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Course 3 · Lesson 5.4

What worship alone can include: prayer, Scripture, song, the hours

9 minute read

Lessons in this course

Course 3 outline

Module 1: The Idea of a Rule

  1. What a rule of life is, and what it is for
  2. Pachomius and the first written rule
  3. Basil of Caesarea and his Rules
  4. Benedict: the Rule as a school of the Lord’s service
  5. Adapting a monastic rule for ordinary life

Module 2: The Hours and the Psalms

  1. Origins of fixed-hour prayer in Jewish and early Christian practice
  2. The Divine Office in the West and the hours in the East
  3. How to pray the Psalms: lament, praise, trust, wisdom and imprecation
  4. Building a simple office for one person

Module 3: Scripture and the Prayer of the Heart

  1. Lectio divina: reading, meditation, prayer and contemplation
  2. Meditative reading compared with study and with Ignatian imaginative prayer
  3. The Jesus Prayer: its words, its history and its Eastern setting
  4. Practicing the prayer of the heart, with its cautions

Module 4: Fasting, Giving, Rest and the Year

  1. Fasting in Scripture and tradition, and its safe limits
  2. Almsgiving and care for the poor
  3. Sabbath rest and the Lord’s Day: how traditions differ
  4. The church year: Advent to Pentecost and the ordinary weeks

Module 5: Conscience, Confession and Worship Alone

  1. Examination of conscience: methods old and new
  2. Confession in the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant traditions
  3. Repentance, confession to God and to a trusted person when no minister is available
  4. What worship alone can include: prayer, Scripture, song, the hours
  5. What the traditions say requires a church or ordained minister

Module 6: Seasons and Ordinary Duties

  1. Silence as a discipline and its dangers
  2. Planning a day, a weekend and a longer retreat
  3. Work as part of the rule: ora et labora
  4. Hospitality, family and neighbor

Module 7: Dryness, Perseverance and Review

  1. Dryness and the dark night: what the tradition teaches
  2. Acedia: Evagrius, Cassian and the noonday demon
  3. Doubt and perseverance
  4. Accountability for a rule of life
  5. Reviewing and revising a rule at thirty days, ninety days and one year

All courses

Program / Course 3: The Rule of Life / Lesson 5.4

What you will learn

  • List the acts of worship that a person can do alone or with a household.
  • Describe how Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran and Reformed traditions treat worship at home.
  • Explain why traditions still ask Christians to gather with others.
  • Plan a simple order of worship for a day when no gathering is possible.

The big idea

Much of Christian worship can be done alone or at home: prayer, reading and hearing Scripture, singing or reciting psalms and hymns, saying the Creed, thanksgiving, intercession, silence and the hours of prayer. Traditions have long encouraged this, and have provided forms for household worship. They also teach that Christians are meant to worship together, and they reserve certain acts for the gathered church and its ministers. This lesson describes what worship alone can include and why gathering still matters.

Key terms

Worship
The response of the creature to God in adoration, thanksgiving, confession and petition, both in private and in the gathered church.
Household worship
Worship led within a family, such as prayers at table, family Bible reading or evening prayers.
Typika
In the Orthodox church, a service of psalms and hymns read when the Divine Liturgy cannot be celebrated, often because no priest is available.
Creed
A summary statement of Christian faith, such as the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicene Creed.
Spiritual communion
In Catholic devotion, a prayer expressing desire to receive Christ in the Eucharist when sacramental communion is not possible.
Intercession
Prayer on behalf of others.

Background

Jesus teaches, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret (Matthew 6:6). The Psalms are used in private prayer as well as in the temple. Daniel prays at home. Paul and Silas sing in prison (Acts 16:25). The idea of private worship is deeply biblical. The letter to the Hebrews also says not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together (Hebrews 10:25). The Bible thus combines private and gathered worship.

Traditions have given forms for household use. Luther’s Small Catechism includes morning and evening prayers and table prayers for the household and tells the head of the household how to teach the faith. English and Scottish Puritans taught family worship, and the Westminster Assembly produced a directory for it. Orthodox homes keep an icon corner for daily prayers. Catholic households use the Rosary, grace at meals and the hours.

Step-by-step explanation

Step 1: What can be done alone

A person can pray in many forms: adoration, thanksgiving, confession, petition and intercession. A person can read Scripture aloud or silently, pray the Psalms, say the Lord’s Prayer and the Creed, sing hymns or psalms, sit in silence, keep the hours described earlier in this course and give thanks at meals. A person can observe the church year with readings and practices. Each of these is real worship.

A person can also recite the liturgy of a service, including readings and prayers for a Sunday, as a way of uniting with the church. Orthodox lay people sometimes read the typika, which follows the shape of the Liturgy without the consecration. The practice is regarded as a prayer service and not as the Liturgy itself.

Step 2: Household and shared worship

Worship need not be solitary. A household can pray together at meals, read a psalm together and say the Lord’s Prayer at bedtime. The Reformed tradition has stressed family worship as a daily duty of the household head. Lutherans stress catechism teaching at home. Catholics and Orthodox encourage family prayer in front of icons or a crucifix.

Two or three praying together is promised Christ’s presence (Matthew 18:20). A small circle of friends meeting for prayer and psalms is a form of worship that many have found sustaining. It is not necessarily a church, but it joins the practice of prayer to the bond of friendship.

