On the Daily Office of Prayer

Morning and Evening Prayer offers a refreshing beginning and peaceful end of each day with God. The discipline of the Daily Office of Prayer counters our regular stress and anxiety. 

If you desire low-commitment opportunities to try things out first, this page is for you. Prayer is an individual thing, but it is also corporate, or 'common'. 

For those new to Anglicanism, the Daily Office (Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer) can feel unfamiliar.  The Daily Office is a biblical pattern of prayer anchored in the Bible and in the ancient practice of the Christian Church. The most important thing to understand is that the Daily Office is not primarily about private spirituality but about joining the whole Church in offering prayer and worship to God.  Below are a few important things to know about the Daily Office of Prayer. 

The Daily Office is the Church's rhythm of prayer and praise

Many Christians are accustomed to prayer being spontaneous, personal, and based on immediate needs. Anglicanism certainly values personal prayer, but the Daily Office introduces us to something much deeper and broader. When one prays the Office, they are not merely saying prayers; they are praying and praising God with the whole Church.

The Office unites the individual Christian with:  the local congregation, the wider Anglican Communion, Christians throughout history, and the saints who have prayed the same Psalms for centuries.  A person praying Morning and Evening Prayer at home is participating in the worship of the whole Body of Christ.

The Daily Office is built on the Bible

The Daily Office is essentially a Scripture-shaped life. It is Bible verses arranged for prayer.  The major components are:

The Psalms — the prayer book of Israel and the prayer book of the Church.

Lessons — readings from the Old Testament, Epistles, and Gospels.

Canticles — traditional biblical songs such as the Venite, Te Deum, Benedictus, Magnificat, and Nunc Dimittis.

Collects — ancient prayers that gather the biblical themes of the day.

The goal is to allow Scripture to form one's imagination, prayers, and worship.  The Daily Office teaches us how to pray.

The Psalms are the heart of the Office

Some people struggle with the Psalms because they encounter raw emotions: anger, sorrow, judgment, suffering, enemies, and lament. The Psalms teach Christians to bring the entire human experience before God.  The Psalms give us words for:

joy when we cannot find the words,

grief when we are overwhelmed,

repentance when we have failed,

hope when circumstances seem hopeless.

Jesus prayed the Psalms often. On the Cross He prayed Psalm 22: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" 

What is "common prayer"

The word common does not mean ordinary or mediocre. It means shared, like communal or community. You'll notice pronouns like "we, us, our", just like the pronouns in the Lord's Prayer.  We don't change them to "me, mine, or I" when prayed alone. The Daily Office creates a spiritual connection and unity with other Christians. We use the same Psalms, the same Creeds, and the same prayers, offered by Christians across time and space.

If Holy Communion is the summit of the Church's worship, the Daily Office are the steps that prepare the soul to live in that Eucharistic reality. Morning and Evening Prayer teach Christians to begin and end every day in the presence of God, shaped by Scripture, united with the Church, and oriented toward Jesus Christ.

This is one of the great strengths of Anglicanism for people living in an anxious and fragmented age: it gives the Christian a stable, historic, Christ-centered rhythm when nearly everything else in modern life is unstable.  If you are ready to pray the current daily office, then scroll through the link below or download one of the two options (ACNA 2019 or the Ordo Daily Office (ACNA, REC, TEC, 1928...)) for the Daily Office for your phone with the links at the top of this page.