Good Evening, Lord!
Words of Comfort
May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless
his people with peace! (Ps. 29:11 ESV)
Prayer of Confession
O everlasting God, let the light of your eternity now shine
on my passing days. O holy God, let the light of your perfect righteousness
shine upon my sinful ways. O most merciful God, let the light of your love
illuminate the darkest corners of my heart and overcome the darkness of sin
within me – let Christ’s righteousness be mine through faith in him.
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit
within me. Through Jesus Christ. Amen.[1]
Catechism Reflections
What is the
Office of the Keys?
The Office of the Keys is that special authority which
Christ has given to His church on earth to forgive the sins of repentant
sinners, but to withhold forgiveness from the unrepentant as long as they do
not repent.
Where is this
written?
This is what St. John the Evangelist writes in chapter
twenty: The Lord Jesus breathed on His disciples and said, “Receive the Holy
Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not
forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Questions for Meditation
What does this reading teach you?
What does this reading lead you to be thankful for?
What behavior, thought, or attitude does this reading
challenge? What sin does it lead you to confess?
How might you pray for God to have a richer impact on your
life through this reading?
Petitions of the Lord’s Prayer
The Fifth
Petition “And forgive us our trespasses and we forgive those who trespass
against us.”
Heavenly Father, do not look at our sins, or deny our prayer
because of them. We are neither worthy of the things for which we pray, nor
have we deserved them, but we ask that You would give them all to us by grace,
for we daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment. But you have
given Your Son, our Savior, Jesus to bear our sins in His body on the cross and
given us forgiveness for His sake. For Jesus’ sake help us to sincerely forgive
and gladly do good to those who sin against us. Amen.
Verse of Benediction
To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God,
be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. (1 Tim. 1:17 ESV)
[1] This prayer is adapted
from John Baillie, A Diary of Private Prayer, 1949 – an evening prayer for the
23rd day of the month. Baillie wrote wonderful prayers for the
morning and evening of each day of the month. They have inspired, educated, and
assisted many in their prayer lives. It was updated in 2014 by Susanna Wright.
That edition is available from Amazon here.
I personally prefer the 1949 edition with the older style of language. Those
can still be found if you search for it.
Comments