The Daily Watch

A small way to keep the watch on your own, through the week

The table on Sunday is for gathering. This is for the rest of the week, alone or with whoever is near. It takes a minute or two. The first followers of Jesus prayed this way through the day. You can pray it when you wake, at midday, and before you sleep, or simply once, whenever you can. There is no counting and nothing owed. The point is only to turn toward God for a moment, and to keep watch.

Be still. Stop whatever you are doing. Take a few slow breaths. Let the day's noise fall away for a moment, and remember that you belong to God, the way a wave belongs to the ocean.

Pray the prayer he taught. Say the Lord's Prayer, in the form you know, slowly enough to mean it.

Keep the watch. Before you go back to your day, say, quietly or in your heart:

Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus.

That is all. A minute of stillness, the prayer he gave, and one eye kept on the road.