Holy Hour with HANM

By: Missionary Team
Have you ever wanted to pray but didn’t know how to go about it? Did you want to listen to God speaking to you but didn’t know how to hear His voice?

Well there’s some good news for you! There are many different tools to help you get started in your prayer life and even some to help you discern God’s voice. One way that I would love to tell you about is the Holy Hour.

A Holy Hour is a beautiful and easy way to spend time with God. Jesus said, “Could you not keep watch for one hour?” Mark 14:37. A Holy Hour is your time to “keep watch”.

Here at Hard as Nails, we begin our Holy Hour with Morning Prayer, which is part of the Liturgy of the Hours. Liturgy of the Hours is super helpful because it helps give you prayers for the day. It is not “freestyle”, so if you don't know what to pray on your own, this helps you pray with more of a structure. Another great thing about it is that you are praying with the Scriptures. There are psalms, short prayers, antiphons, and a reading in just Morning Prayer. When we pray as a community, we share with one another what stood out to us in the psalms, antiphons, reading, etc.

If you don’t think that you hear God when you pray, try praying with the Scriptures - do Liturgy of the Hours or read the Bible. God speaks through Scripture. When you're praying with Scripture and something sticks out to you, that could be God speaking to you. (Especially, if it is something that you have heard a hundred times before and it is only now sticking out to you.)

Now don’t worry if you pray and you didn’t get anything out of it; sometimes it takes a while to hear God. Just don’t give up because even if you don’t think that He is speaking to you, He is, you just need to keep listening. I don’t always hear God when I pray with Scripture, but I know I can’t give up. I know sometimes it’s because I don’t put enough into my prayer. You will only get what you put into it.

After Liturgy of the Hours, we finish the Holy Hour with personal prayer time. This can consist of reading the Bible or a spiritual book, journaling, speaking to God, or just sitting in silence and letting God fill you and speak to you. This is time between you and God.

Each of these ways is beautiful and wonderful in its own special way. Reading the Bible is literally God’s voice! The Bible is God speaking to you. Spiritual books allow you to view things from a different perspective and to get advice from those who have walked this road before you.

I can say that journaling is personally one of my favorite ways to pray. I find that my mind wanders and I get distracted during prayer. But for me, journaling helps keep me focused. It helps me to be able to write out my prayer to God. I talk to God as if I was speaking to someone right in front of me. I just tell Him everything by writing it on paper. I ask Him questions too. I also record things that I believe God is speaking to me.

Another great thing about journaling is that you can go back and re-read your entries. This allows you to go back and see how God has been speaking and working in your faith life. It allows you to see the patterns that you may need to change.

Lastly, sitting in silence is so important because it allows you to just listen to God. It allows God the chance to fill you up so that you can fulfill the duties that God needs you to do. It also allows you to be filled with the Father so that you can go out and be there for others. You can’t give what you don’t have. By allowing the Father to fill you, you won’t be burned out and will be able to give God’s love to others because you allowed Him to Love you.

I would truly recommend spending at least an hour a day with God in prayer, especially personal prayer time. It can change your life. I never used to do a Holy Hour. I didn’t give God much time, even though I said I loved Him. Now that I am with Hard as Nails, I do a Holy Hour every day. I look forward to it. On days that I don’t do it, or I don’t really put a lot of effort into it. I often find myself wishing for more time because I got what I put into it. Trust me, it can change your life.

If you can’t do the whole hour at one time, go ahead and break it up. Start with just ten minutes and work your way up. Even that short time will give more meaning to your day.

Go spend some time keeping God company!