A PATH OF PRAYER

One of the few practices that the first disciples of Jesus specifically requested Jesus teach them was how to pray. Paul echoes this question in Romans 8 when he confesses that “we do not know how to pray as we should.” So, how do we learn how to pray? The booklet below is a path of prayer that is mostly Psalms. It is a path that was brought into the church from ancient Judaism. This path is the path that Jesus walked and invites us to walk as followers of him.

“There in short space is the very heart, and the very center of what we need to say about Christian prayer. And, you could perhaps summarize it by saying that Christian prayer is precisely what we don’t do. Not just because we are bad at it. But, because what is going on in prayer is God returning to God through us. God’s life returning to God, and rather like light broken up into colors in a prism, it is colored. That Divine life is colored by the humanity through which it passes. And in that process, we become more, and not less human. Because there is the second dimension of this passage that we must think about. This process of God returning to God. God’s love and life, if you like, bouncing back to God from creation is completely bound up with the mystery of God’s eternal Word and God’s eternal Son. We become more fully ourselves as we become more fully children of God. As we grow in the freedom to talk to God in the way Jesus talks to God, saying “Abba, Father.””
— Rowan Williams

THE DAILY OFFICE

God created us as ritualistic beings with great capacity for words and practices to make their way into the groundwaters of our lives. And to be abundantly clear, ritual and form do not have to quash the heart. At their best, God draws the heart out through them if we will follow that path. As we stated above, these forms of prayer that we use are not made up, and they are not novel. They are ancient, and the belief is that the forms themselves come from God. They have guided the people of God down the path of prayer, the path we walk today.

The Daily Office, also known as the Divine Office or Liturgy of the Hours, is a rich tapestry of daily prayers, readings, and reflections designed to shape our hearts and minds in alignment with the sacred rhythms of the day.

Click on the image of our prayer book to download a pdf copy.

DAILY SCRIPTURE READINGS

The Daily Office Readings are part of the many tradition's daily prayers, providing structured scripture readings for Morning and Evening Prayer. They follow a two-year cycle, offering passages from the Old Testament, New Testament, and Psalms to ensure broad engagement with Scripture over time.

These readings form the core of daily devotion for individuals and communities, connecting believers to the rhythm of Scripture throughout the church year.

Historically, the Daily Office developed from monastic practices of daily prayer, and it was eventually adapted for broader use to encourage both clergy and laity to read most of the Bible regularly.

The Daily Office Lectionary is intended to bridge the gap between Sundays, allowing the reader to move deeper into the Scriptures we read together. Each day’s reading includes a morning and evening Psalm, an Old Testament, a New Testament, and a Gospel reading.

The daily readings can be found through the link below.  Just scroll down to Daily Readings.

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Prayer Apps

  • Venite App

    Venite.app is a Daily Office prayer app rooted in the Anglican tradition of the Episcopal Church.

    • Pray the Office, listen to it read aloud

    • Listen to the liturgy spoken in a variety of voices

    Includes:

    • Morning Prayer, Noonday Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Compline

    • Coverdale Psalter, 1979 BCP Psalter, and Inclusive Psalter

    • NRSV, ESV, KJV, and more Bible translations

  • Hallow App

    Hallow App

    Hallow is a Christian prayer app that offers audio-guided meditation sessions to help us grow in our faith & spiritual lives and find peace in God. Explore over 10,000 different sessions on contemplative prayer, meditation, Bible readings, music, and more.

    • Daily prayers

    • Christian Meditation practices

    • Sleep Bible Stories

    • Igantian Prayer Practices (The Examen, Lectio Divina, etc)

    • Content for kids and students (music, podcasts, stories, etc).

  • Centering Prayer App

    The Centering Prayer mobile app supports one’s daily prayer practice. Beautiful, elegant and peaceful, the app includes an adjustable timer, as well as opening and closing prayer options that may be read before and after Centering Prayer. An assortment of sounds and backgrounds allow one to choose the type of environment for the prayer time.

    Brief instructions for learning Centering Prayer are also included.