Evening Prayer

I prayed this today and I am considering praying the office's agane.

Prayer in the Evening

Be swift, O God, to save us.
Come quickly, Lord, to help us.

SENTENCE FOR THE DAY

It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing psalms to your name, O Most High.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and shall be for ever. Amen.

PRAYER OF PENITENCE

Most merciful God,
we confess to you
before the whole company of heaven
that we have sinned
in thought, word and deed,
and in what we have failed to do.
Forgive us our sins,
heal us by your Spirit
and raise us to new life in Christ. Amen.

If we confess our sins,
God is faithful and just,
and will forgive our sins,
and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Amen. Thanks be to God.

JUBILATE

Cry out to the Lord, all the earth;
serve the Lord with gladness;
come into his presence with songs of joy.

Be assured that the Lord is God;
he has made us for himself.
We are his own, his people,
the sheep who feed on his pasture.

Come into his gates with thanksgiving,
enter his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and bless his name.

Truly the Lord is good:
his love endures for ever,
and from age to age he is faithful.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and shall be for ever. Amen.

THE PRAYER OF THE EVENING

God and Father of all,
as this day ends
we offer up its hours in praise to you.
As we take our rest,
unite us, by your Spirit,
in praise of Christ our Lord,
the Alpha and Omega,
the First and Last,
in whom we make our prayer. Amen.

PSALM

Psalm 84
1 How dear to me is your dwelling, O LORD of hosts! *
My soul has a desire and longing for the courts of
the LORD;
my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.

2 The sparrow has found her a house
and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young; *
by the side of your altars, O LORD of hosts,
my King and my God.

3 Happy are they who dwell in your house! *
they will always be praising you.

4 Happy are the people whose strength is in you! *
whose hearts are set on the pilgrims' way.

5 Those who go through the desolate valley will find
it a place of springs, *
for the early rains have covered it with pools of water.

6 They will climb from height to height, *
and the God of gods will reveal himself in Zion.

7 LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; *
hearken, O God of Jacob.

8 Behold our defender, O God; *
and look upon the face of your Anointed.

9 For one day in your courts is better than
a thousand in my own room, *
and to stand at the threshold of the house of my God
than to dwell in the tents of the wicked.

10 For the LORD God is both sun and shield; *
he will give grace and glory;

11 No good thing will the LORD withhold *
from those who walk with integrity.

12 O LORD of hosts, *
happy are they who put their trust in you!

READING

Isaiah 55.6-9
Seek the Lord while he may be found,
call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake their way,
and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the Lord,
that he may have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.


MAGNIFICAT (THE SONG OF MARY)

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
who has looked with favour on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessèd:
the Almighty has done great things for me
and holy is his name.

God has mercy on those who fear him,
from generation to generation.

The Lord has shown strength with his arm
and scattered the proud in their conceit,
casting down the mighty from their thrones
and lifting up the lowly.

God has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty.

He has come to the aid of his servant Israel,
to remember the promise of mercy,
the promise made to our forebears,
to Abraham and his children for ever.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and shall be for ever. Amen.

THE PRAYERS

Christ, through whom all things were made,
sustain all creation.

Christ, exalted in the lowest and the least,
give us humility.

Christ, present in the poor and the oppressed,
fill us with compassion.

Christ, forsaken in the hungry and the homeless,
minister to them through our hands.

Christ, present where two or three are gathered,
be known among us.

Christ, present in word, sacrament and sign,
grant us your peace.

THE LORD'S PRAYER

We say together the prayer that Jesus gave us:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your Name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours,
now and for ever. Amen.

Lord our God,
at the ending of this day,
and in the darkness and silence of this night,
cover us with healing and forgiveness,
that we may take our rest in peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

We will lie down in peace and take our rest;
for you alone, Lord, make us dwell in safety.

The following may be said:

May the souls of the faithful,
through the mercy of God,
rest in peace and rise in glory. Amen.

Copyright acknowledgment (where not already indicated above):

Some material included in this service is copyright: © 1999 Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes
Isaiah 55.6-9: © 1989 National Council of Churches, USA