Step 3: Why gathering still matters

All traditions teach that Christians are meant to worship together. The New Testament shows believers gathering on the first day to break bread (Acts 20:7). Hebrews 10:25 warns against neglecting the assembly. Paul describes the church as one body (1 Corinthians 12). Worship alone can be fervent, but the tradition holds that it misses the shared form of praise, the preaching of the Word and the sacraments that are given in the assembly.

Many solitary Christians feel the loss. They are encouraged to find some shared worship, even occasionally, at a church they can attend in good conscience. This course does not require it, and the next lesson treats what the traditions say requires a church or an ordained minister. Another course in this program treats the church and independence in depth.

Step 4: A simple order for a day alone

A person who cannot attend a gathering might arrange a short order of worship on Sunday. Begin with an opening verse and a hymn or psalm. Read the Scripture passages appointed for the day. Be silent for a few minutes. Say the Creed. Pray for others, for the church and for the world. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Give thanks and close with a blessing, such as the Aaronic blessing (Numbers 6:24-26).

A person may also add a reading from a sermon or a church father, or listen to a recording. These can help, but they do not replace the gathering, and the tradition asks the student to be honest about the difference.

  1. What acts of worship do I already do alone?
  2. Which would I add, and what would they change?
  3. Do I miss worship with others, and what exactly do I miss?
  4. How could my household share a small act of worship?
  5. What would an honest order of worship look like for my Sunday?
  6. What would I need to attend a gathering occasionally?

Examples

A Sunday order

A woman recovering from surgery cannot go to church. She reads the day’s Gospel, prays a psalm, says the Creed, prays for her congregation and listens to a recorded hymn. She asks a friend to bring her a copy of the bulletin. (A constructed example.)

Table prayer

A family joins hands and prays a short grace before dinner each night. The youngest child chooses the prayer on Fridays. (A constructed example.)

Different perspectives

The Orthodox view

Orthodox Christians encourage daily prayer at home, with an icon corner and prayer book, but teach that the Divine Liturgy is the center and that private prayer is incomplete without it. The typika is used when the Liturgy is not available.

The Catholic view

Catholics are encouraged to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, the Rosary and other devotions at home, but Sunday Mass is obligatory. When attending Mass is impossible, the faithful are encouraged to keep the Lord’s Day by prayer and Scripture reading, and may make a spiritual communion.

The Lutheran and Reformed view

Lutherans and Reformed Christians value household worship and personal devotions, but teach that the preaching of the word and the sacraments in the gathered congregation are marks of the church. Private devotion supplements and does not replace them.

The free-church and Quaker view

Many free-church Christians emphasize personal devotion and small groups. Quakers have no outward sacraments and worship in silence, so that the line between gathered and private worship is drawn differently. Both consider personal devotion essential.

Why it matters

Worship alone is a large part of many Christians’ lives. It is legitimate and can be rich. Knowing what it can include prevents a feeling that nothing counts without a church building. Knowing why the traditions still value gathering prevents the opposite error, that private worship is complete in itself.

Common misunderstandings

Misunderstanding: Worship alone does not count.

Correction: Scripture and tradition treat private prayer and reading as real worship. What the traditions add is that gathered worship has its own gifts.

Misunderstanding: Because Christ is everywhere, gathering is unnecessary.

Correction: Christ’s presence is promised in many ways, but Scripture also pictures believers meeting together, and all traditions treat gathering as normal.

Misunderstanding: A home service can include everything a church service does.

Correction: It can include much, but traditions reserve certain acts, such as the Eucharist and absolution, to ordained ministers. The next lesson explains.

Knowledge check

List five acts of worship that a person can do alone.

Prayer of adoration, thanksgiving or petition; reading Scripture; praying the Psalms; saying the Lord’s Prayer and the Creed; singing hymns; keeping silence; praying the hours; giving thanks at meals. Any five are correct. These are real worship in all the main traditions.

What is the typika?

In the Orthodox church, a service of psalms, hymns and readings that follows the shape of the Divine Liturgy without the consecration. It is read when the Liturgy cannot be celebrated, as when no priest is available. It is considered a prayer service and not the Liturgy.

Why do the traditions still urge Christians to gather?

Because the New Testament shows believers gathering (Acts 20:7; Hebrews 10:25), because the church is one body, and because the preaching of the word, shared praise and the sacraments are given in the assembly. Private worship is real but, in the traditions’ view, not complete in itself.

What might a simple home order of worship contain?

An opening verse and a psalm or hymn, the day’s Scripture readings, silence, the Creed, prayers for others, the Lord’s Prayer, thanks and a closing blessing such as Numbers 6:24-26. It can be done by one person or a household. It does not replace gathering with others.

Think it through

  1. What acts of worship feel most natural to you alone?
  2. What do you think is lost when worship is only private?
  3. How could you stay joined to other Christians even if you do not attend a church?

Independent assignment

A home order of worship

In your notebook, write 300 to 450 words. Write an order of worship for one Sunday in the form of a list, with the verses, psalm, readings, prayers and closing you will use. Keep it to twenty minutes. Use it for four Sundays and note what you miss. Do not post it.

Further study