Five Kinds of Prayer Rules and How to Stick to Them

Getting into a rhythm of prayer can be difficult. Even when we desire to pray, time restrictions and feeling overwhelmed by how complex it may be can get in the way. Much like any other habit or task, it might be helpful to look at a guide and start at an entry point that we can tackle. Everyone reading this is at a different point in their journey with God. To help you create a prayer rule, here are 5 different levels to help you get praying 3 times a day that will be pleasing to God.

Level 1: Aspiring Christian/OCIA:

If you are reading this and are considering becoming a Christian/Catholic, first of all, congratulations and God bless! I am praying for you! At this stage, I would commit to learning the basic prayers by heart. This would include the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Glory Be. As for your prayer rule, set aside a time that works for you to thank God, ask for His mercy, and promise improvement in one aspect of your life. This does not need to be a pre-written set of prayers, it is important that it comes from the heart.

Level 2: The Recent Convert/Revert: 

Some of you might be recent converts or just coming back into the faith. You might still be getting into the swing of Church life, learning the flow of the seasons of the Church and getting more comfortable with confession. To these Level 2 Catholics I would recommend finding a morning and evening offering and prayers before going to sleep. This is where devotionals come in handy! They are prayerbooks that are chock full of brief prayers that could be said at different times of the day for different reasons. Devotionals are really meant to be made yours. Handbook of Prayers, Manual of Prayers, or Blessed Be God are just some examples. Then, at the time most convenient for you, pray to a devotional. This could either be the rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, Lectio Divina, or the daily Mass Readings.

Level 3: Devoted:

These are the people who go to mass every Sunday, the holy days of obligation and are involved in other parish activities .To those of you on this level , I recommend praying morning, evening, and night. Rather than a morning, evening, or before sleep offering from a devotional book, choose the time that best fits for you to replace one of the offerings with Morning (Lauds), Evening (Vespers), or Night Prayer (Compline) These prayers from the Liturgy of the Hours a.k.a Divine Office are focused on the psalms. If time allows, add the Office of Readings and/or a devotional mentioned in level 2.

Level 4: Adorer: 

These are the people who go to mass every Sunday, the holy days, and at least once a week. They go to adoration and confession regularly. They are well rooted in their faith and can defend it quite easily. Replace the offerings with 2 offices from the Liturgy of the Hours (other than the Office of Readings) and continue with one or more of the devotionals mentioned in level 2.

Level 5: Ascetic: 

These are going to mass daily and adoration and confession on a regular basis. They may or may not live amongst those of us in the secular world (think religious orders, monks and the like). For those in this level they would be praying the full breadth of the Liturgy of the Hours and are praying at least one devotional from the previous levels. Honestly, aesthetics, you do not need my advice; please pray for me!

My advice to all levels: 

Do not get bogged down if you miss a day. What matters is you are trying. Once you choose something try not to look at the grass on the other side. You may buy a prayer book and see a “better” one later on. The worn and tattered prayerbook that we all aspire to have will only get that way if we use the one we have! Choose a prayer in your rule that is an “I must or bust” prayer. I personally have the Office of Readings as mine as it covers a lot of types of prayer and can be said at any time. Prayer is like working out, the only bad work out is the one that did not happen.

No level is better or more holy than another. Right now I am somewhere between level 3 and level 4 and I do not think I am better than level 2 or worse than level 5. These levels are all made up anyway. If you still feel  lost, ask your priest to help you in forming or improving your prayer rule. They know you better than I do and he would be very happy to help.

No matter what you decide, I urge you to keep praying. Even if you stay at level 1 forever, if you are truly in love with God when you pray, He will be satisfied.

For further help and resources check out my video here

Yours in Christ,

Christian Gonzalez

Convinced Catholicism