#5 Terce

The Hour of Terce comes around a couple of hours after Prime. It is a pause in the work of the morning, and its purpose is to ask for the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. We pray that our work will be a blessing to others and to God.

Many of us have heard of the concept that we should look to see where God is at work and join Him in what He is already doing. Terce is the moment that we do that. We stop, look and listen to Him, to see if we are indeed being led by His Spirit in what we are doing. Jesus did this constantly.

Jesus said to them,"My Father is always at His work

to this very day, and I, too, am working."

Jesus gave them this answer: " I tell you the truth,

the Son can do nothing by Himself;

He can do only what He sees the Father doing,

because whatever the Father does

the Son also does".

John 5:17 & 19

Prime is usually when I am most focused and energetic. Once I get going on the day and I am feeling productive and successful I may not think of stopping to pray. I want to keep up my momentum and get as much done as possible. When Terce comes, it is a reminder to me that my work is not my own. My work is an offering to God and it is meant to be a blessing to others in my life. This pause to pray helps keep me from becoming self-serving and self-centered as I progress through the day.

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By the time Terce rolls around I may be encountering challenges in my relationships with people. I have been out of my cozy quiet time space for a while and may now be dealing with the irritation, disappointment or tension that comes from with working with others. Work itself may be creating negative emotions.

At Terce, I bring all of that to prayer and ask the Holy Spirit to give me wisdom. I need His perspective to cope with the challenges I am facing. It is also a great time to pray for the ways of escape from the temptations that are cropping up.

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I know this is tough advice, but one of the best ways to deal with difficult people is to pray for blessing in their lives. The temptation is to curse them, but the work of God is to bless them. It may be challenging to think of a blessing for a person who is provoking the heck out of me, but I can always find something--with the help of the Holy Spirit. It turns my own attitude around to pray for blessing in the life of that person and I feel better for it.

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One of the promises of God is that there is rest for His people. At Terce I lay my work (and my weapons) aside for a few minutes and return to the joy of His friendship. I love the fact that He is beside me--within me!--and is ready to restore the quietness and joy I had at Lauds.

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The Hours build upon each other throughout the day. As I leave Lauds, I look forward to Prime and then to Terce. These times of prayer are small oases in the journey through my tasks, relationships and responsibilities.

Terce: Stop, Look,

Pray for the Holy Spirit's help in my work &

Pray blessing into the lives of others, then

Go---back to work.

Next stop, Sext. May we all be refreshed in prayer today.