I don’t know about you, but one of the things that captures my heart about the TV series The Chosen is the simple morning and evening prayers Jesus and his disciples offer consistently.
In the morning, they say something along the lines of, “Thank you, living and enduring King, for you have mercifully restored my soul within me. Great is your faithfulness.” And when they prepare for sleep, they offer something like, “Blessed are you, Lord our God and King of the Universe, who brings sleep to my eyes and slumber to my eyelids. May it be your will, O Lord and God of my ancestors, that I lie down in peace and arise in peace.”
Both are traditional Jewish prayers—a variation of the Modeh Ani in the morning and the Shema in the evening—and remind me a bit of the simple prayer I was taught to pray as a little girl: “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, may angels watch me in the night, and keep me in thy blessed sight. Amen.”
The beautiful thing about authentic Christianity is there is no single perfectly correct way to pray. We know the Lord urges us to “rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV), and prayer can look different for everyone.
Still, some mornings and nights are harder than others. Perhaps we are grieving, depressed, or exhausted, and praying feels incredibly hard. Or perhaps we crave a little guidance on what to say as we discover our own unique manner of authentic prayer.
If that’s what you’re seeking, I offer a collection of four morning and four evening prayers to help you on your personal journey.
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1. A Morning Prayer of Gratitude
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for this new day. I don’t know what today will bring, but right now, I pause to focus on you and your perfect majesty. You alone are the Lord, creator of the universe, and King of all creation. You are El Shaddai, God Almighty, the Alpha and the Omega who reigns supreme over all things. Thank you for restoring life within my body, the body you handcrafted in my mother’s womb. Thank you for the breath in my lungs and the simple blessings you give me—my muscles and my tendons, my senses, and my soul. Most importantly, thank you for the opportunity for salvation. You didn’t have to rescue me from eternal darkness, yet you loved me so much that you sent your one and only son to pay the price of my sin, giving me a pathway to eternal life in heaven with you.
Help me right now to bask in the silence of this new day, a day of your creation and perfect artistry. Help me to be grateful for the blessings you give me and all the ways you provide for me. I love you with all my heart and all my mind and all my soul, now and forevermore.
Amen.
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2. A Morning Prayer for Protection
Almighty God,
I come before you today with my head bowed, and my hands outstretched, offering every ounce of myself to you completely. I know I live in a fallen world where the evil one likes to tempt and trap your precious children and lead us astray. Yet I pledge to keep my focus on you, the lighthouse in the storm and the lantern shining in the darkest night. You alone are my rock and my salvation, my protector and my guide. You keep my feet on your path and my hands steady, and you alone save me from the wiles of deception.
Protect me, O Lord, and wrap me in the comforting and saving cloak of your protection. Encircle me with your arms, like a mother hen gathers her chicks close, and help me know that even when I can’t feel you, see you, or sense you, I can trust that you are there protecting me and providing for me.
Surround me with your love and strength, which I know is an impenetrable armor against the evil one. Help me trust that I have the perfect armor of God shielding me from all harm—the shield of faith, the sword of the Spirit, the helmet of salvation, and the belt of truth.
In your holy and precious name, I pray,
Amen.
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3. A Morning Prayer for Strength
Father God,
I’m so weary. Yet I know that as the apostle Paul says, I can do all things through you, for you give me strength. You alone know the path before me today, and I commit myself and the entirety of my being to you and to your purpose. Because of that, I know I don’t have to fear anything, for you are with me. You surround me and lift me up with your perfect might, giving me the supernatural ability to do your work through a power not my own.
Lord, please push my flawed human nature aside and help me get out of your way. Use me as your instrument to do your work in the world today, no matter how difficult this might be. Give me strength and power and conviction to remain persistent in the face of adversity, no matter what challenges or obstacles come my way.
Help instill a spirit of courage within me to do all you desire. In fact, let your desires become my own, pushing aside my own concerns and priorities for yours alone.
Help me remember that you are El Elyon, the Most High God. You are the master and supreme ruler over all creation, and all creation bows to you.
Blessed are you, my Father God.
Amen.
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4. A Morning Prayer for Peace and Serenity
Precious Lord,
You know the stresses and anxieties and worries of my heart. You know how distracted I can get and how my fears cause me to stumble and doubt.
Yet, no matter what, you reign supreme. You alone control all things. You put breath in my lungs and blood in my veins. You knitted me together in your perfect will, and you know the desires of my heart and the nightmares that plague me.
Sometimes, I get so fearful about the changes going on around me. Wars and rumors of wars escalate. Natural disasters wreak havoc on my brothers and sisters near and far.
