own stubborn self-will make it extraordinarily difficult to sustain any consistent awareness of God’s presence. But it is far from impossible. So why is it called the “Daily Office”? The word office comes from the Latin word opus, or “work.” For the early church, the Daily Office— praying at fixed times throughout the day—was always the first “work of God” to be done. Nothing was to interfere with that priority. But this practice of fixed-hour prayer is one that actually long predates the early church.