The Daily Office

The Daily Office

The Daily Office – sometimes also called the Liturgy of the Hours – is an ancient practice of daily prayer. The Jewish people recited prayers at specific times during the day: for example, in the Book of Acts, Peter and John visit the Temple for the afternoon prayers (Acts 3:1). Psalm 119:164 states: "Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws." Even today, priests, monks, and other followers of Jesus all over the world observe the Daily Office. Read about one man's journey of praying the Daily Office by clicking here. When you pray the Daily Office, you are joining a fellowship of believers who have recited these prayers daily for century upon century.

The Daily Office is often different from devotional time, because its purpose is just to spend time in God’s presence, talking to him. There is a rhythm to the Daily Office, for the purpose of drawing our attention to the rhythms of life and God’s presence in all of time.

The Daily Office consists of daily Morning Prayer, Noontime Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Compline (Bed-time prayer). The prayers vary by season in the Christian year, day of the week, and time of day. Because the first prayer time in the Daily Office is 3:45 AM, many people incorporate only certain parts of the Daily Office into their lives, and that is just fine.

If you’d like to view the Daily Office online, click here. You’ll see a button on that page that says “Click for today’s prayer service.” It may seem strange at first, and that’s OK. Just open yourself to what God wants to say to you through this practice.