Why Pray Morning Prayer
Want to meet God? One place to encounter Him is in prayer and the Bible. In The Cost of Discipleship, 20th Century martyr and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer says it better than I can:
“Jesus Christ is not dead, but alive and speaking to us today through the testimony of the Scriptures. He comes to us today, and is present with us in bodily form and in his word. If we would hear his call to follow, we must listen where is to be found, that is, in the Church through the ministry of Word and sacrament. . . Christ speaks to us exactly as he spoke to [the disciples].”
Morning prayer is the daily designated prayer for the Episcopal Church. If you’re a baptized Episcopalian and take seriously your baptismal covenant to, among other things, proclaim the gospel and continue in Christian fellowship, morning prayer is for you.
My experience is that praying Morning Prayer is a little bit like flossing your teeth; it’s not exactly fun or flashy, but over time you’ll come to miss it if you stop. Click here for the call-in information
How to Join Morning Prayer
This is a Zoom phone meeting (I find the screen a distraction when I’m praying). To join the call:
Dial one of these numbers:
• +1 312 626 6799 US
• +1 646 558 8656 US
• +1 305 224 1968 US
When prompted, enter the Meeting ID: 820 7424 1331 followed by #
You do not need a participant ID, so just press #
Enter the passcode: 123
You can remain muted unless you want to say hello or ask a question before 6 am, in which case you press *6 to unmute. This is also what you’ll press to unmute for the intercessory prayers
Other Useful Information
Set up: Ideally, find a place to sit in front of a makeshift altar (e.g. kitchen table or desk) with an icon and candle. Light the candle before worship and extinguish it at the end. Rest your Bible and prayerbook on the altar, along with your phone on speaker mode. Have sufficient space between you and the altar to stand and kneel as invited to by the officiant. If such a set up is beyond your doing, just find a comfortable place to sit and to rest your prayerbook and phone.
What you’ll need for Morning Prayer: Have with you a Book of Common Prayer. If you do not have a Book of Common Prayer, you can inquire about borrowing one at your local Episcopal Church, order one online, download it here, download the eCP app, or link to the rubric for Morning Prayer here by clicking on “The Daily Office” on the left of the screen and then “Daily Morning Prayer Rite Two”
Optional Materials: a Bible (if you want to follow along with the readings. I prefer just to listen myself). . You can find the Bible texts for the daily lectionary here if you do not own a Bible. You can find the readings for the daily saints in Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2022.
How to participate
The officiant (worship leader) will announce the page number for where to begin.
You may unmute to greet people at the beginning and/or ask questions and also to share intercessory prayers toward the end of the prayer time.
Otherwise please participate in saying the prayers and reading the psalms out loud at home when invited to by the officiant but remain on mute (unfortunately there is a delay with Zoom and words said in unison on one end of the microphone sound muddled on the other end).
The Rev. Cynthia Bourgeault - priest, writer, and teacher - describes four important elements in worship: 1) Breath, 2) Intention, 3) Tone, 4) Community. I encourage you to pay attention to all four
Breath - be attentive to your breathing as you speak and listen.
Intention - When you notice yourself distracted, return to your intention - to pray and worship God revealed in Jesus Christ.
Tone - when you speak out loud, tend to the quality of your voice (chanting and singing is even better for focusing on tone, but doing so is difficult over the phone)
Community - when you pray in unison, seek to match your words with the leader.