“… pray to God in world at certain fixed hours and times, so that we may encourage ourselves…” (173). Hall observes that Catholics, the Orthodox and Anglicans have always had fixed hour prayer traditions, but he also notes that low church Protestants find such things at times legalistic. But he asks, “isn’t it true that the vast majority of our time is carefully regulated?” 

Thus our question: Why do you think we believe — the majority of low church Christians — that prayer should not be regulated? That is, why do so many chafe at the idea that 6am, noon, 3pm, 6pm, etc are set prayer times?

Chris Hall uses some words of Dennis Okholm about Benedictines: Who has distorted time the most, the monastic or the materialist?

Which gives him a break to discuss the Lord’s prayer, a prayer seen by the fathers as encapsulating the heart of prayer itself. He then offers a brief exposition by jotting down notes from seminal fathers and what they say about each petition in the Lord’s Prayer. A few observations, from many many more that that are not mentioned:

“Hallowed” was focused on how the saints live more than what they said.

May your kingdom come is quite individualistically read — about how God’s kingdom needs to be seen in our own heart and life.

Bread is normal food and desires; it also was Eucharist for the fathers.

Our call to forgive, according to Gregory, shows that we are participating in the work of God and this leads him to see theosis at work in this request.

Proba learns from Augustine that the Lord’s Prayer teaches us what to desire.

By the way, the subject of fixed-hour prayer has been addressed by so many, and I have links at the right to some prayer sites that will give you daily prayers (I most often use Divine Hours). And, if you are in need of an introduction to fixed hour prayers and the prayers used, I have written Praying with the Church: Following Jesus Daily, Hourly, Today
for just that purpose, and it’s at a low bargain price at Amazon right now.