Photographer and publisher Brooks Jensen often speaks about the power of the “metronomic deadline”. Much like the metronome that musicians, athletes, and dancers use to keep a beat that is set according to an interval of their choosing, he advocates the power of setting a regular “beat” to any number of activities. Per Brooks, this is how habits form and then, eventually, new and desired behaviors emerge. 

I have personally experienced the power of this suggestion when it comes to maintaining my blog and other writing projects. When I commit to establishing and then meeting a set schedule, I become accustomed to the steady and regular act of writing. If I have to miss one of my own deadlines, it feels as though something is off, out of sorts, and just not right. I have acclimated to the steady beat of a metronomic deadline of my own making.

I’d like to suggest that the same is true of prayer. That has certainly been the case for me. And though there are many different forms of prayer practice – this is not a one size fits all endeavor – I think the principal holds; getting into a steady cadence of prayer is important. For me, this really took hold when I doubled down on praying the daily Liturgy of the Hours (also called the Breviary). This is considered the “public prayer of the church” and it dates back to the earliest days of Christian followers when believers were instructed to “pray without ceasing” (Thessalonians 5:17). There are many books, phone apps, and websites (including DivineOffice.org) where you can see the various prayers that are recited over the course of each day. I pray the Morning and Evening prayers as they consist of various Psalms, readings, and passages that are recited according to the various intentions of the day. 

For me, a turning point took place when I began to realize that I shouldn’t consider what “I get out of these prayers” but rather what I might offer instead… and that I could add my lone voice to a larger chorus of individuals praying these same words every single day, prayers that call for peace, hope, charity, love, and service. It’s as though a switch flicked in my mind; this is not about what I can gain, but rather what I might give.

And so, what once seemed boring and burdensome transformed into a practice that I look forward to. And if, for whatever reason, I have to skip one of the daily prayers, I sense that something is missing, that the chorus of voices has been diminished by my absence. I don’t beat myself up about it; I just look ahead to the next day and continue onward.

Vladimir Horowitz, an incredibly accomplished pianist – many consider him one of the greatest of all time – once said: “If I skip practice for one day, I notice. If I skip practice for two days, my wife notices. If I skip for three days, the world notices.” You might think that a world class musician can miss practicing every once in a while, but Mr. Horowitz is stating quite clearly that he subscribes to the importance and power of metronomic deadlines.

I don’t want to suggest that anyone should only pray the Liturgy of the Hours as: “Prayer is a surge of the heart, it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy” as Saint Therese of Lisieux once said. Prayer should extend beyond the recitation of fixed prayers, though developing the steady practice of joining the church’s “chorus” can provide the firm footing from which we can reach toward our Creator with a “surge of the heart”.

After all, we must crawl before we can walk.