| Rhythms of Prayer
Jesus learned to pray in the traditional Hebrew way. Like David, who prayed seven times a day (Psalm 119:164) and Daniel, who prayed three times a day (Daniel 6:10), Jesus and his contemporaries prayed at set hours.
 This custom of praying at established daily intervals became a part of the early church’s rhythm and has continued, particularly in the monastic tradition, until today. Benedictines pray “the Divine Hours” eight times each day while other Christians pause for morning and evening prayer.
People who pray at fixed hours during the day quietly ease away from the obligations of home or work, taking a few moments with God. These moments connect them to God and to the countless others who are also pausing to pray the prayers designated for that hour, on that day. Prayers whispered and chanted, spoken loud and clear or murmured silently within, all join together in a continuous flow, a river of words from our soul to God’s. In this way, every day becomes holy, for every day is laced together by appointments with God. |
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 “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour or that one is what we are doing. A schedule defends us from chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days. It is a scaffolding on which a worker can stand and labor with both hands at sections of time.” –Annie Dillard
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– Reflections taken from the Theological Horizons website.