Evening Prayers – Page 9 – A Collection of Prayers

Support Us All the Day Long

O Lord, support us all the day long
till the shadows lengthen
and the evening comes
and the busy world is hushed
and the fever of life is over
and our work is done.
Then in your mercy,
grant us a safe lodging
and a holy rest
and peace at the last.

Source: John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

Variant:

May he support us all the day long
till the shades lengthen
and the evening comes
and the busy world is hushed
and the fever of life is over
and our work is done.
Then in his mercy
may he give us a safe lodging
and a holy rest
and peace at the last.

Source of this version: http://stoswaldsoswestry.org.uk/prayer-room/morning-and-evening-prayers/

Keep Watch, Dear Lord

220px-sandro_botticelli_050 Keep watch, dear Lord,
with those who wake,
or watch or weep this night,
and give your angels charge over those who sleep.
Tend the sick,
give rest to the weary,
sustain the dying,
calm the suffering,
and pity the distressed;
all for your love’s sake,
O Christ our Redeemer. Amen

Source: Attributed to St. Augustine of Hippo, 354-430

Source of this version: http://parishofcrawley.org/?page_id=54

Graphic by Sandro Botticeli from Wikipedia.com.

A Prayer for Protection

Visit this place, O Lord, we pray,
and drive far from it the snares of the enemy;
may your holy angels dwell with us and guard us in peace,
and may your blessing be always upon us;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Source: Closing prayer for Compline (Church of England)

Source of this version: https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-worship/worship/texts/daily2/night/compline.aspx

Also found here: http://www.beliefnet.com/prayers/christian/protection/prayer-for-protection.aspx#WlCAQPoKyzFUKA0U.99

An Evening Prayer

Be present,
O merciful God,
and protect us
through the silent hours of his night,
so that we,
who are wearied by the changes
and chances of this fleeting world,
may rest upon your eternal changelessness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Source: An Ancient Collect, sixth century

Source of this version: Freely modified from Prayers of the Early Church, edited by J. Manning Potts, 1953

An Evening Prayer

O God our Father,
by your mercy and might
the world turns safely into darkness
and returns again to light:
We give into your hands our unfinished tasks,
our unsolved problems,
and our unfulfilled hopes,
knowing that only that what you bless will prosper.

To your great love and protection
we commit each other and all those we love,
knowing that you alone are our sure defender;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen

Source: The Church of South India, Book of Common Worship

Source of this version: Modified from http://presidentialprayerteam.com/featured-store-item-2/

Also found here: https://sites.google.com/site/benkelnav/

A Prayer on Resisting Satan

Be off, Satan, from this door and from these four walls. This is no place for you; there is nothing for you to do here. This is the place for Peter and Paul and the holy Gospel; and this is where I mean to sleep, now that my worship is done, in the name of the Father and of the Holy Spirit.

Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, send me your Spirit; instill the wisdom of your Holy Spirit into my heart; protect my soul and body, every limb in my body, every fiber of my being, from all possible harm and all traps the Devil may set for me and every temptation to sin.

Source: Euchologium Sinaiticum

Also found here: https://www.christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/prayers-of-earliest-christians/

Above, the word “Father” in the second paragraph is added so that the prayer does not seem to be addressed to Satan.

Variant:

Be off, Satan, from this floor…

An Evening Collect

Lighten our darkness,
Lord, we pray;
and in your mercy
defend us from all perils and dangers of this night;
for the love of your only Son,
our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Source: Gelasian Sacramentary

found also here: https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-worship/worship/texts/daily2/night/variations.aspx

and in The Lutheran Hymnal, p. 107 #47

Also found here: Prayers Ancient and Modern by Mary Wilder Tileston, Boston, Little Brown, 1914, p. 341 #2

Graphic, Gelasian Sacramentary, from Wikipedia.com