It would be a wonderful thing to begin and end each day in worship in our homes. This was a pattern in the ancient monastic hours that included morning and evening set times, along with several other appointed times in the day. The entire cycle of seven primary hours are Matins/Vigils (night), Lauds (dawn), Prime (sunrise), Terce (mid-morning), Sext (noon), None (mid-afternoon), and Vespers (sunset), followed by Compline (bedtime). These hours form a cycle of praise and sanctification based on ancient traditions and were codified by the Italian Benedict of Nursia in the 6th century. We need not adopt that entire pattern (which also included rising in the middle of the night for a brief time of prayer!), but morning and evening are certainly do-able and beneficial for believers of all ages. For centuries, protestant churches have adopted a small part of that pattern on the Lord’s Day, with morning worship before noon, and then evening worship in the late afternoon, even often calling that a vesper service.
But there has also been something of that pattern in private homes. In its simplest form, it is evident in individuals (or couples) rising early for a time of quiet worship, sometimes called devotions. This was found in a time of Bible reading, prayer, and even singing at family breakfast, and a similar pattern as families gathered for their evening meal. Such practices have a rich and long-standing history, especially in evangelical and reformed households. There are wonderful scriptures that encourage a practice of personal and family piety. And there are hymns that also point specifically to morning and evening worship, whether at home or in church services. Those of us who grew up in churches with a Sunday evening service remember hymns like “Day Is Dying in the West,” “Abide with Me, Fast Falls the Eventide,” “Now the Day Is Over,” “The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, Is Ended,” and “Softly Now the Light of Day.”