It's sad but not surprising that it is only mentioned in passing that prayer was the main reason for this practice since the beginning of Christianity. People d

It's sad but not surprising that it is only mentioned in passing that prayer was the main reason for this practice since the beginning of Christianity. People didn't just magically wake up in the middle of the night. They woke up in the middle of the night to pray, and again at sunrise. Modern people think "I should just wake up in the middle of the night for two hours to be super-productive!" but then wonder why they can't keep the practice up for any length of time, because they keep thinking "what's the point of this again?" The point was prayer.