Religious Scholar

Fixed-hour Prayer is a practice common to adherents of most of the world's major religious traditions. While seldom compulsory, the practice of repeating certain prayers at certain times of the day brings a sense of harmony to believers and infuses the routine of daily living with the vital presence of the Divine. Here is a short introduction to a general Christian approach to Fixed-hour Prayer that I prepared for a spiritual teacher:

The Liturgy of the Hours in Christianity is also referred to as Fixed-Hour Prayer, The Daily Office, or The Canonical Hours. Below, is one traditional version (from Wikipedia, but it seems to be fine. :-)  Modern versions of this practice for lay people usually focus on just "morning, noon, and night" as fixed times for reflection, thanksgiving, seeking forgiveness, experiencing Love.

Phyllis Tickle, the leading expert on Fixed-Hour Prayer in the Episcopal tradition, writes:

"Fixed-hour prayer is the oldest form of Christian spiritual discipline and has its roots in the Judaism out of which Christianity came. When the Psalmist says, 'Seven times a day do I praise You,' he is referring to fixed-hour prayer as it existed in ancient Judaism." (Psalm 119: 164)

Traditional Roman Breviary[1]

• Matins (during the night, at midnight with some); also called Vigils or Nocturns or, in monastic usage, the Night Office
• Lauds or Dawn Prayer (at Dawn, or 3 a.m.)
• Prime or Early Morning Prayer (First Hour = approximately 6 a.m.)
• Terce or Mid-Morning Prayer (Third Hour = approximately 9 a.m.)
• Sext or Midday Prayer (Sixth Hour = approximately 12 noon)
• None or Mid-Afternoon Prayer (Ninth Hour = approximately 3 p.m.)
• Vespers or Evening Prayer ("at the lighting of the lamps", generally at 6 p.m.)
• Compline or Night Prayer (before retiring, generally at 9 p.m.)

[1]  a book of the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church

I cherish a concept of the more enlightened branches of Protestantism called the Priesthood of All Believers. Notably, Martin Luther (1483-1546) coined this phrase as part of the reformation of the Church.

The Priesthood of All Believers empowers individual faithful to take charge of their own spiritual destinies, and prevents the rise of hierarchies of priests, bishops, and popes, metropolitans, et. al., from seizing control and reducing the faithful to the status of mindless sheep.

It offers a level playing field for those who believe in equality, personal freedom, and self development free of oligarchies, tyranny, and mind control. Priests, ministers, abbots, and other professional clergy have their place in the world's religions. But that place is not stripping us of our own authenticity and integrity as followers of a Path. For sane, open-minded individuals, our own unique search, conducted with respect for and attention to tradtional pathways, will lead us to understanding and wholeness.

True religion occurs when reason meets compassion, a marriage of the mind and heart. An example is Jimmy Carter's decision to leave the Southern Baptist Church. 

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/07/20/jimmy-carter-leaves-church-over-treatment-of-women/?a_dgi=aolshare_facebook

""Here are the values I stand for: I stand for honesty, equality, kindness, compassion, treating people the way you'd want to be treated and helping those in need. To me, those are traditional values. That's what I stand for."  --Ellen DeGeneres, entertainer and comedian. 

Excellent essay by Havard professor, Gerald Holton, on Einstein's sense of the profound beauty and reasonableness of the Universe:

http://www.aip.org/history/einstein/essay-einsteins-third-paradise.htm