My Matins
About spiritual practices
My Matins helps you keep a simple rhythm of practices with God — not a scoreboard of holiness. You choose what to practice, show up, and over time those practices train your attention and love toward Christ.
Training, not earning
Spiritual practices are old Christian wisdom: ways of arranging your life so you can receive what you cannot force by willpower alone.
We take seriously the teaching of Dallas Willard (The Spirit of the Disciplines, Renovation of the Heart): disciplines are means under grace, not a way to earn God’s favor. Willard’s well-known emphasis is that grace is not opposed to effort — it is opposed to earning. Showing up is effort; it is not a transaction with God.
How change works (Vision → Intention → Means)
Following Dallas Willard’s VIM pattern (Renovation of the Heart stream):
- Vision — a picture of life with God that actually attracts you
- Intention — a real decision to arrange your days for that life
- Means — concrete practices (stillness, Scripture, prayer, and more)
Apps are good at means. Matins also nudges vision and intention so practices don’t become empty streaks.
Practices we support first
| Practice | What you’ll do in Matins |
|---|---|
| Stillness | Set aside hurry — default 30 quiet minutes with God. (Near solitude and silence as taught by Dallas Willard.) |
| Bible reading | Follow your reading plan in the bible tracking app; mark the day complete here. (Study of Scripture — Willard.) |
| Scripture memory | Practice hiding a passage in your heart. (Willard stresses memorization as part of serious Scripture study.) |
| Prayer | Continue in Orate Pro Me, or simply mark that you prayed. |
You can weave these into a short morning office (a liturgy): Stillness → Reading → Memory → Prayer — or keep them as separate daily rhythms.
More practices over time
Christian formation includes other classic disciplines. Dallas Willard groups many of them as abstinence (making space by not doing — e.g. fasting, simplicity) and engagement (e.g. worship, service, fellowship, celebration). See also Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline.
Matins will add more practices carefully. Some belong in-app; some are better lived offline or in church community. We will never turn sensitive practices into public leaderboards.
Streaks and celebrations
Streaks and badges are here to encourage showing up, not to rank your soul. When we celebrate, we mean joy that a rhythm is forming — closer to the discipline of celebration in Willard’s engagement list than to a game high score. If a streak breaks, grace does not. Start again.
What My Matins is not
- Not a kingdom task manager (see Prime Portico for domains, responsibilities, and work across life)
- Not a full Bible study suite or prayer journal (we integrate sibling apps)
- Not a substitute for a local church, pastor, or embodied fellowship
Authors & further reading
These writers shape our language; they do not endorse this product:
- Dallas Willard — The Spirit of the Disciplines; Renovation of the Heart
- Richard J. Foster — Celebration of Discipline
- Broader Christian tradition of a Rule of Life (e.g. Benedictine roots; modern “rhythm of life” teaching from various authors)