There isn’t one. That’s the honest answer, because Orthodox Christianity doesn’t work like a checklist where you tick off requirements to stay in good standing. But that’s not helpful if you’re standing in your living room at 6 a.m. wondering where to start.
So here’s the practical answer: most priests will tell you to pray morning and evening, every day, with whatever prayers you can actually sustain. Five minutes is better than zero. Ten is better than five. The goal isn’t to impress God or rack up spiritual credit, it’s to show up.
What Goes in a Basic Rule?
The tradition of the Church suggests praying three times daily: morning, noon, and evening. That’s the pattern the early Christians kept, and it’s what you’ll find recommended across Orthodox sources. But let’s be realistic. If you work a rotating shift at one of the refineries, noon prayer might mean thirty seconds in your truck before you clock back in. That’s fine. God knows where you are.
For morning and evening, a bare-bones rule might look like this. Start with the sign of the cross. Say the Lord’s Prayer, the one Jesus taught us, the Our Father. Pray the Trisagion prayers if you know them, or just say “O Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth” if that’s all you’ve got memorized. Add a short confession. Psalm 51 is traditional, but “Lord, I messed up today, forgive me” works too. Then pray for people: your family, your parish, someone who’s sick, the departed. Close with the Jesus Prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner”, repeated for a few minutes.
That’s maybe ten minutes. You can do it in five if you’re running late.
St. Seraphim of Sarov taught a simple rule for laypeople who couldn’t read or didn’t have prayer books: three Lord’s Prayers, three Hail Marys, and the Creed once, morning and evening. If a saint thought that was enough for Russian peasants working dawn to dusk, it’s enough for you.
Why Not Just Wing It?
You could. Some people do. But a rule gives you structure when you don’t feel like praying, which is most days, honestly. It keeps you tethered when your prayer life goes dry, when you’re tired or distracted or just done with everything. The rule isn’t there for the days you’re on fire with devotion. It’s there for the days you’re not.
And it roots you in the Church. When you pray the Lord’s Prayer and the Creed, you’re praying what Christians have prayed for two thousand years. You’re not making it up as you go. You’re joining your voice to the voice of the Church, living and departed, across time and space.
What About Advanced Rules?
Some Orthodox Christians pray the full morning and evening prayers from a prayer book. Some add the Hours, First Hour, Third, Sixth, Ninth. Some read through the Psalter on a schedule or pray long akathists to the Theotokos. That’s not showing off. It’s just what happens when you’ve been Orthodox for a while and your prayer life deepens.
But you don’t start there. You start small. You build slowly. And you do it under the guidance of a priest or spiritual father who knows you, knows your life, knows whether you can handle more or need to scale back.
The difference between a minimum rule and an advanced one isn’t about being a better Christian. It’s about capacity, calling, and where you are in your walk. A nurse working twelve-hour shifts with three kids at home isn’t going to pray the same rule as a retired widower with time on his hands. God doesn’t expect that.
Start Where You Are
If you’re new to Orthodoxy, don’t try to pray like a monk. You’ll burn out in a week. Pick two prayers, the Lord’s Prayer and the Jesus Prayer, maybe, and pray them every morning for a month. Then add evening. Then add a third prayer. Let it grow organically.
Talk to your priest. He’ll help you figure out what’s realistic. He might give you specific prayers to add or suggest you cut back if you’re overdoing it. That’s what spiritual fathers are for.
The point isn’t perfection. It’s showing up, day after day, even when you don’t feel like it. Especially when you don’t feel like it. That’s how prayer becomes a habit, and habits become a life.
