FOURTH WEEK.—THURSDAY. — Evening

LORD God, Thou hearest and answerest prayer, and biddest us cast our care upon Thee, for Thou carest for us. For the sake of thy dear Son, and in fulfilment of thy gracious promises, hear, and answer, and bless us. Manifold as are our wants, Thou canst supply them; open to us now the treasures of thy love, and bestow all that Thou seest us to need, whether of life and strength for the body, or of grace and peace for the soul. We ask it, O God, believing in thy promises to which we have now listened, and remembering all the love with which Thou hast loved us, and the mercy which Thou hast shown to us in Jesus Christ our Lord.

We praise Thee, O God, for the record which thou hast given us of thy Son, that in him we have life, the life that is spiritual and eternal. We pray that we may have Christ for our own, and that, having him, and believing in him as our Saviour and our God, his life may be our life, and that, because he liveth, we may live also. O Lord, we believe; help thou our unbelief. We believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that he came to seek and to save that which was lost, that he lived, and suffered, and died for us, and that he is ascended up far above all heavens, and at thy right hand in glory pleadeth our cause. Lord, let us have the sure witness in our own hearts, testifying to our acceptance in Christ, and that we have been born of God. Give us true peace of conscience, that, if we are thine, no fear of condemnation may haunt and disturb us. Give us such faith in thy dear Son that we may know that we have eternal life. And, oh! grant that the evidence of these blessings may be seen in our hearty and constant obedience to thy commandments. Bring our hearts into such perfect unison with thy will, and fill us with such a sense of thy love, that thy commandments may never seem grievous, but the law of perfect happiness and peace. Grant also, O God, that in the power of a true faith, we may resist all the temptations of the world, and come off more than conquerors through Him who hath loved us. Lord, let us not be condemned with the world. Raise us above it in thought, and motive, and inclination, that neither the lust of the flesh, nor the lust of the eye, nor the pride of life may draw us away from Thee.

Lord, be with us through the hours of darkness, and give to us, as Thou dost give to thy beloved, sleep. Spread around us, and all whom we love, the shield of thine unslumbering care. Let neither wicked man nor wicked spirit come near to harm us. We lay ourselves down to sleep, trusting to thy protection. Keep us now and ever as thine own children, for the sake of Jesus Christ, Amen.