An Evening Prayer for Any Time of the Day

I don’t know when you’ll read this. Perhaps you’ll read it when it hits your email inbox at 7 a.m. Maybe you’ll find this as you’re surfing around at 2 a.m. Or maybe you’re reading this as you eat your lunch.

No matter when, consider it the perfect time for prayer. There are so many changes and chances in life that we need a tether to the highest heavens. God doesn’t need our prayer. We need to pray to the God who listens, hears, and answers.

I once heard a memorable sermon on prayer. The preacher said, “Remember the bumper sticker, ‘Prayer Changes Things’? I beg to differ. Prayer doesn’t change things. God changes things.” The power of prayer comes not from the pray-er, but from the Almighty God to whom we pray. God gives us the privilege to speak, ask, rejoice, and request. He answers affirmatively, negatively, or in a way that rewards patience. But He always answers.

I challenge you to keep track of your prayers…and then see how God responds. He will.

One of my favorite prayers is one that is found in the liturgy called Evening Prayer. In the dimly lit church, after the sun has set, candles burning, hearts calm, just a short time before turning in for the night, we pray:

Lord God, You have called Your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that Your hand is leading us and Your love supporting us. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

It’s an incredibly appropriate prayer as the sun sets and the day is far spent. But we encounter ventures, paths, and perils throughout our earthly minutes and hours. The prayer is a request for faith and courage as we encounter life. It is reassurance that the strong right arm of God clears the way, and His blood-bought love is the foundation of our day.

Read the prayer again. I encourage you to memorize it and keep it in your pocket for the times you encounter life’s ventures, paths, and perils. Like the one you’re facing this very moment.

What’s your favorite prayer?

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