Popular Prayers to End Your Day

Nightly prayer comes in all shapes and forms. Praying independently or with friends and family before bedtime helps us reflect on the day God blessed us with and look forward to the day ahead. Here are some common night prayers to raise your spiritual life each evening:

 

Short Prayer Before Sleep

Goodnight Father God,
Thank you for your presence
Stay beside me as I sleep and dream
That I might wake with you to greet the morning. Amen.

Child’s Bedtime Prayer
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.

 

The Examen (Evening Reflection)
By St. Ignatius Loyola. The Examen is a daily prayer reflection, often completed in the evening.

1. Remember God’s presence.
Even after a trying day, God will quiet your soul as you remember His presence and intentionally seek to enter into it. Remember He’s with you. Invite Him to make Himself present to you.

2. Respond to Him with thanks.
Giving thanks gives God glory and helps us look on the bright side of a bad day. What small blessings can you thank God for?

3. Reflect on how God showed Himself to you.
God reveals himself through scripture, but we also see glimpses of him in nature, events, and people. Sometimes He shows up loudly through miraculous, divine intervention. Other times He shows Himself quietly through the beauty of a flower or an earnest conversation. As you look back over your day, can you identify moments where you sensed God’s revelation or intervention?

4. Repent of your failings.
I don’t like recognizing my own sin, but repentance is key to continual renewal in our relationship with God.As you reflect on your day, remember specific points where you failed. Bring your shortcomings before God and ask Him to forgive you.

5. Resolve to grow.
God is in the business of changing us, so don’t let your failings discourage or define you. His mercies are always new. Accept His forgiveness. Ask Him for grace to change. Is there anything you need to make right or anyone you need to apologize to? What can you do differently tomorrow?

 

The Wings of Sleep

O Lord our God, King of the Universe.
Let the wings of sleep fall upon my eyes,
and upon my eyelids.
O Blessed One,
Let me lie down in peace,
and rise in peace.
Into Your hand I entrust my spirit.

 

Interested in more?  Learn how to pray the Rosary and learn how to pray the Stations of the Cross.

 

 

Comment below to share how you engage in night prayer.