The Fixed Hours of Prayer as the Seven Pillars of Wisdom

The Fixed Hours of Prayer as the Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

“Wisdom has built her house; she has carved out its seven pillars.”  (Proverbs 9:1).

This verse pictures the quality of wisdom as a wealthy woman who has built her lavish mansion with seven columns that support and stabilize her home. She welcomes all who want to partake of wisdom’s delights to come into her house and enjoy the spectacular feast that will feed the soul of all who dine with her. The Hebrew word “chokmoth” is used for wisdom over 200 times in the Hebrew Bible, and is taken to mean the divine gift of using sacred sense in how one lives one’s life at a practical level. Biblical wisdom as described below is the biblical key to a life of blessing and success. The foundation on which the house of wisdom is built is a reverent awe of the Lord, a humble adoration of God and His character, a faithful and fearful trust in His mercy and goodness. Solomon, the probable writer of Proverbs, never went into detail on what he meant by the seven pillars of wisdom. But this verse can easily and biblically point to a number of ways we can understand these seven pillars that support and beautify the house of wisdom.

Wisdom can be described biblically as sensible judgment; moral discernment; gifted insight; profound understanding; shrewd and righteous street smarts; spiritual intelligence; prudent decision-making; cleverly practicing the truth in daily life; the opposite of being gullible, naïve, foolish. In Scripture it also refers to being highly skilled in a particular area of expertise.

Seven: a Biblical symbol for perfection, completion, fullness, fulfillment, wholeness, finished. A case can be made that seven (7) is God’s favorite number. Because of what it represents, the number seven seems woven into the very fabric of Holy Scripture. Between the Hebrew Bible (OT), and the Gospels (NT), the number seven is mentioned in well over 700 passages. One particular number mentioned that many times is not coincidence. It is significant. Scripture reveals that seven represents an idea that is part of so many passages that it would be tiresome and tedious to relate them all. God decided in His wisdom to create the universe in seven days, and the number 7 has been kept busy ever since. Many theologians consider seven to be a holy number because of its weighty presence in Scripture. Knowing what seven means in the context of a biblical passage will help us to understand that passage better. Seven (7), the biblical number that tops all other numbers.

Seven Pillars of Wisdom. The vague reference to the house of wisdom and its seven pillars in Proverbs 9:1 can easily point to any number of meanings. We could also conclude that there is no intended reference to anything in particular, except perhaps to the complete perfection of wisdom in its very nature. The seven pillars may be a figure of speech referring to the nature of wisdom being complete in and of itself, and not referring to seven principles or seven particular qualities of wisdom. It could be that the seven pillars of wisdom are simply pointing to that quality of divine wisdom that lacks nothing. On the other hand, many biblical scholars have claimed that the seven pillars could logically point to either the seven days of creation, the Sevenfold Holy Spirit, the seven qualities of wisdom according to St. James, or even the gaining of wisdom through the seven formal times for prayer found in Psalm 119:164. But why feel like we have to choose one of those perfectly reasonable options? All four of those understandings make sense, and so they all could be true.

“Seven times each day I stop and shout praises because of your righteous judgments.” (Psalm 119:164).

A Logical Understanding Based on Disciplined Prayer. The seven pillars of wisdom in Proverbs 9:1 could just as easily point a believer to the traditional seven hours of disciplined prayer as mentioned in Psalm 119:164. The early Christian leaders decided to take that verse in the psalm literally, constructing each day with 7 fixed prayer times for each day, every three hours beginning at 6:00 a.m. up to 12:00 midnight. It gradually became known as the Liturgy of the Hours. Seven times… the complete way to sanctify a day.  Prayer has always been accepted as the means to gaining the wisdom of God. Prayer is how one grows in one’s understanding of the ways of God, and thus supports the whole spiritual enterprise of living into the wisdom of God. Prayer can thus be understood as the primary columns of support in the house of wisdom that stabilize one’s relationship with Christ, “who is the wisdom of God and the wisdom from God.” (1 Cor. 1:24, 30).

Kavvanah. This ancient structured system of prayer can be a Christian’s way of learning to think prayerfully, to cause one’s heart and mind to refer to the Lord during a day that does its best to distract one from God. The Hebrew concept in the Jewish Bible is that of “Kavvanah.” It refers to “directing the heart” to God in such a way that we are “inwardly turned toward God’s presence, offering our words or deeds or gifts upon an inner altar, the humble heart. When it comes to prayer, kavvanah is required, because kavvanah is the very essence of the act of prayer. Without it there is only the empty recitation of words.” (Arthur Green).

The 7 times for prayers established in the Liturgy of Hours are:

(1.) 6:00 a.m. sunrise;

(2.) 9:00 a.m.;

(3.) 12:00 noon;

(4.) 3:00 p.m.;

(5.) 6:00 p.m. vespers;

(6.) 9:00 p.m. compline;

(7) 12:00 midnight.

When possible, Christians gather together in church to pray at the 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. times, while the remaining fixed prayer times are enjoyed privately. Each church tradition has established its own liturgies for these fixed prayers, complete with a designated psalm, hymn, Scripture reading, and prayer. One rightly wonders, this is an impossible schedule for those who have a busy family and who work all day. Isn’t this prayer structure meant only for those who live in a Christian community, if not in a monastic setting? But one doesn’t need to be literally on their knees while in prayer. One can bow the heart, focus the mind just for whatever brief time one can manage, and achieve intimacy with God. In this way, we can follow the Biblical command to “pray without ceasing.” (1 Thess. 5:17). One could even become so accustomed to these moments of undistracted prayer during the day that one maintains an unfettered conversation with God at a deeper level while one is conducting typical daily matters. To pray without ceasing is the goal, and the 7 fixed times of prayer is a way to live prayerfully.

“The familiar rhythms of fixed prayer serve ideally as a language familiar to the heart, one that can stir it to wakefulness like a friend who comes to remind one of the affections of a silent lover.” (Arthur Green).