be disciplined and actually do it every day.

If one adopts a rule that allows something different each day then that is fine as long as he actually does these things every day.

I personally find that consistency is the hardest part. It is very easy to find excuses to sleep late and skip a morning prayere routine or to put off the evening routine until one is is too sleepy to do it. Pretty soon one finds that their only real consistency is in not doing the daily office or whatever else they had established for themselves.

This takes self discipline and fits well with Paul's analogy of the Christian as an athlete in training.

 

[IowaLutheran]

As someone just trying to get in the habit of daily prayer, I think simplicity is the key for me. I've been trying to do morning prayer and either evening prayer or compline, and have been somewhat consistent so far.

 

[karen freeinchristman]

This takes self discipline and fits well with Paul's analogy of the Christian as an athlete in training.

This is really hitting the nail on the head, me thinks. Self-discipline. It is not easy, and I think we rebel against it and struggle within ourselves, both wanting to be disciplined yet at the same time giving in to being lazy.

I used to fight against the seeming repetitiveness of the daily office, but when I finally started to say it every morning, what I thought would feel like a regimental bind now turns out to be a truly uplifting, Spirit-releasing part of my life. Hopefully soon I can get the same thing consistantly going with night prayer.

I especially enjoy saying the Psalms daily - I didn't used to get enough Psalms in my scriptural diet.

 

[norbie]

For me, prayer means talking with God. And the best time for me is when I use the bathroom every morning. I find it hard to pray with the morning prayers in our Anglican Prayer book. I find it hard to just read a prayer from a book. I find talking with God like you talk to your partner is most rewarding and pieceful for me. Like being in the toilet and pray, 'dear heavenly father, what will this day bring? There will be nothing what you and I can't handle. Let's start the day together.'
This is my prayer, simple and talking direct to my heavenly Father.

 

[karen freeinchristman]

For me, prayer means talking with God. And the best time for me is when I use the bathroom every morning. I find it hard to pray with the morning prayers in our Anglican Prayer book. I find it hard to just read a prayer from a book. I find talking with God like you talk to your partner is most rewarding and pieceful for me. Like being in the toilet and pray, 'dear heavenly father, what will this day bring? There will be nothing what you and I can't handle. Let's start the day together.'
This is my prayer, simple and talking direct to my heavenly Father.

I agree, this is wonderful stuff, Norbie. I think that for many people, praying the daily office is in addition to the type of prayer you've described. For me, personal prayer is enriched through the practice of daily office prayer. Also, in the daily office, there is always a place for extempore prayers. I simply find the discipline to be very helpful - I need it!

 

[JasonV]

I find that Prime and Compline are quite comforting for me when I do them on a daily basis. I'm not about to pretend that I've been doing them everytime, everyday for the past year or so since I started, but my day always seems to start and end better when I do complete these ancient offices.

My denomination's offices are quite simple by all accounts (probably akin to the modern BCP), and the only change I've encountered is including a new Psalter that one of my Bishops has provided me. It does provide a stimulating change from what I've been doing the past year, but at the same time, I find a deal of comfort from using the original Psalms everyday as well.

And if I might add: The only essential prayer I believe should be said everyday is to cross oneself, and recite: "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen."

 

[AngCath]

which psalter is the new psalter your bishop gave you?

 

[JasonV]

which psalter is the new psalter your bishop gave you?

It's just an in house psalter with a 4 week cycle. No tones or anything as far as chanting is concerned. What Psalter do you use bro?

 

[AngCath]

The '79 Prayer Book's Psalter and the Anglican Chant Psalter in chapel for sung morning prayer.

 

[Mary of Bethany]

Does anyone have a link to your Compline? I pray Compline at night from my Orthodox prayer book(s), and I was wondering how similar they are. Thanks!

Mary

 

[pmcleanj]

The mediaeval hours of prayer, every three hours eight times a day, work well for a monastic lifestyle. When Cranmer accommodated in his new Prayer Book the reformation ideal that religious praxis is the role of EVERY Christian and not just of professional Christians, he made a very wise adaptation of the Daily Office: he combined it into the two primary offices of Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer. That was a rhythm that allowed milkmaids and ploughboys and lawyers and clerks all to participate in the worship life of the community without interfering with the economy of the nation and the realities of earning our daily bread.

What we can learn from this in terms of specifically Anglican Tradition, is that an effective pattern of daily prayer fits into and around our daily life: it conforms our daily life rather than disrupting our daily life.

In this light, what has worked for me and my house in terms of establishing daily prayer, is to pray at those fixed recurring intervals of the day that happen as a matter of course. We pray repetitively, but with enough variation to keep the prayers from being automatic. The source of our prayers is the Prayer Book whose source in turn is Scripture.

Upon getting up, I pray alone for 15 minutes while I do a set of physiotherapy exercises:
Holy God (breathe in)
Holy and mighty (hold)
Holy immortal one (breathe out and increase depth of stretch)
Have mercy upon us (hold breath and hold stretch)
There are four exercises: I repeat the trisagion three to five times for each one and pray in turn for 1) The Church, 2) The World, 3) The faithful departed, 4) The sick and needy.

At breakfast we pray aloud, in unison from memory as a family-congregation:
Heavenly Father, we humbly thank thee for the rest of the past night and this gift of a new day. Grant that we may so spend its hours in the perfect freedom of thy service, that when evening comes we may again give thanks unto thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

At lunch we pray responsively:
V. All eyes wait on thee O Lord
R. And thou givest them their meat in due season
V. Thou openest thine hand
R. And fillest all things living with plenteousness
A. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

At supper we pray in unison, during Holy Seasons the collect ordained for the season or the week, and the rest of the time:
Bless O Lord this food to our use, and consecrate ourselves to thy service, and make us ever mindful of the needs of others. Amen.

Bedtime prayers are again individual private prayer, now that the daughters have outgrown bedtime rituals. I used to sing them to sleep with the canticles from evening prayer and wake them up with the canticles from morning prayer, but they've taken over responsibility for their own morning and evening routines.

 

[karen freeinchristman]

Does anyone have a link to your Compline? I pray Compline at night from my Orthodox prayer book(s), and I was wondering how similar they are. Thanks!

Mary

Mary, here you are: http://www.cofe.anglican.org/worship/dailyprayer/night/

That is the C of E one, of course.

 

[AngCath]

for compline according to the 1979 BCP go here and click on daily office: http://www.bcponline.org/

 

[Mary of Bethany]

Mary, here you are: http://www.cofe.anglican.org/worship/dailyprayer/night/

That is the C of E one, of course.

Thanks, karen.

It's actually quite different, which surprises me. I thought it would probably have the same basic structure, but it doesn't.

And now I know where the name "Compline" comes from. I always wondered what it meant.

Mary

 

[Mary of Bethany]

for compline according to the 1979 BCP go here and click on daily office: http://www.bcponline.org/

That page is "under construction". Thanks for the link, though.

Mary