A few months ago, a small group of people at Hope for Life Christian Fellowship in Calgary, AB decided to commit themselves to regular prayer.
Knowing that this would be easier together than individually, they agreed to set seven alarms throughout the day as reminders to stop and pray.
These fixed hours of prayer were to serve as a time to pause and reorient again to God – our true north as the people of God.
They could choose to stop.
They could pause for 2 seconds.
Or 2 minutes.
The point was to cultivate a posture of prayer throughout the day – to turn their hearts and minds towards God and simply remind themselves that they were in the presence of God and that God was present with them.
They might ask, “Lord, what are you up to?”
Or simply humble their hearts and pray, “Have mercy on me, a sinner.”
They might remind themselves of the great truth of Scripture – “I am loved by You.”
Or they might breathe a prayer of gratitude that God is indeed present – being reminded that they are not alone.
They would text each other reminders and share their experience.
Doing it together gave them a sense of community and a sense of accountability.
Praying the hours is a traditional Christian practice that goes back throughout the centuries. It’s another way to abide in Christ and draw closer to the heart of God.
Photo creds: Lala Azizli (Unsplash)