earticle

영어

In the era of the new normal, Korean churches face the challenge of discerning new pastoral directions and redefining the identity of worship amid rapid environmental change and societal restructuring. Responding to this need, this study reexamines the theological significance of daily prayer, grounded in Scripture and early church tradition, and explores its practical application in contemporary Korean pastoral contexts. Focusing on the “sanctification of time,” it investigates how the rhythm of prayer at sunrise and sunset frames human life within the narrative of creation, redemption, and eschatological hope, thereby deepening communion with God. This research comprises four chapters. Chapter one examines the theology and practice of daily prayer in the early church prior to the official recognition of Christianity, analyzing its continuity and discontinuity with Jewish temporal-spiritual traditions. Chapter two explores the sanctification of time in relation to Old Testament daily sacrifices and prayer rhythms (baboqer and bein ha’arbayim), drawing connections to the created order, human biological rhythms, and worship theology. Chapter three considers Jesus’s prayer life and early Christian practices, interpreting morning and evening prayer as a theology of light that orients believers toward redemptive and eschatological realities, including the role of watchful prayer. The final chapter reinterprets Korea’s dawn prayer tradition and proposes concrete ways to restore daily prayer rhythms in post-pandemic life. In particular, it highlights communal and personal practices of prayer at sunrise and sunset—whether offline or online, alone or with family. Ultimately, this study presents daily prayer as a communal response to God’s time and a means of renewing the church’s spiritual identity and rhythm in the new normal era.