THIRD WEEK.—SATURDAY. — Evening

ALMIGHTY God, our Heavenly Father, help us now to worship Thee in spirit and in truth. We come to Thee in our Saviour’s name; we plead his merits; we rest on his gracious promise that what we ask faithfully we shall obtain effectually, to the relief of our necessities, and to the setting forth of thy glory. Incline our hearts to come to Thee in faith and prayer for every needful good.

We thank thee, O merciful Father, for all the comforts and enjoyments of this life, and for the many temporal blessings with which we are surrounded. While we thankfully use these good gifts, may we not abuse them, but may our hearts be ever lifted up in grateful love to Thee, our bountiful and never-failing benefactor.

We praise thy holy name for giving thine only Son to be unto us both a sacrifice for sin and an example of godly life. Give us grace that we may daily endeavour ourselves to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life. Help us to walk even as He walked. Like Him, may we go about doing good. May it be our meat and drink to do our Father’s will. May our days on earth, like his, be spent in works of holy, active loving-kindness. Make it ever our happiness to promote the happiness of others, and as our blessed Lord deigned to show his sympathy in his people’s joys, and to sanctify by his presence their lawful pleasures, so may we learn to rejoice with them that do rejoice, and thus to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. We bless Thee, O Lord, for thy Holy Word, which is able to make us wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Help us, we beseech Thee, so to read its sacred pages as daily to draw from it some useful lesson of life. Oh, give us an increasing love and reverence for that blessed Book. May it show us the greatness of our need; may it reveal Christ Jesus to us in all the fulness of his love, in all the freeness of his salvation. Thou, O Lord, art the inexhaustible fountain of life; may thy Holy Spirit bring each one of us to Him who alone is able and willing to give us of the water of life freely. Thou hast said, “Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.” We come to Thee, O Lord, trusting in this thy word, and earnestly beseech Thee now to grant us thy grace and heavenly benediction, that we may live in the constant obedience of thy will.

O Lord, we pray not only for ourselves, but for those we love. Grant to them all the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ. Take them and us under thy merciful protection this night. May no evil befall us. Grant us refreshing rest, and raise us up in the morning to serve Thee with all our hearts, for Jesus Christ our Saviour’s sake. Amen.