Monday, Week 2

May my prayer be set before You like incense, my uplifted hands like the evening offering.
— Psalm 141:2 (BSB)

A changed world begins with us ... and a changed us begins when we pray.
— Eugene Peterson

We come now at the close of the day, our Father, to You. For the guidance You have given us, in answer to our morning prayer, we thank You. Whatever we have done to please You — may You accept. Whatever has been wrong in our conduct, in our dispositions, in our tempers, in our affections — may You graciously forgive. If we have cherished unkind feelings toward others; if we have been envious, selfish, resentful, or jealous — we ask You to forgive us and to cleanse our hearts.

We earnestly wish to grow out of these faults of our old nature. We are not content to live, letting the old nature rule in us. But You know how hard it is for us to overcome these evil things in our hearts. May Your grace in us subdue them. We earnestly pray that You will fill us with Your Holy Spirit, and may we put off the things that displease You, and put on the new man, with all the gentle affections of our Savior. May the fruits of the Spirit abound in us. May whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, be in us.

We leave now in Your care, all the work of the day. If we have left any evil influence on any other life — we ask that You will arrest the impression. May You take whatever has been good and helpful in us during the day — and use it for the blessing of other lives, and for the glory of Your great name.

As we go now to our rest, we commit ourselves to Your care for the night. You are our keeper. We hide under the shadow of Your wings, and we will rest securely because You will keep us. We pray for the poor, the sick, the troubled, the sorrowing, and the dying. We ask these favors in Jesus' precious name. Amen.