This evening prayer is for the end of the day, when you look back at how you treated the people around you and want to bring the failures and the small kindnesses honestly before God. Pray it at bedtime, at the kitchen table after dinner, or in the car before you walk into the house. You can read it aloud exactly as written, or use it as a starting point and speak in your own words about the people on your heart.
Evening Prayer for Loving Others
Lord, I come to you at the close of this day. Some of my words were sharper than they needed to be, and some of my kindness came with strings attached. I saw a friend struggling and walked past, I answered my spouse or my children with impatience, and I was quick to assume the worst about someone I work with. Forgive me, and show me where I fell short so that I can make things right tomorrow. Thank you that your mercy is new every morning and does not run out when I do.
Father, I also give you the people I love and the people I find hard to love. Be near the ones who are worried about money, health, or a child who has not called home. Give them rest tonight. Where I have been tired of someone, soften my heart toward them. Where I have been unkind, give me the humility to apologize. Let my love be practical and patient, not just a feeling I talk about.
Watch over me while I sleep. Guard my mind from replaying every mistake, and guard the people I care about from harm. Help me wake up ready to love with fresh eyes. In your name I pray, Amen.
A Shorter Version to Pray in a Moment
Lord, I am tired and I have not loved well today. Forgive me where I failed, and thank you for the good moments I did get to share. Help the people I care about rest tonight. Give me a softer heart for the ones who are hard to love, and let me love them tomorrow with patience and truth. Amen.
Scriptures to Pray Alongside
1 Corinthians 13:4-5
4 Love is patient and is kind; love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud, 5 doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil…
(WEB)
Read this slowly and turn each quality into a question about your day. Ask God where you were patient, where you were kind, and where you insisted on your own way. Let the list show you the next small step toward love.
Psalm 103:8
The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness.
(WEB)
Pray this for the people who have wronged you today, and for yourself when you have wronged someone. Thank God that his character is slow to anger and full of mercy, and ask him to make that same mercy grow in you.
Ephesians 4:32
And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you.
(WEB)
Use this verse to name one person you need to forgive or one person you need to be kind to. Pray it over that relationship and ask God to make the kindness flow from the forgiveness he has already given you.
Romans 12:10
In love of the brothers be tenderly affectionate to one another; in honor preferring one another…
(WEB)
This verse is a good check for the way you speak to family and friends. Ask God to help you honor the people closest to you, especially the ones you take most for granted at the end of a long day.
Psalm 4:8
In peace I will both lay myself down and sleep, for you, the LORD alone, make me live in safety.
(WEB)
Pray this as you lie down, releasing the people and problems you have carried all day. Ask God to be the one who keeps watch, so that you can sleep without trying to hold everything together yourself.
How to Pray This Prayer
Choose a set time, such as after you brush your teeth or once the dishes are done, so the habit has a clear place in your evening. Sit somewhere quiet, and keep a pen nearby. As you pray, write down the names of two or three people you want to love better tomorrow, and fold the paper into your pocket or place it on your nightstand.
If you share a home, invite a spouse, roommate, or child to pray the shorter version with you, taking turns with the lines. Hearing someone else confess a failure and ask for mercy can make the prayer feel less lonely and more like the shared work of love it is meant to be.
A Blessing to Close
May the Lord who forgives you tonight help you forgive others tomorrow. May he steady your hands for the work of love and quiet your mind so you can sleep. May the people you care about feel his peace wrap around them as they rest, and may you wake to a day full of chances to love well.
