Monday, Week 4

So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and He granted our request.
— Ezra 8:23 (BSB)

Prayer is an art which only the Spirit can teach us. He is the giver of all prayer.
— Charles Spurgeon

Lord, we come to You; may You give ear to our voice when we call upon You. Let our prayer be set forth before You as incense; and the lifting up of our hands, as the evening sacrifice. Give us Your divine peace. In the quiet evening time, may Your blessing rest upon our home. Forgive the sins and failures of this day. If we did not live together in all ways affectionately as a family, if we were impatient the one toward the other, or lacking in Christly kindness — we beg Your forgiveness. If any of us have hurt the heart of another by a sharp word or unkind act — may You heal the wounds by Your own grace. May we forgive one another, even as You forgive us; and pour out Your love in return for the things that grieve You.

Our hearts long tonight to enter more deeply into the experiences of Your wonderful love. Help us to know more and more of it. Pour it into our souls, filling us with its tenderness and grace. May we bathe in the ocean of Your love, as one bathes in the sea. May its blessedness flow about us like the air in which we move. Teach us more and more by Your Spirit, the deep meaning, the infinite riches, of Your love. May we be so filled with Your love, that we shall love others, just as You love us.

We are afraid of the darkness — since You are with us. The darkness and the light are both alike to You. You are present in the gloom of night, as truly as in the brightness of noonday. So we are not afraid in the darkness, with You by us. We will lie down on our beds in peace, because You will be our keeper.

Remember our neighbors tonight. Comfort the dying and console the sorrowing. We ask all this in the name of our Redeemer. Amen.