Open Forum: When and How?
I admit it. I'm stealing this forum idea from our friends up at St. James Anglican Church, Newport Beach. It's a great idea for a thread. "When and How?" asks about the specifics of our devotional lives. I hope this question starts popping up between us during actual person-to-person conversations, not just here in this online forum.
But while you're here, why not tell us "when & how" you do your regular prayer and devotional time? Don't be shy now. You'll miss out on encouraging somebody.
I'll start....
When: mornings.
How: read the daily office from the lectionary, sometimes saving the Gospel reading for evening. I say a short prayer for receptivity before I read the scriptures. After reading, I spend about 10 minutes praying through 1) confessions, 2) thanksgivings, and 3) requests. The family has a short "football huddle" prayer before we all go our separate directions.
When: evenings.
How: whatever and as much as the family chaos can afford. On a good day, this means evening prayer together from the BCP or some extended prayer around the table. On busy evenings, it can mean as little as praying before bed.
I pray for more consistency in all of this, especially my evening routine.
David Turney
Site Editor
My husband and I start our morning with a daily prayer given to us by our church in VT. For each month there is a prayer for each day. We receive a new set of prayers for each month. After that we praise the Lord, next we ask for forgiveness for certain sins (we name them), we thank the Lord for a special gift such as our freedom, always being there for us, brothers and sisters in the Lord, Baptism, etc. and we end it by each asking the Lord to hear our petitions that we ask in the name of Jesus Christ.
During the day, we pray for people we meet who do not know the Lord. We also pray as we think about friends and family who have burdens and are suffering.
After dinner, our church has provided us with a calendar and the scripture for the day. We do this so every member of the church (families sit down and do it together) is reading the same scripture.
I read part of it and my husband read the other part. After reading it, we discuss it and finish with prayer. If we are with our church family in Vermont, we usually invite others to join us or we are invited into their homes and we study together with parents, friends and children.
Prayer time at night is done separately. I use to pray lying in bed, but after a year not being able to to get on my knees, and then suddenly i am able to do so, I realized how important it was when possible to come to the Lord on my knees. I think about the words in the hymn that say, "fall on your knees," and also when the Lord returns that "every knee shall bow."
When one is on their knees they are totally focused on communion with the Lord. The mind does not wander. After that I sing a hymn or I go to psalms and make up my own tune to part or the entire chapter.