Does your “quiet time” feel disconnected from the rest of your day? If you’re like most Christians, you’ve probably experienced the dissonance of seeking God in a time of Scripture reading and/or prayer, but then lacking the feelings of integration and intimacy with God throughout the day. While not the ideal, it’s certainly a common experience. But is there something that can help make God feel close and relevant throughout your day?

Prayer of the Hours is a monastic discipline that helps fight against both internal and external factors that keep us feeling a secular-sacred divide in life. Monasteries have a bell. It tolls throughout the day at the top of the hours and the residents stop whatever they are doing to pray. Externally, their tasks are relegated to a lower priority than seeking God. Internally, whatever thoughts, worries, and productivity was occupying one’s brain is once again surrendered to God. It’s a blunt, perhaps jarring discipline to continuously remember that all things come second to God. 

I’ve practiced Prayer of the Hours in some form for a couple years now. I typically follow some rhythm like this: (9am) Adoration, (10am) Confession, (11am) Thanksgiving, (12pm) Supplication, (1pm) Intercede: the Church, (2pm) Lament, (3pm) Intercede: my kids, (4pm) Intercede: my spouse. One of the ways that I’ve found particularly encouraging is applying something in my life as a theme for my Prayer of the Hours. It has been a reminder that not only do all things come second to God, but that God cares about all things. 

For example, one could theme Prayer of the Hours based on a decision that needs to be made: looking for a new job, whether to break up with your significant other, or where to go to grad school. It could be themed based on something coming up: the block party you’re hosting, your child’s summer camp, the book club you’re joining. It could even be themed around someone in your life. Any of these themes could be celebratory or intercessory.

To hash this out further, here’s a hypothetical example of how to add a theme to Prayer of the Hours if one was using my personal hourly focuses: 

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At 9am, my prayer alarm goes off. My phone says it’s time for adoration. My husband is looking for a new job and it’s weighing heavily on him, so I decide to theme my prayer today around that topic. 

“Jehovah Jireh, You have been our provider. You are good and faithful to us always. Lord, I will worship You even in uncertainty, trusting that You are always steady. Despite other factors in life being hard, his job has truly been a non-stressor in life. Not everyone gets that, so thank you for that grace. You are a kind Father. Amen.”

I get back to work. The hour flies by and suddenly my ten o’clock alarm is sounding, telling me it’s time to pray a prayer of confession. 

“Okay, God. First, I confess that I don’t really want to stop and pray right now. I was really in the zone so I’d rather be working. Second, I confess that it feels hard for me to trust that You will provide in the way we want for his job. And maybe You won’t. I need help remembering that just because the outcome may not look like what we want, that doesn’t mean You’re not still providing for us. But God, You know how the benefits of this job have been crucial to the health of our family. And I’m worried about losing those. God, I also confess being frustrated that this is even something we have to discern right now, even though I see how You were preparing him for this decision. So God, forgive me for not trusting You to be good. Forgive me for getting stuck in my own personal concerns. And forgive me for making it more about me and my desires. Help me to trust You, to love and serve him in this process, and to model faithfulness no matter our circumstances. Amen.”

Despite starting out a little annoyed by the interruption, I actually feel a lot better after taking the time to pray. But time to get back in the zone. This hour is less productive and so moves more slowly. But eventually 11am rolls around and it’s time to pray a prayer of thanksgiving. I’m in a meeting that’s about to start, but I still stop to offer a short prayer. 

“Lord, thank You that we can seek You in the decision making process. Amen.”

Before I know it, it’s noon. My alarm announces it’s time for supplication– asking God to supply our needs. This feels like the most intuitive one as we walk through discernment. 

“Father, You know our needs before we even ask. But You also love to deepen relationship so You often wait for us to ask. So God, here’s the thing. We need You to open doors. Lord, he could settle for a job that he hates but has good benefits, but I really don’t want him to. Please, Lord, would You display Your abundant generosity and do more than what we ask or imagine? Would You provide a job that is fulfilling, has a great work culture, and still has the flexibility that has been so helpful for our family? You have been so kind already, but I also know You are a Father who loves to give good gifts to His children. So I ask with the childlike faith of our kids. Amen.” 

Afternoon rolls in and we move into the prayer focuses that perhaps feel less related. However I’ve found that a specific application to them makes them even more fruitful. At 1pm, I pray this job theme in the context of interceding for the Church. 

“Jesus, would You lead us in such a way that it can be an encouragement to those in our local Body? Would You help our discernment process to embolden the faith of brothers and sisters around us? And God, would You provide a job that allows for my husband to both connect with other believers, as well as create relationships with nonbelievers as he seeks to bring Your Kingdom to earth? Amen.”

I’m running errands at 2pm and turn off the alarm without thinking. Then the three o’clock alarm goes off and I realize I missed the lament. “Oh well, better luck tomorrow,” I think, and prepare to intercede for our kids.

“God, help us to make a wise move for our family. Specifically, help our kids to benefit by having a more present father as a result of this change. Amen.”

Back to work, I get caught up in email. An hour later, the alarm to intercede for my husband goes off. I really don’t want to stop and pray right now. I’m super tempted to just turn it off. But instead I let the alarm keep playing until I finish this email. I roll my eyes with a small smile as I acknowledge that I’m demonstrating the very root of why Prayer of the Hours is a challenging but important discipline. I don’t want to stop and reroute my focus to God. Prayer feels less important right now. I don’t stop writing the email even with the little nudge of conviction. I hit send. Then I turn off the alarm and pray. 

“Okay, God. I acknowledge I probably should have stopped. But clearly I’m not repentant about that yet… So I guess, Holy Spirit, would you soften me toward that? Because I want to want to keep You first in priority. Anyway, please help my husband as he discerns this. Thank You for our partnership in life and that we get to seek wisdom together. But give him hope and confidence in You. Help him to hear from You. Give him favor with his boss as well as his network to be able to find a new job that’s a really good fit. Amen.”

And that’s the end of my alarms for the day. I probably prayed an extra 15 minutes, which isn’t crazy, but by being interrupted for prayer throughout the day, I was able to connect with God more than just in a morning Bible reading time. And by theming it, I’m reminded that God really does care about the things I care about. He’s with us in this decision, making my relationship with Him feel both more intimate and more relevant to my whole life. 

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For some reason, I’ve never set alarms past 4pm. So it just interrupts my workday. You could try it at 9, 12, 3, and 6, or whatever variation you want. But the act of interruption is really formative and will have you engaging with God, especially during the internal battle of not wanting to do it! Each day it starts over, bringing us back to the fork in the road of prioritizing God or our productivity.