In our worship at Faith Lutheran, we have used Luther’s Morning Prayer as part of our service and it works as a great way to start the day. Luther also wrote an Evening Prayer that would be a great way to end the day. In Fact, one of the traditions we have at Faith is at the end of Confirmation classes , we prayer together the Evening Prayer.

“I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have graciously kept me this day; and I pray that You would forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.”

(Luther’s Small Catechism, pg.31)

As Christians, each day can be so different from the day before, sometimes better and sometimes worse. However, when we finally go to bed at night, we can look back on the day and reflect how that day went. It could have been a great day, or the opposite could have been true. There are days when our relationship with God has suffered through our thoughts, words, and deeds. There are other days that things were Christ-centered and joyful.

What I love about this prayer is asking God to forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong during the day, but then turning to God completely asking Him to keep me safe in His love arms against the attacks of the Evil One. What a great way to end a long day with the knowledge that we commend ourselves, our bodies and souls and all things to God.

No matter where I lay my head to rest, I am resting in the loving embrace of our Savior Jesus Christ who will always order our days and our deeds with His peace. I remember a fellow pastor who expressed it this way: In Luther’s Evening Prayer, we are literally saying to Jesus, “Forgive me all of my sins, turn the troubles of this life from woes into blessings, and allow me to receive a rest that You and You alone can give.”

While serving as a missionary overseas, I had a sign near the bed which stated:

“Turn over your troubles to God this night, God is awake and ready while you need the sleep”

Resting in Jesus, Pastor Don Treglown