Rule of Life Examples: 7 Sample Rules

A rule of life is a short written list of the practices you commit to on purpose: when you pray, read Scripture, work, rest, move your body, and show up for your people. The seven examples below show what one looks like on paper in different seasons, so you can copy the closest one and adjust it.

Most explanations of a rule of life stay abstract. You read about rhythms and trellises and still have no idea what to write down. So here are seven finished rules, each short enough to fit on an index card.

Every example uses the same six lines: an anchor for the day, prayer and Scripture, your body, your people, your work, and rest. The Rule of Life Builder walks through the same ground, so you can read these first and build your own in about five minutes.

"So be careful how you live. Don't live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days." — Ephesians 5:15-16 (NLT)

Paul's instruction is to live carefully and on purpose. A rule of life is how a man does that on an ordinary Tuesday.

This article is part of the Christian Morning Routine series.

What Makes a Rule Work

Before the examples, three tests. Every rule below passes all three.

• It names a time and a place. "Pray more" is a wish. "Kitchen table, 5:30, before the phone" is a rule.
• You can keep it in your worst week. Write it for the week the baby is sick and the deal is closing. You can add to it later.
• It fits on one card. If you cannot remember it, you will not keep it.

Example 1: The Founder With Young Kids

He runs a growing company and has three kids under eight. His danger is that work will take every hour it is offered.

• Anchor: Up at 5:15. In bed by 10:00.
• Prayer and Scripture: Kitchen table, 5:30 to 6:00, before the phone. Surrender the day out loud, then one chapter of a Gospel and one written sentence.
• Body: Lift Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 6:15. Walk during calls.
• Family and brotherhood: Home by 6:00. Phone in the drawer until the kids are asleep. Date night every other Friday. Men's group Thursday at 6:30 a.m.
• Work: Three priorities written down before email opens. Laptop closed at 5:30.
• Rest: Sabbath from Saturday dinner to Sunday dinner. No Slack, no spreadsheets.

Why it holds: The family line is the one he would break first, so it is the most specific line on the card.

Example 2: The Shift Worker

Clock times fall apart when the schedule rotates. This rule hangs each practice on an event instead of an hour.

• Anchor: Seven hours of sleep after every shift, blackout curtains, phone off.
• Prayer and Scripture: The first ten minutes after waking, whatever the hour. Audio Bible on the drive in, one psalm on the first break.
• Body: Twenty minutes of movement before three shifts a week.
• Family and brotherhood: One meal a day with the family, whichever meal the shift allows. A note on the counter when he misses it. One call a week with a brother who works the same hours.
• Work: Work the shift as for the Lord. No complaining on the floor.
• Rest: The first full day off is Sabbath. No overtime on it.

Why it holds: Nothing depends on a time of day he does not control.

Example 3: The Man Who Travels Every Week

Four nights a month at home is not the problem. Four nights a week in a hotel with no structure is.

• Anchor: Same wake time at home and away. In bed by 10:30 on the road.
• Prayer and Scripture: Fifteen minutes at the hotel desk before the laptop opens. A paper Bible in the bag and the same reading plan in every city.
• Body: Hotel gym or a 30-minute walk before dinner. Two-drink limit with clients.
• Family and brotherhood: Video call at the kids' bedtime. A text to one brother every night on the road saying how the day actually went. Friday night through Monday morning at home, no trips booked.
• Work: No email after the client dinner. Expense report finished on the flight home.
• Rest: Hotel television stays off. Sunday at his own church.

Why it holds: The road removes every guardrail a man has at home. This rule packs them in the bag.

Example 4: The New Father

A newborn wrecks every routine. This is a minimum rule for a hard season, and it is meant to be small.

• Anchor: No fixed wake time. Sleep when the baby sleeps.
• Prayer and Scripture: One psalm during the first feeding. Pray for his wife and child by name while he holds the baby.
• Body: A 20-minute walk with the stroller. Nothing else is required.
• Family and brotherhood: Take the 2 a.m. shift. Text one brother the truth about how he is doing every Friday.
• Work: Leave on time. Say no to anything optional for 90 days.
• Rest: One hour a week alone, traded with his wife so she gets hers.

Why it holds: A rule you can keep beats a rule you admire. He rewrites it at 90 days.

Example 5: The Man Coming Back From Burnout

His old rule was a list of things to add. This one subtracts.

