Daily Prayer
It is the time of year when many of us are writing New Year's resolutions. I would invite you to consider your prayer life as you craft your own.
Regular daily prayer with the Scriptures has been part of the tradition of the church since its beginning. It is practice that we inherited from our Jewish ancestors, who marked not only the Festivals (Passover, Weeks, Booths, etc.) and the months, but also the evening (the beginning of the day, cf. Genesis 1: "...and it was evening and it was morning") and the morning with times of prayer.
Christian monasteries and many churches also mark the day with fixed-hour prayer. That is, certain times of the day are set aside to pause and to pray: usually with prayers from the Psalms and other Scriptures. How often? Some as often as every three hours: 6 am (or sunrise), 9 am (the third hour), 12 noon (the sixth hour, the time of the crucifixion), 3 pm (the ninth hour), 6 pm (evening, sunset), 9 pm (late evening) and midnight. Some even rise in the middle of the night to give thanks and praise to God. Work and pray. Work and pray. Work and pray. This is the rhythm of the monastery--and it may be ours too!
If this all seems quite ambitious to you, that is ok. Begin where you are and work on growing to a more frequent marking of the days with prayer. If you pray less often than weekly, why not commit to praying weekly? If you pray weekly, why not commit to praying daily this new year? And if you pray daily, why not consider gradually growing to marking more than one time of day for fixed prayer? If you are a morning pray-er, add noon or evening. The idea is that the Words of God would be "on our lips and in our heart" (Romans 10:8).
And since we have just heard Mary's Song (on December 21) and Simeon's Song (December 28) during Sunday worship, why not begin with some fixed prayers from Scripture?
Traditionally the Benedictus (Zechariah’s Song) in Luke 1:68-79 is prayed in the morning, after rising. It celebrates God's victories for his people and the Savior Jesus Christ.
The Magnificat (Mary’s Song) in Luke 1:46-55 is prayed in the evening (near sunset, often around dinner time) and it celebrates God's provision for the poor and lowly. Mary voices her praise to God for us all. Note the connections between Mary's song and Exodus 15 in the Old Testament.
Finally, the Nunc Dimittis (Simeon’s Song) in Luke 2:29-32 is a "bedtime" prayer and forces us to consider the links between our regular evening sleep and the "sleep" of death. Both involve an incredible amount of trust as we enfold ourselves into the hands of our Creator.
Services for Morning Prayer (Matins), Evening Prayer (Vespers) and Compline (Night Prayer) may be found in our new Evangelical Lutheran Worship hymnal, pp. 295-327 and in the green Lutheran Book of Worship, pp. 131-160. Don't be intimidated by all the music. Simply read the sung parts if you do not know the music. If you do not have a hymnal in your home, I would invite you to consider purchasing one of these (another New Year's resolution?). There is even a resource with abbreviated versions of morning and evening prayer with hymn suggestions called Bread for the Day.
Let's not forget the Psalms. Ideally these should be a part of Daily Prayer. The Psalms are a rich treasure trove of song and verse that Israel (and then the Church) have been praying for thousands of years. A table for praying the whole book of Psalms each month is available here. The first Psalms listed each day for the morning and the second for the evening.
If you would like to read more about fixed daily prayer, I would also recommend a resource by Phyllis Tickle called The Divine Hours, who has written on the subject of fixed-hour prayer. Another online resource (with book suggestions) is available here.
Mark Your Calendar
Mark your calendars for these upcoming events. For more information check the newsletter later this week. It should be posted online by then.
+January 3: 1st Saturday evening worship service (5 pm) and blood drive (daytime)
+January 4: Installation of council members during worship
+January 11: "Companion Synod Sunday": We celebrate our partnership with churches in Tanzania and Serbia
+Late January / early February: e100 (Essential 100) Bible reading program kick off
Merry Christmas (Day 5) and Happy New Year!
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