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Change- one of the scariest terms in the English language for some. Whether it be exercise, diet, or life in general- nothing changes unless you make purposeful changes. Einstein nailed this one- changes to your routine are the only way you can make substantial changes in your life. If you don't alter your routine- you will continue the cycle.

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GOOD HEALTH CARE IS PART OF A DAILY ROUTINE. SO ARE REGULAR PHYSICAL EXAMS (although some can get a bit confusing!!!)

Good morning COL Mikel Burroughs and all the rest of my RP Family. A daily routine didn’t sound like a lot of fun for me, rather it was scheduled event that I must follow or not be successful in the day. A daily routine was something that I must do to survive in the world, my family and my job. One thing I did not think about was having a daily routine with a God. That was all to easy to put off because I was so busy with everything else. As I have aged and matured, I realized that without a daily routine with God, the totality of my day was always missing something.
I must admit that since I have been retired since 1990, my daily routine was whatever and whenever I wanted and I ended up feeling like something wasn’t right and was missing in my life. When I turned my life over to a God and decided to keep building my relationship with Him everyday, I began to feel more at ease with myself and more complete. The more we include a routine with God, the more blessings we feel in our life. This has helped me a tremendous amount since I spend a lot more time with Him as I search for things to share about Him here on Rally Point. In my search today I found an interesting article on this, that I have included before. May you be blessed today and always.

Taken from east91.org
A DAILY ROUTINE WITH GOD
Not long ago I had lunch with a friend who is a businessman and a follower of Jesus. We were having that age-old discussion about how to live out our faith in the “real world” and not just on Sundays. My friend told me he makes many important decisions on a daily basis only to remember to seek God’s wisdom after the fact. He shared what I have experienced many times as well—a desire to walk with God throughout the day but the struggle to actually do it.

Perhaps like you, I spend some time with the Lord each morning devotionally. I’ll read Scripture, journal, and pray, but once I close my Bible or journal, do I close God out of the rest of my day? Not intentionally. But practically speaking, yes, I do. How do I, as Brother Lawrence put it, “practice the presence of God”? How do I welcome God into the routines of my day instead of welcoming Him just in my morning “Quiet Time”?

Over the past few years I have been discovering an ancient treasure that can help in these matters—the “Daily Office,” also called the “Liturgy of the Hours,” or the “Divine Office.” The Daily Office is a way to establish a rhythm throughout the day as an ongoing reminder of God’s presence. This is not intended to be a legalistic “check-list” of accomplishing set moments with God, but, rather, an opportunity to be more fully aware of His presence in our lives.

The Daily Office is different than doing devotions or having a Quiet Time, at least in my experience. For some of us, our devotional time tends to focus on “getting filled up for the day” or doing a Bible study. Those are good activities, but sometimes, at least for me, my Bible study can turn into an information-gathering session where I’m acquiring more knowledge of God but not necessarily more intimacy with God. As Peter Scazzero puts it, “The root of the Daily Office is not so much a turning to get something but to be with Someone” (Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, 157).

My first experience with the Daily Office was when I visited a Benedictine monastery in New Mexico for a silent retreat. These dear monks based their daily schedule on the Rule of St. Benedict for the purpose of dwelling in God’s presence through prayer, Scripture, and meditation. Their routine included Lauds (morning prayer), Terce (mid-morning prayer), Sext (mid-day prayer), None (mid-afternoon prayer), Vespers (evening prayer), and Compline (Night Prayer).

The concept of a daily routine is not new to us. We get up in the morning, brush our teeth, get ready for work or school, have breakfast, etc. What was new for me, however, was how to have a daily routine of walking with God . . . without it becoming another activity on my ‘to-do list.’ Routine does not have to become ritualistic; it simply can become a rhythm to help us stay focused.

This may seem somewhat foreign to those of us who order our lives around our work, school, or kids’ activities. And although we may be required to keep a certain schedule to fulfill our job or education, keeping a daily rhythm of pausing for the Daily Office can unlock the secret of practicing the presence of God.

In the Old Testament, David practiced set times of prayer seven times a day (Psalm 119:164). Daniel prayed three times a day (Daniel 6:10). In the New Testament, Jesus’ disciples continued to pray at certain hours throughout the day (Acts 3:1; 10:9ff).

Remember that what works for some might not work for others. I’m more structured than my wife, and we practice our daily disciplines of walking with God differently. And that’s okay. The point is, however, that practice we must. There is great power in setting apart small units of time for morning, midday, and evening prayer that can help infuse into the rest of our day an awareness of the sacred presence of Almighty God.

Whatever schedule you keep, I pray you keep God in it, for He desires to walk with you as He did with Adam in the garden in the cool of the day (Genesis 3:8). He’s always there. He will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). Keeping the Daily Office just reminds us that He is.

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