A rule of prayer is a regular discipline by which I cultivate a life of prayer and grow to love and glorify God more fully.

My prayers may be hindered by many things, such as lethargy or loss, selfishness or sin, distractions or difficulties, or seasons of spiritual dryness. With God’s help, a rule of prayer strengthens me to overcome all these.

My life of prayer is fed by the regular reading of Scripture, practice of personal prayer, and corporate worship of God. The ancient threefold rule of the Church encourages weekly Communion, the Daily Office, and private devotions to shape this way of life.

I should “hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them” that by the sustaining power of God’s Word, I may grow in grace and hold fast to the hope given to me in Jesus Christ.

I should hear the Bible through regular participation in the Church’s worship, in which I join in reciting Scripture, hear it read and prayed, and listen to its truth proclaimed.

I should read the Bible daily, following the Church’s set readings or following a pattern of my own choosing.

I should study the Bible attentively, noting key verses and themes, as well as connections between passages in the Old and New Testaments. I should study on my own and with other Christians, using trustworthy commentaries and other resources to grasp the full meaning of God’s Word.

I should seek to know the whole sweep of Scripture and to memorize key passages for my own spiritual growth and for sharing with others.

I should meditate on Scripture and let it shape my thoughts and prayers. As I absorb Scripture, it deepens my knowledge of God, becomes the lens through which I understand my life and the world around me, and guides my attitudes and actions.

Yes. Prayer can be private or public, liturgical or extemporaneous, spoken or silent.

The Lord’s Prayer includes praise, petition, intercession, and confession to God.

In praise, I glorify and adore God for his holiness, his sovereign rule over all, and his salvation given in Jesus Christ.

In petition, I make requests to God on my own behalf for his provision and protection.

In intercession, I make requests to God on behalf of others, the Church, and the world.

In confession, I acknowledge my sins in repentance before God and receive his forgiveness.

Other types of prayer are thanksgiving, by which I give thanks to God for his providential goodness and answers to my prayers; and oblation, by which I offer to him all that I am and all that I do.

I should pray with humility, love, and a ready openness to hear and do God’s will.

After learning the Lord’s Prayer, I should next aim to learn certain psalms and prayers from the Daily Office. These prayers will ground me in the Christian tradition of prayer and teach me how to pray in my own words.

I should be certain that God always hears my prayers and answers them by his wisdom, in his own time and manner, for my good, and for his glory.

I should pray trusting in the sufficiency of God’s grace and in joyful assurance that “suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame.”

Liturgy is an established pattern or form for the worship of God by God’s people. The liturgy leads us in the remembrance of God’s mighty acts and unites us in grateful response.

Anglicans worship with a structured liturgy because it embodies biblical patterns of worship, fosters reverence and love for God, deepens faith in Jesus Christ, and is in continuity with the practices of Israel and the Early Church.

No. A structured liturgy provides sincere worshipers biblical language and forms that train our hearts for worship. Liturgy enables us to worship God joyfully and with one voice.

The Book of Common Prayer is saturated with the Scriptures, organizing and orchestrating them for worship. It helps us to pray together in words God himself has given us, with order, beauty, joy, deep devotion, and great dignity.

The Prayer Book orders our daily, weekly, and seasonal prayer and worship. It also provides liturgies for significant events of life.

The Daily Office includes the services of Morning and Evening Prayer. In them we confess our sins and receive absolution, hear God’s Word and praise him with psalms, and offer the Church’s thanksgivings and prayers.

The Daily Office is primarily designed for corporate prayer. It may also be used by individuals or families, in public or in private, in whole or in part.

We pray the Daily Office because, by it, we learn the Scriptures, join with the Church in prayer, mark our days with praise to God, and sanctify our time.

A rule of life is a discipline by which I order my worship, work, and leisure as a pleasing sacrifice to God.

I need a rule of life because my fallen nature is disordered, distracted, and self-centered. A rule of life helps me to resist sin and establish godly habits, through which the Holy Spirit will increasingly conform me to the image of Christ.

In addition to Scripture, prayer, and worship, a rule of life includes witness, service, self-denial, and faithful stewardship of my time, money, and possessions.

Through prayer, I rely upon God for strength, wisdom, and humility to sustain and guide me in my rule of life. Without the love of God and the power of his Spirit, I will not attain to the fullness of Christ.

Concluding Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.