Fixed hour prayer consists of prayers and, in the Christian tradition, readings from the Bible, for fixed times of the day and night, usually for every day of the year. The prayers and readings change from day to day, but are often the same ones from year to year.
In the Christian tradition fixed hour prayer is mostly associated with Roman Catholic monks, nuns and lay people praying "the daily office" or the "divine hours" or the "liturgy of the hours," but Protestant Christians are increasingly becoming aware of and interested in the richness of this highly structured devotional discipline.
Another name for this type of prayer is "common prayer," and this emphasizes the communal, collective nature of fixed hour prayer. Everybody within a particular church or religious or spiritual community says the same prayers at the same time of day (although in different time zones).
The Eastern Orthodox Church, sometimes called the Eastern Catholic Church in contrast to the Roman Catholic Western Church, also uses fixed hour prayer. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition the daily office is sometimes referred to as "Divine Services." For more information on the Eastern Orthodox Church's use of fixed hour prayer, click here.
Another name for this type of prayer is "common prayer," and this emphasizes the communal, collective nature of fixed hour prayer. Everybody within a particular church or religious or spiritual community says the same prayers at the same time of day (although in different time zones).
Many individuals draw comfort and upliftment from being and strongly feeling that they are part of a larger community and are acting in unison with it. There is also, at a more subtle energy level, considerable spiritual energy and influence involved in hundreds or thousands of people joining their hearts and minds in the same words of prayer simultaneously.
The fixed hour prayer tradition is older than Christianity, however, and was inherited by the Christians from the Jews. Here is an article from Christianity Today magazine on "The Rise and Fall of the Divine Office."
Another Christianity Today article focuses on "Learning the Ancient Rhythms of Prayer." It describes why evangelical and charismatic Christians, and others, are seeking out communities that offer this ancient, pre-Protestant Christian, pre-Christian prayer practice. Here is another essay on fixed hour prayer from a Protestant Christian perspective http://hotshorturl.com/np24 Here is another article that comments on and adds depth and texture to the "Ancient Rhythms of Prayer" article published by Christianity Today.
Here is a website, created by an Episcopalian, that offers easy, online access to the Christian daily office readings and schedule found in the Episcopal/Anglican Book of Common Prayer. It enables you to immediately explore and use a well known form of the daily office without having to purchase the Book of Common Prayer or Roman Catholic books (missals) containing the daily office.
A more "interdenomination" approach to "praying the hours" can be found at the Daily Prayer: Praying the Hours website. it also provides information on becoming a lay monk within the "new evangelical monasticism," a Bible-based, Christ-centered, born-again evangelical approach to living as a Protestant monk in the world.
