At Christ Community, one of the things we’re trying to work through as a leadership team is how to establish some common, consistent spiritual disciplines that we can engage in together (besides our weekly Word and Sacrament gatherings).
I’ve looked at a few different daily prayer guides, from quite a few different traditions (Celtic, Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian, for example), but haven’t really found one that resonates enough to "stick".
I just ordered a couple copies of Missio Dei‘s Breviary, which is available free online or for purchase in various forms. Missio Dei are in the Anabaptist stream, so they’re focused on the Sermon on the Mount and nitty-gritty discipleship issues, which I very much appreciate.
I ordered books because I have difficulty actually praying at a computer screen. Something about the physicality of touching and turning pages helps me pray. Come to think of it, something about physicality in itself helps me pray: walking, raising hands, turning pages, kneeling, etc.
What kinds of daily or weekly prayer disciplines have you found helpful?
I’ve been praying the Anglican daily office since about 1991, with breaks of a year or so here and there. Only in seminary and now living in an intentional community have I had the chance to do it with other people, though, and it really makes a difference. I completely agree with you about the tactile difference holding a book makes — it is very hard for me to engage with God via a screen when words are involved. (Images are no problem though.)
Wow, I stumbled onto your site via the site of a guy in England, and here you are in the same city where I live! How crazy is the Internet world?
Anyway, I’ve wrestled and wrestled with the problem of what to pray for set-time prayers. I finally relented and began working on our own, which we’ve been using together at KMF. You can check out the current version at http://www.lulu.com/content/1204599
…and we’ve got to meet…
Nate, what a crazy thing the Internet is. Across the street via the UK…
The “Breviary” has become my favortie prayer guide. I love the themes that are present and the missional focus.