Monday, Week 1

I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints
— Ephesians 1:18 (BSB)

If we do not love one another, we certainly shall not have much power with God in prayer.
— Dwight L. Moody

The evening has come, and we draw near to You, our Father, to close the day where we began it — at Your feet. We asked You to help us to keep the vows made upon Sunday, and to realize the visions of holiness we had as we looked into Your face.

We thank You for the help You have given us this day. You have remembered us and imparted to us Your grace. You have guarded us in the day's dangers. You have led us through the perplexing ways. We thank You for all the blessings we have received from You, since we went out this morning.

But we must confess our sins. We have failed at many points. We have not done all that we promised to do. We found ourselves too weak for . . .
the duties,
the temptations,
the struggles, and
the burdens of the day.

We ask You to forgive us. We always have to ask this of You, for we are always coming short. But this evening we plead that You will help us to grow holier and stronger, so that we shall sin less against You tomorrow than we did today, and each new day live a little nearer to You. We long . . .
to grow in grace,
to overcome our faults,
to put on new beauties of character,
to be less easily vanquished in temptation.

So our prayer is that You will cleanse us and sanctify us, that You will put more of Your Spirit into our hearts, that we may be holier children.

If we have hurt any one today by impatient word, by harsh act, by unkindness or rudeness, or by severe judgment — may you forgive us and help us to undo the wrong. If we have failed to show kindness which we ought to have shown, or if we have withheld help which we ought to have given — may You forgive us and teach us to be more ready to do all our duty of love hereafter. We ask all in Jesus' precious name. Amen.