To many Christians today, the very idea of a «rule» of prayer seems strange. Should we not pray when, and as, the heart moves us? The question is understandable, but the Scriptures show a different pattern: the people of God, the Lord himself and the Apostles prayed both spontaneously and at fixed hours, with set words as well as their own.
What a rule of prayer is
A rule of prayer (in Greek, kanōn, a measure) is the measure of daily prayer that each Christian undertakes, ordinarily with the counsel and blessing of a spiritual father.1 It is not a burden imposed from outside, but a framework that holds our prayer steady when feelings rise and fall, as the banks of a river allow it to flow.
The pattern of the Scriptures
The Psalmist prays at fixed times: «Evening and morning and at noon I will pray and cry aloud, and he will hear my voice» (Ps 54 [55]:17), and «Seven times a day I praise you» (Ps 118 [119]:164). Daniel, in exile, «got down upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God» (Dan 6:10). The Apostles continued this practice after Pentecost: «Peter and John would go up into the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour» (Act 3:1). Away from Jerusalem, Peter still kept the hours: «Peter went up on the housetop to pray at about the sixth hour» (Act 10:9).
The Greek text often speaks of «the prayers» (hai proseuchai, Act 2:42), which suggests not only prayer in general but the appointed prayers of the community, including the Psalms. In the temple, the morning and evening offerings were accompanied by the burning of incense, and «at the time of the incense offering, the whole multitude of the people was praying outside» (Luk 1:10).2 At the very end of the first century, the Didache instructs Christians to pray the Lord’s Prayer three times a day.3
What a rule usually contains
According to the Catechism, a rule commonly includes the morning and evening prayers of the prayer book, readings from the Psalter and the New Testament, prayers for the living and the departed by name, and the Jesus Prayer, often prayed a set number of times with a prayer rope.4 To this we may add the following elements, which belong to the tradition:
- the hours of the day, at least in a short form (see The Daily Cycle of Prayer);
- prayers before and after meals;
- suitable Psalms, read in order through the week or chosen for the season;
- both the written prayers of the Church and our own intentions, offered in our own words;
- a place of prayer: many Orthodox homes have a prayer corner, facing east where possible, with icons and a lamp, where the family gathers.
A rule that can be kept
A rule should be «doable,» adapted to each person’s situation: the parent of small children, the student, the worker on night shifts and the elderly person do not have the same day. The Catechism gives the governing principle: «The rule should be modest and steady rather than ambitious and irregular, for a small rule faithfully kept is better than a great rule abandoned.» In times of illness or unusual labor it may be shortened, with a blessing, but it should never be abandoned altogether.5 For this reason, it is wise to write the rule down and to discuss it with a spiritual father, who can adjust it as life changes.
Written prayers and spontaneous prayer are not opposed. Outward prayer, including the Psalter and the prayers of the Church, helps to bring heart and mind to attention, and St Ignatius Brianchaninov notes that vocal prayer is «indispensable» when the mind is weakened and distracted.6 We pray with the body as well as with the soul, standing, bowing, kneeling and making the sign of the cross, because God has made us a unity of soul and body.7
The purpose of the rule
The rule is not the whole of prayer. Its purpose is to lead us toward the Apostle’s command, «pray without ceasing» (1Th 5:17), so that the remembrance of God may accompany every action of the day.8 A rule kept with humility and perseverance becomes, over time, less a duty than a meeting, the daily return of the creature to the Creator in praise, thanksgiving and petition, the three chief forms of prayer.9
Notes
- Laurent Cleenewerck de Kiev, The Catechism of the Orthodox Christian Faith: A Revised and Expanded Catechism of the Orthodox Faith, pre-release ed. (2026), Q395.
- Laurent Cleenewerck de Kiev, The Dwelling Place of God: Temple Theology in the Bible and in Eastern Orthodox Worship (Washington, DC: Euclid University Press, 2026).
- Didache 8, cited in Cleenewerck de Kiev, Catechism, Q395.
- Cleenewerck de Kiev, Catechism, Q395.
- Ibid.
- Ignatius Brianchaninov, On the Prayer of Jesus, cited in Cleenewerck de Kiev, Catechism, Q390.
- Cleenewerck de Kiev, Catechism, Q390 and Study: Outward Forms of Prayer.
- Cleenewerck de Kiev, Catechism, Q395.
- Cleenewerck de Kiev, Catechism, Q389.
