Evening Family Prayer.

Sunday Evening.

ATHER OF ALL, who art the Source and Giver of

FATHE

all good: From infancy we have been the objects of Thine unwearied and tender care, and Thou hast been nearest to us when we most needed Thee. Hitherto hast Thou been our Helper, and now, at the close of this blessed day, we would seek communion with Thine everlasting Presence.

Evermore Thine eternal word goeth out over the whole earth, and whoever hath the willing ear, heareth Thy voice. Around this altar of worship we would catch the whispers of Thy love. Open our inward hearing, O LORD, that we may know the message of the Spirit, and be at rest.

Withdrawn from the noise and hurry of the world, and in the quiet of this Sabbath evening, we would adore and thank Thee for the gift of that Teacher, Guide, and Saviour, who is the Way, and the Truth,' and the Life. We would still follow him, and go with him, through all silent experiences. We would know his joy after trial, his peace in victory, and through his fellowship be brought into perfect harmony with Thee.

Help us to feel that the unseen world is not far away, but within and around us; and while we pray for a deeper faith in its reality, give us, we beseech Thee, a deeper sense of the one great want of our souls. Save us from the death of the spiritually self-satisfied, that we may seek the true life of religious endeavor. Grant us the grace of lowliness, that we may confess our emptiness, and know how "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

With this prayer upon our lips, and in our hearts,

we would seek the silence of another night. Graciously guard our slumbers, and awaken us on the morrow to the greetings of love and the cheerfulness of daily duty. We ask in the name and as the disciples of our Lord and Saviour. Amen.

FATH

Monday Evening.

ATHER OF LIGHTS, with whom there is no darkness, and no shadow: We see but dimly,—Thou seest all. Strengthen us, we beseech Thee, into enduring faith in Thy wisdom and Thy love, that we may bring all our wants before Thee with a generous confidence.

Thou who art the Ever-Blessed, speak peace to our hearts, and bless us, now that we repose before Thee. Bring us into communion with each other, and with all things divine, and tone all our faculties into the harmony of love and praise.

We thank Thee for the message which this day has , brought us, so holy in its invitations, so solemn in its appeals. If we have not heeded the voice of the hoursif we have gone wrong in our blindness and wilfulness, and refused to hear the call of the spirit in our best powers,- -we beseech Thee to forgive us in Thy great mercy, and give us true repentance, that we may lie down this night in peace with the world, with our selves, and with Thee.

O God, quicken us into the penitence which prayer subdues into a sense of pardon. Show us our weakness, and how poor we are inwardly, that we may know the blessing of those who mourn their faults, and, seeing them, are led to that self-consecration which opens the way to a fuller enjoyment of the heavenly kingdom.

Most merciful Father: We thank Thee for the lesson of experience, that those seasons are most spiritually

peaceful in the end, which begin in sadness; and that by disappointments, losses, weariness, sorrow, and bereavement, the holiest emphasis has been given to every utterance of the word of consolation: "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted."

In all the trials of life, and in the midst of all afflictions, we would hear Thy fatherly invitation to trust in Thee, and enter into the promised rest.

Gather us, O LORD, under the wings of Thy guardian love. Give us slumber undisturbed, and command Thy blessing upon us, even life for evermore.

0

Tuesday Evening.

Amen.

THOU that hearest prayer! Graciously prepare our hearts for communion with Thy spirit. Help us to draw nigh to Thee, in the assurance that Thou art willing to make our souls Thy temple. O come, and dwell within us, and inspire our minds with a deeper reverence for Thy law, and a higher loyalty to Thy divine kingdom.

Open Thy heavens, O LORD, that the light of love may shine into our thoughts. Open Thy heavens, that we may hear the voice from the excellent glory, and that the spirit, which cometh dove-like, may descend and rest upon us all.

Send in upon our souls the calm of this holy hour, and may its quiet faintly symbolize the inward serenity of hearts which are at one with Thee. We would know that all things are ours, if truly we are Thine. We would feel how "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."

Keep us, we beseech Thee, from the sin of pride, of arrogance, and make us patient, amiable, conciliatory. May we strive for that balance of qualities which shall keep us from the extremes of servility and haughtiness, and evermore incline us to imitate him who combined,

in loving harmony and unbroken wholeness, energy and gentleness, and whose mighty intelligence and high intrepidity, were tempered by traits the most lowly and peaceful. Lead us to him, that our whole being may be moulded by his truth, and made to reflect, in some humble degree, his divine image.

Our Father, we look unto Thee for Thy blessing. Though darkness, silence, and sleep await us, the night is full of Thy glory. May we fear no evil, but pass to our repose in confidence, relying upon the mercy that endureth for ever. Amen.

TH

Wednesday Evening.

THINE, O LORD, is every soul that lives. Thine image dwelleth in it. Thine it is to enlighten and to save: Thine, to quicken into growth for ever enlarging.

Help us, O Father, to know what we are, where we are, and what we have to do. Enable us to feel that we are souls, living in the world, and sent here to do Thy will. May we work out what Thou art working within us, that the hidden man of the heart may be visible in our daily life.

Father of Lights: All we are, and all we seem, is open to Thine eye. Thou knowest us altogether. Thy goodness unites us as a family, and as friends. O that our earthly home may ever be an emblem of the heavenly, and the ties of kindred and friendship be as bands of love in Thy hand, drawing us into spiritual communion with Thee!

Source and End of Being: All things lead back to Thee, all things lead forward to Thee. Thou inspirest all noble thoughts, and all heavenward yearnings are the callings of the Holy Spirit.

In ourselves we are nothing: minds, and be every thing to us.

Come Thou into our
We confess our weak-

ness, and look unto Thee for strength: Thou canst feed our souls, and refresh us evermore.

Hungry and thirsty, we pray for the bread from heaven, and the never-failing water. May we long for, and strive for, all that is lovely, and truthful, and divine, and know how "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled."

Happy is the heart in which a sense of need for ever invites the renewing power of the spirit: happy, in being filled with what it longs for.

Father in Heaven, may our inward state be an unceasing prayer, continually answered, and our souls be continually filled, yet evermore yearn for righteousness.

We commend ourselves to Thine unchanging love this night. Darkness hideth not from Thee. May we come in peace to the dawn of to-morrow, and in praise to the day without night, in a life without end, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

ENA

Thursday Evening.

'NABLE us, O LORD, to look up unto Thee with reverent affection and devout gratitude; and grant unto us, we beseech Thee, a spirit of trust and humility. We desire to lean on Thine arm of strength, and would bring to this altar all that we have, and all that we are, and consecrate ourselves anew to the work of Thy law. O behold us, Thy frail and needy children; mercifully consider our lowly state, and raise us up into life.

Incline

Gracious Father, another day has faded into the dim past, and another night has fallen around us. us, we beseech Thee, deeply to consider the departed hours.

We have walked the earth; we have breathed Thy air; we have dwelt in Thy light; we have partaken of Thy bounty. Have we in our souls worshipped Thee, of whom the glorious universe is but the ever-dawning