Fixed Hour of Prayer Devotional

Dear Friends in Christ,                                                                                                                                                                                 March 17, 2020

During this time of the Coronavirus pandemic, I am inviting you to join me in one of the oldest forms of Christian spiritual discipline: Fixed Hour Prayer. When the Psalmist wrote, “Seven times a day do I praise you for your righteous ordinances” (Psalm 119:164), he is referring to the times of prayer as those observed in ancient Judaism. The exact times of those prayers are unknown, but as Phyllis Tickle, author of The Divine Hours states,

“By the turn of the era, however, the devout had come to punctuate their work day with prayers on a regimen that followed the flow of Roman commercial life. Forum bells began the work day at six in the morning (prime, or first hour), sounded mid-morning break at nine (terce, or third hour), the noon meal and siesta or break at twelve (sext, or sixth hour), the re-commencing of trade at three (none, or ninth hour), and the close of business at six (vespers). With the addition of evening prayers and early prayers upon arising, the structure of fixed-hour prayer was established in a form that is very close to that which Christians still use today.”

Fixed-hour prayer is an opportunity to intentionally invite God into our life throughout the day. It helps us to stop what we are doing and spend time with God, offering prayers and reading brief Scripture passages. Most of the worship services take less than a few minutes and there are suggested times that we offer the various services. You are invited to pray as many of the Fixed-Hour prayer services as you’d like—depending on your sleeping and waking schedule.

I put together services for each day of the week. Each week, you will read the particular prayers for that day, so that we, as a community of faith, will all be praying the same prayers together each and every day. I pray this will be a blessing to us as we journey through this time while we must remain apart.

God’s Abiding Peace,
Pastor Sue Beadle

Fixed Hour Prayer 2020 Sunday
Fixed Hour Prayer 2020 Monday
Fixed Hour Prayer 2020 Tuesday
Fixed Hour Prayer 2020 Wednesday
Fixed Hour Prayer 2020 Thursday
Fixed Hour Prayer 2020 Friday
Fixed Hour Prayer 2020 Saturday