Friday, Week 10

Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
— Jeremiah 29:12 (BSB)

The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.
— Eugene Peterson

We hear Your voice this evening inviting us to come to You for rest. We need rest, and we thank You for Your ordinance of night, when we can cease our labors and find renewal of strength in the quiet of the evening. We thank You for sleep, which refills nature's exhausted fountains, and renews the life which has been used in the day's experiences. May You give us blessing in sleep tonight.

We thank You also for the spiritual rest which You give to those who come to You. You alone can give us this rest. You alone can take away sin and the consciousness of guilt, and deliver us from sin's penalty and power. You alone can give us rest in the assurance of Your love, and in Your power to make all things work together for our good. Give us Your own peace. We ask not for the taking away all care out of our life — but for so much of the power of Your own life in us that, come what may, our souls shall be quiet in You. As we learn of You, may we find rest to our souls.

In the darkness, may You hide us and shelter us. Let no harm befall us. Keep our dwelling from danger. Preserve us all in good health. Sanctify to us all the experiences of this day. Bless all that we have done, and use the words that we have spoken. Forgive our mistakes, follies, and all our sins.

We ask for blessings on all our friends. Bless our friendships and make them more and more tender, constant, and true. May we all be Your friends — faithful, true, and constant. Help us to receive Your friendship into our hearts, and may its blessing enrich our lives. Forgive us, and grant us Your protecting care this night. We ask in Jesus' precious name. Amen.