Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice.
Psalm 55:17
In the middle of the day I’m normally neck-deep in tasks. By noon, it can be easy to forget the prayers from the morning—life can be so distracting! Unfortunately, it is a slippery slope to then forget that your daily bread is the Word of God, and work can become striving out of your own abilities. At midday, it can be hard to stop what you are doing, especially if you are habituated to a certain structure of your days.
It is important to stop, pause, and remind yourself of why you are doing what you are doing —especially in the middle of a hectic day.
Midday Prayer is a short Office, taking 3-5 minutes. It has a basic structure shared between the Offices, following closest to Compline, yet simpler than the extended Offices of Morning Prayer or Evening Prayer. You can use this pattern to re-orient your heart towards God’s presence amidst daily chaos.
The Opening Sentence of Scripture or Invitatory invites you to pray, helping you transition from your work to a posture of prayer.
The Word is central. We read from the psalms and a passage of Scripture. In response, we observe a period of intentional silence to allow space for God to speak or for personal reflection.
Scripted Prayers disciple you to pray for the whole of life. These prayers break your habits that keep you stuck in one area. The Lord’s prayer is prayed at each Office, as this is how Jesus taught his disciples to pray. We pray “collects” (a short structured prayer addressing God with a specific petition or praise). This section also has time for silence or extemporaneous prayer. It is valuable to bring your day into God’s presence.
Finally, the Dismissal is a reminder that praying orients us to bless the Lord through our daily work, and we are sent to do so with God’s grace.
Nicole Kallsen, Curate