Start simple, start small, and talk to a priest. That’s the short answer.
A prayer rule isn’t some mystical concept. It’s a set of prayers you commit to saying each day, usually morning and evening. Think of it as a workout routine for your soul. You wouldn’t walk into a gym and try to bench press 300 pounds on your first day. Same principle here.
The purpose isn’t to rack up spiritual points or prove you’re serious about Orthodoxy. A prayer rule exists to help you actually pray, to create space in your day where you stop and turn toward God. It’s about building a habit that opens you to transformation. We’re not earning anything. We’re showing up.
What Goes in a Prayer Rule?
Most Orthodox prayer books contain the same basic structure. You’ll find the Trisagion Prayers (Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us), the Lord’s Prayer, Psalm 51, and usually some prayers to the Theotokos and the saints. Many people add the Jesus Prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner”, repeated a set number of times.
The Ancient Faith Prayer Book is a good starting point if you don’t have one yet. It’s designed for beginners and won’t overwhelm you with Church Slavonic or fifteen-page litanies. Get a physical copy. There’s something about holding an actual book that helps you pray rather than scrolling on your phone.
For someone just beginning, a reasonable rule might look like this: Trisagion Prayers, the Lord’s Prayer, Psalm 51, a prayer to the Theotokos, and maybe 25 repetitions of the Jesus Prayer. Morning and evening. Ten to fifteen minutes each time. That’s it.
The Trap of Ambition
Here’s where inquirers and new converts get into trouble. You read about St. Seraphim of Sarov praying all night or monks doing hundreds of prostrations, and you think that’s what you should be doing right now. It’s not.
Fr. Thomas Hopko used to warn against this. Start where you are, not where you think you should be. If you set a rule that requires an hour of prayer at 5am when you work the night shift at the refinery, you’ll last about three days before you quit entirely. Better to pray five minutes consistently than to burn out trying to be St. Anthony of the Desert by next Tuesday.
This isn’t laziness. It’s wisdom. The goal is sustainability. You’re building a relationship, and relationships take time. They also take honesty about your actual life.
Why You Need a Priest
You shouldn’t set your prayer rule alone. Talk to Fr. Nicholas or another Orthodox priest who knows you. A spiritual father can look at your life, your work schedule, your family situation, your spiritual state, and help you figure out what’s realistic.
This matters because a prayer rule can become legalistic if you’re not careful. You start thinking that if you miss your evening prayers because your kid got sick, God’s disappointed in you. That’s not how this works. The rule serves you. You don’t serve the rule.
A priest helps you avoid that trap. He’ll also adjust your rule as you grow. What works for a catechumen might not work for someone who’s been Orthodox for five years. The rule should stretch you a little without crushing you.
Making It Work in Southeast Texas
Let’s be practical. If you work rotating shifts, your morning might be 3pm. That’s fine. Pray your morning prayers when you wake up, whenever that is. If you’re offshore for two weeks at a time, you’re not going to have your icon corner and prayer book always available. Pray the Jesus Prayer during your breaks. Say the Lord’s Prayer before you rack out.
The Church has been around for 2,000 years and has dealt with every possible life situation. Farmers, soldiers, slaves, emperors, night shift workers at chemical plants. There’s always a way to pray.
Some guys I know keep a small prayer book in their truck. They pray in the parking lot before their shift starts. Others pray during their commute (eyes open, obviously). One woman sets a timer on her phone for noon and prays the Jesus Prayer for five minutes no matter where she is.
The Bigger Picture
Your prayer rule isn’t the same thing as “praying without ceasing,” though they’re connected. The rule is your anchor, your daily appointment with God. Praying without ceasing is what happens when that habit starts seeping into the rest of your day. You find yourself saying “Lord have mercy” at a red light or when you hear an ambulance. You remember God while you’re doing dishes.
The rule trains you for that. It’s like how practicing scales helps you play music, or how running laps helps you play basketball. The discipline creates the freedom.
Don’t overthink this. Get a prayer book, talk to a priest, start small. If you miss a day, start again the next day. If your rule feels too heavy, cut it back. If it feels too easy after six months, add something. This isn’t complicated, and it’s not a test you can fail.
The Church wants you to pray. God wants to hear from you. Start there, and the rest will come.
