Issachar Day 1

"And of the sons of Issachar, men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their kinsmen were at their command."
- 1 Chronicles 12:32 ^NAS

I am a natural timekeeper.  In order for me to be able to relax into my evening, I have to hide my clocks.  If I don’t I will begin to push to be on time for things that I don’t have to be on time for.  When you are a natural timekeeper, things have to have a rhythm.  I don’t eat meatloaf in the morning and I go to bed at the same time every night.  When my time is off, I am off.  Chaos will kill me.  I often think of the children of Issachar because they were anointed to be timekeepers.  They understood the times and what to do in them.  I have learned in life that it is not bad to keep time.  Even though time exist only because of sin, it is the construct that rules our existence whether we like it or not.  In preparing for life, we have to be certain that we don’t violate the rhythm of the earth established when God set the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night.  Ordering your private life can often lead to ordering your spiritual life.  A set time for prayer is just as effective as your impromptu prayer.  One day I prayed the divine office of hours and was so richly blessed with the presence of God.  I challenge you to take a day to do the same and see how effective prayer is when it is mixed with time.

Martins                Midnight prayer

Lauds                    3:00am

Prime                    6:00am

Terce                     9:00am

Sext                       Noon

Nun                       3:00pm

Vespers               6:00pm

Compline             9:00pm

The Great Silence where you fast from talking until Prime.