• Anchor: In bed by 9:30, seven nights a week.
• Prayer and Scripture: Fifteen minutes of silence and one psalm. No lists and no requests for now. Listening comes before asking.
• Body: A 30-minute walk outside every day. A doctor's appointment on the calendar this month.
• Family and brotherhood: Dinner at the table five nights a week. A counselor every two weeks, and one friend who knows the whole story.
• Work: Stop at 5:30. No email on the phone. One thing handed off every week.
• Rest: A full 24-hour Sabbath. One weekend away each quarter.

Why it holds: Recovery is mostly removal. Every line gives something back instead of asking for more.

"Then Jesus said, 'Let's go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.' He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn't even have time to eat." — Mark 6:31 (NLT)

Jesus gave tired men rest before He gave them more work. If this is your season, the Burnout Report lays out the stages and the way back.

Example 6: The Single Man in His Twenties

He has more free hours now than he will have for the next thirty years. This rule spends them on purpose.

• Anchor: Up at 6:00. In bed by 10:30 on work nights. No phone in the bedroom.
• Prayer and Scripture: Twenty minutes with a reading plan and prayer before work. One verse memorized each week.
• Body: Train four days a week.
• Family and brotherhood: Call his parents on Sunday. Men's group on Tuesday. One older man he meets monthly and tells everything.
• Work: Be early. Learn one skill a quarter. Give first and save second out of every paycheck.
• Rest: Sunday is for church, a long meal with friends, and no work.

Why it holds: The habits set in the season with the most freedom are the ones he will carry into marriage, fatherhood, and leadership.

Example 7: The Man After the Career

The title is behind him and the calendar is empty. A man without a rule in this season drifts.

• Anchor: Up at 6:30, as if he still has somewhere to be. He does.
• Prayer and Scripture: An hour each morning: Scripture, then a written list of children, grandchildren, and church members prayed for by name.
• Body: Walk three miles five days a week. Strength work twice.
• Family and brotherhood: One grandchild one-on-one every week. Two younger men mentored every month.
• Work: Ten hours a week given away to his church or his town.
• Rest: Sabbath kept. One day a month in silence.

Why it holds: It replaces the structure a job used to supply with one built around people.

"Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom." — Psalm 90:12 (NLT)

Two Old Examples Worth Knowing

The practice is old. Benedict of Nursia wrote his Rule in the sixth century for the monks at Monte Cassino. It ordered each day around fixed hours of prayer, manual work, reading, and rest, and communities still live by it.

In 1743 John Wesley gave the early Methodist societies three General Rules: do no harm, do good, and attend upon the ordinances of God, which included prayer, Scripture, the Lord's Supper, and fasting.

Neither one earns anything. A rule is a tool for staying close to Christ, and the moment it becomes a scorecard it has stopped doing its job.

"So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don't get tied up again in slavery to the law." — Galatians 5:1 (NLT)

How to Write Yours

1. Pick the example closest to your season.
2. Cross out anything you would not keep in your worst week.
3. Put a time and a place on every line that is left.
4. Show it to your wife or a brother and ask what is missing.
5. Run it for 30 days, then revise it.

If you want the formatting done for you, the Rule of Life Builder asks the questions and prints a one-page rule. If you want the background first, read what a rule of life is and where it came from.

A rule of life will not make God love you more. He settled that at the cross. It will make it harder to drift from Him by accident.

Let's get to work.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a good example of a rule of life?

A good rule of life names a time and a place for a handful of practices. For example: pray at the kitchen table at 5:30, read one chapter, train three mornings a week, be home by 6:00 with the phone put away, and keep a Sabbath from Saturday dinner to Sunday dinner. It is short, concrete, and written for your real week.

How long should a rule of life be?

One page, and usually six to ten lines. If you cannot remember your rule without looking, it is too long to keep. Start with one practice in each area of life and add more only after you have kept the short version for a month.

How is a rule of life different from a routine?

A routine is what you happen to do. A rule is what you decided to do before the week started, and it covers more than your morning: prayer, Scripture, your body, your family and friends, your work, and your rest. A routine can run on autopilot. A rule is chosen and reviewed.

Is a rule of life biblical?

The phrase is not in the Bible, but the pattern is. Daniel prayed three times a day as he had always done (Daniel 6:10), Jesus got up before daybreak to pray (Mark 1:35), and the first believers devoted themselves to teaching, fellowship, shared meals, and prayer (Acts 2:42). A rule simply writes down practices Scripture already commends. It never earns standing with God.