“Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour<\/em>” (Acts 10:9).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The practice of praying at set times is an old and honorable custom. And despite our modern disdain for anything that isn’t spontaneous, the habit of praying at the beginning, the middle, and the end of the day has much to recommend it. These three times of daily prayer shouldn’t be all the praying we do (any more than the giving thanks at mealtime), but it is a helpful framework within which we pray. “Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice<\/em>” (Psalms 55:17).<\/p>\n
Sometimes I think we “Protestants” are so used to dismissing whatever is “Catholic,” we reject anything that might lean toward liturgy or ritual. In doing so, we sometimes throw the baby out with the bathwater, cutting ourselves off from devotional practices and spiritual disciplines that would be profoundly beneficial to us.<\/p>\n
Morning<\/h2>\n
The Lord sometimes got up before everybody else so that He could pray (Mark 1:35). If it was important to Him, it is no less a blessing for us to set the direction and tone for the day by communing with our Father, dedicating the day’s firstfruits to Him.<\/p>\n
Midday<\/h2>\n
This is the time for a crucial check-in and recalibration. We consciously bring God back to the center of a day that has probably become busy and distracted. This period of prayer helps us to “sanctify the day’s unfolding,” as one person put it. What a joy!<\/p>\n
Evening<\/h2>\n
In addition to getting up early to pray, the Lord also stayed up late (Luke 6:12). For us, His followers, this can be a beloved time for thanksgiving, confession, and peaceful surrender, entrusting the day that has passed and the night to come into God’s hands.<\/p>\n
If you disagree with what I’ve written, it’s not me but the prophet Daniel that you should question: “Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days<\/em>” (Daniel 6:10). To be sure, not all of us have the freedom to pray at three fixed times each day, but even in a modified form, praying within a daily prayer-framework has benefits and blessings that are well worth making the sacrifice.<\/p>\n
“If your day is hemmed in with prayer, it is less likely to come unraveled” (Cynthia Lewis).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Gary Henry via WordPoints.com “Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour” (Acts 10:9). The practice of praying at set times is an old and honorable custom. And despite our modern disdain for anything that isn’t spontaneous, the habit of praying at the beginning, the middle, and the end of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1510],"class_list":["post-91342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-prayers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":40090,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-failed-to-pray-last-night-because-i-fell-asleep-should-i-offer-two-prayers-tonight\/","url_meta":{"origin":91342,"position":0},"title":"I failed to pray last night because I fell asleep. Should I offer two prayers tonight?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I have a question. I ask you because I did not find any topic related to what I am curious about. Last night I was watching TV and in a moment I fell asleep. The problem is that I did not pray that night because I fell asleep.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":64515,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-pray-for-someone-i-do-not-have-anything-particular-to-request\/","url_meta":{"origin":91342,"position":1},"title":"How do I pray for someone I do not have anything particular to request?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 10, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good evening, I wanted to ask you something that came to my mind recently. I am trying to get better at praying for others; specifically, people who have not given me any ways that I can pray for them. How can I pray for someone if I do not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32125,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-have-a-hard-time-focusing-while-praying-and-end-up-thinking-about-sinful-things-how-do-i-pray-better\/","url_meta":{"origin":91342,"position":2},"title":"I have a hard time focusing while praying and end up thinking about sinful things. How do I pray better?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good Day, Before I ask my question, I want to thank you for giving us all this opportunity to ask questions and get a reply based on the scriptures. It's enlightening and a humbling experience. My question can be termed very basic, but still, it is something very important\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92254,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/dont-hide-behind-your-prayers\/","url_meta":{"origin":91342,"position":3},"title":"Don\u2019t Hide Behind Your Prayers","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 19, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Clay Gentry We're called to be people of prayer. Jesus Himself taught that we \"ought always to pray and not lose heart\" (Luke 18:1). However, if we are honest, sometimes our prayers are merely a pious way of being inactive. It is easy to hide behind the sincerity of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":87530,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/two-reasons-to-tell-someone-you-are-praying-for-them\/","url_meta":{"origin":91342,"position":4},"title":"Two Reasons to Tell Someone You Are Praying for Them","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Clay Gentry How often have you heard \"I'll pray for you,\" only for the sentiment to feel as fleeting as a quick hello in a crowded foyer? Or perhaps you've offered the phrase yourself, a well-intentioned conversational reflex that sometimes gets lost in the everyday shuffle of life. While\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23242,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-think-about-people-praying-in-front-of-schools\/","url_meta":{"origin":91342,"position":5},"title":"What do you think about people praying in front of schools?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 6, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Some of my friends, during the holidays, are going to colleges and praying in front of the colleges. Is there any use in doing this? Answer: \"And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91342\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}