Yet, no matter what, I know that you remain in control. You are God of the mountains and the valleys, the highs and the lows. You are there in the joys and the despair, now and forever.
Help me focus on the peace and serenity of you and your kingdom, pushing aside the worries of today. Fortify me as I remember the tranquility you promise, a tranquility that transcends the chaos of this earthly existence. You are El Olam, the Everlasting God, and Jehovah Shalom, and the Lord is Peace. In you, I can set down my burdens, surrendering all I am forevermore.
Amen.
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1. An Evening Prayer for Surrender and True Rest
Holy Lord,
What a day this has been. Yet now I find myself here with you, ready to offer my body and mind to you completely in perfect surrender. Yes, I surrender all I am to you, Lord. You, who created me and who knows every intimate aspect of my heart and soul, I implore you to hold me close. I give all I am over to you entirely, holding nothing back.
You are Jehovah Rapha, the Lord that Heals, and I ask you, please, to heal my body and my mind while I sleep. Give me true and perfect rest as I bow to you in humble submission. Cleanse me of all unrighteousness, and refresh my soul for your perfect purpose.
I know that tomorrow is a beautiful new day, with joy and hope I cannot even begin to imagine. So, as I give myself over to you, release the old and usher in the new. Guard me as I rest and renew my strength within me.
I know that you alone provide perfect and restorative rest, the kind of rest no human can achieve on their own. As the psalmist says in Psalm 4:8, “In peace, I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.”
Blessed are you, Lord of Lords and King of Kings, now and forever.
Amen.
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2. An Evening Prayer for Joy
Oh, Heavenly Father,
Thank you for today. I am grateful for all the simple blessings you provide, from the air I breathe to the thoughts in my mind to the people who surround me on this beautiful planet you created.
Thank you for all the experiences, challenges, and happenings of this day, a day that you created. Help me to cling to the joy of you and your promises, a joy that transcends mere feeling. I know that biblical joy goes beyond happiness to cultivate an abiding sense of hopeful well-being and bliss, the kind that only comes from knowing and trusting in you, Father God.
As I sleep, fill me with dreams that echo that joy, sending peace, kindness, goodness and gentleness into every inch of my being. Help me to awaken filled with the power and promise of that joy, becoming a beacon of light that draws everyone I encounter close to you.
Fill me with the deep soul knowledge that the psalmist expressed in Psalm 16:11: “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”
Thank you, Father God—my rock and my redeemer, my savior and my protector—for the joy that comes from belonging to you, now and always.
Amen.
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3. An Evening Prayer for Forgiveness
Dear God,
You know the desires of my heart and the stains of my soul. You know the ways I do right by you and the ways I go astray. Forgive me, Lord, for the things I have done today, as well as for the things I have left undone. Forgive my harsh words, my lack of patience, and the ways I have not loved others as I have loved myself. Forgive all my transgressions and for looking past those you wanted me to help.
I know on my own I can never be good enough for you. But what I can do is try—try to love you and love others, try to follow Jesus and heed your commands, try to set my mind and my heart and my soul on doing right by you, whatever that looks like.
You alone are God, gracious, righteous, and merciful. You are Jehovah Tsidkenu, the Lord our Righteousness—only good, only just, only love. As 1 John 1:5 proclaims, you are all light—in you, there is no darkness at all.
Wash me clean and create a new heart in me, oh Lord my God, King of the Universe. Forgive me and usher me back to you every moment of every day, now and forever.
Amen.
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4. An Evening Prayer for Comfort
Father God,
I know that you are my protector and my guide, my light in the darkness. You are Jehovah-Raah, the Lord my Shepherd, and you look after me and claim me as your own.
Your son, Jesus, told his followers that he is the good shepherd, laying down his life for his sheep. He said that he knows his sheep, and his sheep know him (John 10:11-18). What a comfort, oh Lord, that you love me enough to claim me as your own.
As I give myself over to sleep, grant me deep soul comfort to truly know and understand that I belong to you. You will leave the 99 to chase after me (Matthew 18:10-14), pursuing me to the ends of the earth.
I have nothing to fear in you, Lord. So help me, please, to fully set aside all my concerns and take perfect comfort in the truth of your love and your protection. Grant me true solace in the knowledge of your vast and magnificent love that has no boundaries or earthly limits. Enable me to trust that you hold all things in your hands—this world, my life, all creation—and nothing has power over you.
In your perfect and blessed name, I pray,
Amen.
I hope these morning and evening prayers give you a starting point to begin your own prayers, bookending each day with praise and thanksgiving as you omit every moment of your life to the Lord.
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Originally published Sunday, 06 April 2025.