{"id":515,"date":"2018-08-08T21:24:00","date_gmt":"2018-08-08T20:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/?p=515"},"modified":"2018-09-04T18:00:09","modified_gmt":"2018-09-04T17:00:09","slug":"short-evening-prayer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/short-evening-prayer\/","title":{"rendered":"Short Evening Prayer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Sometimes life can feel exhausting by the time evening arrives! With the fading light and a jumble of experiences to sift through from the day we can often feel fatigued, tired, even overwhelmed. It can be easy to block out all these thoughts with a good book or a T.V. show or just some internet browsing. Sometimes I find during the tough seasons in life that drawing near to God becomes a two second prayer as my head hits the pillow for sleep! <strong>Yet deep down I know what my soul needs the most.<\/strong> Unless I feast upon some heavenly peace at night time I will feel empty on waking.<\/p>\n<p>A bedtime prayer need not be a prayer of detail. God does not need our prayers of worship \u2013 it is us who need communion and intimacy with God. Taking time to rest, to breathe a little slower, to look and to listen can take us to a new level of peace that the fast fixes of our media world cannot reach. Before bedtime, why not take a short evening stroll in the countryside, see the sun go down or watch a flicking candle during a long bath? All these things can be a way to draw close to God and lead us gently into the Lord\u2019s presence.<\/p>\n<p>I pray that tonight whether you are in a place of hope and security or a place of struggle and hardship, this short evening prayer will help you lay down to sleep in the shelter and security of our Lord Almighty:-<\/p>\n<p><em>Dear Father in Heaven,<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Here, safe with you, I drink in your peace. Help me to sift through the many experiences, feelings and thoughts I have encountered today. I allow myself to rest, to wind down and to be still. Help me to surrender all I am to you, my fatigue, my concerns, my hopes and fears.<\/em><br \/>\n<em>As I sleep tonight, I choose to hold your hand. I choose to live with you. I choose to believe, I choose to trust, I choose you always. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AYh87G2O3vw?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>If you enjoyed this simple evening prayer it\u2019s possible to download this film and keep it for a small sum by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/FilmPages\/evening_prayer.html\">following this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sometimes life can feel exhausting by the time evening arrives! With the fading light and a jumble of experiences to sift through from the day we can often feel fatigued, tired, even overwhelmed. It can be easy to block out all these thoughts with a good book or a T.V. show or just some internet <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/short-evening-prayer\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":518,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[7,8,6],"tags":[11,10,46,3],"class_list":["post-515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","category-music","category-prayer","tag-film","tag-meditation","tag-night-prayer","tag-prayer"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Evening_Prayer_Blog.jpg?fit=600%2C337&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7bKxI-8j","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":704,"url":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/how-to-pray-at-night-bedtime-prayers\/","url_meta":{"origin":515,"position":0},"title":"How to pray at night &#8211; bedtime prayers","date":"October 15, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I\u2019m going to be sharing with you three things that I find really helpful to remember when I pray at bedtime. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=VwIsbchElLI&feature=youtu.be Personally, I always try and pray to my Abba Father at night. I guess it evokes that security and protection you can feel as a child drifting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Films&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Woman peacefully asleep on bed","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Sheltered_Julie_Palmer_600.jpg?fit=600%2C443&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":122,"url":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/finding-faith-in-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":515,"position":1},"title":"Finding Faith in Prayer","date":"November 15, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Sometimes I feel it is pointless praying. At times, when faced with the terrible suffering of others or in desperate circumstances I struggle to string any words together to God. Yet it is in these times that prayer is the only place we can go, it is often all that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Prayer&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Pile of Mustard Seeds","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/MG_mustard_seeds_600.jpg?fit=600%2C338&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":748,"url":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/how-to-lead-an-opening-prayer-in-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":515,"position":2},"title":"How to lead an opening prayer in church","date":"November 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I\u2019m going to give you three pointers to help you when leading others in prayer. In many ways when leading a meeting it is more about who you are than what you say! This is not just true for meetings but for every time we congregate with others for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Reflections&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Praying Hands and Bible","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Praying_Hands_600.jpg?fit=600%2C413&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":673,"url":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/how-to-pray-for-friends\/","url_meta":{"origin":515,"position":3},"title":"How to Pray for Friends","date":"September 24, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi, today we\u2019re going to be looking at different creative ways that we can pray for our friends and loved ones. If you know someone at the moment that is going through a difficult time you might find these tips especially useful. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLIojy7PfSmO7aEzVZVGwnbrHlDLKawL09 Praying for friends or loved ones is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Films&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Julie Palmer on Prayer","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Julie_Palmer_on_Prayer_800.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":643,"url":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/prayer-for-safe-travel\/","url_meta":{"origin":515,"position":4},"title":"Prayer for Safe Travel","date":"July 1, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"At this time of year most of us will be planning a trip away or waving friends and family off as they go on their holidays. Travel can be both exciting and unnerving! I have friends who love travelling. The excitement of new horizons, adventure and discovery propel them forwards,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Films&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Beautiful valley with road running down the middle","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Prayer_For_Safe_Travel_Blog_800.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":629,"url":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/prayer-for-a-friend\/","url_meta":{"origin":515,"position":5},"title":"Prayer for a Friend","date":"May 6, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"How can we pray for a friend who is currently having to contend with a very difficult life experience? It might be they have just lost their job, or perhaps it is a serious illness or even a bereavement in the family. Sometimes it is a friend whom we are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Films&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Several tealight candles","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Prayer_For_A_Friend_600.jpg?fit=600%2C337&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=515"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":564,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515\/revisions\/564"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}