Evening Prayers must find an inevitable part in our Christian walk with God. Just like the morning prayers, evening prayers demand equal priority and weightage. While we are keen on setting aside ample time in the early hours of the morning to tarry in God's presence and plead for strength, wisdom, favour and protection for the day that has just dawned, we are considerably less concerned in spending a little time at the feet of the Lord when the day draws to a close, to thank Him for His favour. What wretched beings are we!
Jesus himself set aside the evening hours to be alone at the mount Olives while He was walking around doing good during the day. Luke records this in Luke 21: 37, "And in the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives". Matthew says what Jesus did at the mount in Matthew 14: 23, "And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone". Apostle Paul urges to pray at all times. In his epistle to the Ephesians, he write, "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. (Eph 6: 18, 19)".
The Scripture speaks of a great leader who was trained in the footsteps of his efficient master and was endowed with a noble task of leading the great nation of Israel, the chosen of the Lord. He had witnessed the marvellous works of the Lord who led them in inexplicable ways on hearing which the nations surrounding them were awestruck. God promised him that He will be with him just the way He was with his master. While all was well so far, there occurred a sudden blow of failure under the leadership of this new leader. The new leader was Joshua, the son of Nun, who as a young man never departed from the tabernacle, but was a sincere servant of his master, Moses. Soon after the record-breaking triumph over the huge walls of Jericho, the people of Israel encountered a massive defeat over the insignificant country of Ai. But there was something interesting about how Joshua handled this defeat. This incident is recorded in Joshua Chapter 7. Verse 6 says, "And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the LORD until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads." Joshua fell before the Lord until it was evening; the Lord who couldn't stay back any further, rose up to answer him with instructions on his further course of action. This is indeed an instance where the Lord answers to the pleas set before Him during the evening hours.
Practically speaking, it is during the evening hours that every person is drained of his strength, and searches for his couch to relax and retire for the day. On the other side, the God who had bestowed with the strength, wisdom, favour, potential and protection for the entire day spent, awaits with huge expectations if his child would come back to Him with a heart of gratitude and thank Him with all his heart. When we tend to choose the latter, getting back to Him the very next day pleading for His strength will never be an experience of guilt, rather, a privileged one. Evening prayer time is when we take time to examine our deeds on that particular day if they were pleasing in God's sight or detestable. It is the time set apart to analyse our replies to others to know if we had hurt anybody; ask for forgiveness in God's presence and make sure to apologise with the concerned person the following day. Evening prayer time is the golden moment to remember God's goodness throughout the day, recount His blessings, realise His leading, rethink on the immeasurable grace and love He showered upon us the entire day, recall His power to overcome temptations encountered and eventually praise Him with a heart brimming with gratitude, love and trust upon the Omnipotent Lord Jesus Christ. One peculiar thing which happens when we pave way to ponder over the Lord's mighty works in our lives is that, we tend to trust God for more and more of His intervention and insight. Let's make it a point to regularise our evening prayers, thereby to exalt His holy name.