The Sacred Hours

Perhaps like me, you get to the end of a particularly busy day and realize that your thoughts rarely, if ever, turned heavenward.  If you are having a hard time keeping your eyes "fixed" on the Savior as you go about the course of your day, you may want to utilize an ancient prayer practice I have found particularly helpful. Christians throughout the ages have used a pattern called the Sacred Hours or Divine Hours to remind them to consciously pause what they were doing and focus on the One who gifted them with those very hours.

I suggest you make a copy of the following text, then cut each section out and place them where you can see them throughout your home, car and office.

I pray they will be a source of great blessing in your life, as they are in mine!

The Sacred Hours

Dawn – The Awakening Hour

Theme: Resurrection - Praise - Delight

Scripture: Psalm 90:14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love; so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

Quote: I cannot open mine eyes but Thou art ready there to catch my morning soul... Teach me Thy love to know, that this new light which now I see, may both the work and Workman show. George Herbert

Mid-morning – The Hour of Possibilities

Theme: Work – Potential - Blessing

Scripture: Psalm 90:17 Let your loveliness shine on us, and bless the work we do, bless the work of our hands.

Quote: I dwell in possibility.  Emily Dickinson

Mid-day – The Hour of Inspiration

Theme: Commitment - Faithfulness - Enthusiasm

Scripture: Psalm 37:5 Commit everything you do to the Lord.  Trust him, and he will help you. 

Quote: To affect the quality of the day is the highest of arts. Henry David Thoreau

Mid-Afternoon – The Wisdom Hour

Theme: Steadfastness - Transition

Scripture: Psalm 119:116 Sustain me as you have promised that I may live…

Quote: Be assured, if you walk with Him and look to Him and expect help from Him, He will never fail you! George Müller

Evening – The Sunset Hour

Theme: Gratitude - Serenity

Scripture: Psalm 46:10 Be still and know that I am God.

Quote: Drop Thy still dews of quietness till all our strivings cease; take from our souls the strain and stress, and let our ordered lives confess the beauty of Thy peace. John Greenleaf Whittier

Night – The Silent Hour

Theme: Rest - Sleep - Protection

Scripture: Psalm 4:9 As soon as I lie down I fall peacefully asleep, for you alone, O Lord, bring security to my dwelling.

Quote: Night holds no terrors for me sleeping under God's wings.  The Liturgy of the Hours