Updated: November 12, 2026
An evening prayer routine has five parts, in this order, and the three-minute version is complete:
Below are the words for each part, the routine at three lengths, a verse for each night of the week, a card to print, and a rule for the night you fall asleep halfway through.
Looking back over the day before sleep is an old practice. Ignatius of Loyola set it out in the Spiritual Exercises as the "General Examen", in five points: "to give thanks to God our Lord for the benefits received", to ask grace to know our sins, "to ask account of our soul from the hour that we rose up to the present Examen, hour by hour", to ask pardon, and "to purpose amendment with His grace", ending with the Our Father (Elder Mullan's 1914 translation, read on the Christian Classics Ethereal Library on November 12, 2026).
This routine keeps his order and adds one step for the evening: releasing what you are carrying before you lie down, because "casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7, WEB) is a different act from confessing them. It ends with the night itself, in the psalm Jesus prayed from the cross (Luke 23:46): "Into your hand I commend my spirit" (Psalm 31:5, WEB).
All Scripture on this page is quoted from the World English Bible (WEB), a public-domain translation, checked word for word on bible-api.com on November 12, 2026.
Read the verse, then say your own sentence. On a hard night the verse alone is enough.
"Yahweh will command his loving kindness in the daytime. In the night his song shall be with me: a prayer to the God of my life." Psalm 42:8 (WEB)
"Thank you for today. Thank you for ___." One thing that happened, not a general blessing: the call that went well, the meal, the child who laughed.
"Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way." Psalm 139:23–24 (WEB)
Walk through the day in order: waking, the morning, midday, the afternoon, this evening. Ask two questions at each stop. Where did I see God? Where did I go wrong? Do not argue with what comes up. Notice it.
"'Be angry, and don't sin.' Don't let the sun go down on your wrath." Ephesians 4:26 (WEB)
"Today I ___. Forgive me." Then: "I forgive ___ for ___." If you cannot say that yet, say "Help me to forgive ___." Honest is better than finished.
"Casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7 (WEB)
"Tonight I give you ___." Name it in one of four boxes: a worry, a person, a plan, a hurt. If tomorrow's list is the problem, write it on paper first, then pray: "It is written down. I give you the rest."
"In peace I will both lay myself down and sleep, for you, Yahweh alone, make me live in safety." Psalm 4:8 (WEB)
Pray the night's verse (table below), then one sentence for tomorrow: "Tomorrow, help me ___." That sentence is where tomorrow's morning prayer starts.
Choose by how tired you are, not by how tired you think you should be allowed to be. All three are the whole routine. The longer versions slow down the look back; they do not add duty.
| Part | 3 minutes (exhausted) | 10 minutes (ordinary) | 20 minutes (unhurried) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thank | One thing, 20 s | Psalm 42:8 and two things, 1 min | Psalm 42:8, three things written down, 3 min |
| Look back | One moment that stands out, 40 s | Morning, midday, evening, both questions, 4 min | Hour by hour from waking, both questions, then reread this morning's intention, 7 min |
| Confess and forgive | One sentence each, 30 s | Psalm 139:23–24, one sentence each, 2 min | Psalm 139:23–24, a minute of silence, then both sentences, 3 min |
| Release | One worry, 30 s | A worry, a person, 1 min | Write tomorrow's list, then a worry, a person, a plan, a hurt, 4 min |
| Commit | Psalm 4:8, one sentence for tomorrow, 1 min | Night's verse, the Lord's Prayer, one sentence, 2 min | Night's verse, the Lord's Prayer, a minute of stillness, one sentence, 3 min |
If you also pray in the morning, the two routines join up. The morning prayer routine ends with "Today I will ___". In the ten and twenty-minute evening versions you reread that sentence during the look back. Did it happen? Either answer is something to pray about. Then the evening's "Tomorrow, help me ___" becomes the next morning's request.
One verse a night, so step 5 never needs a decision. After a few weeks you will know them by heart, which matters at night: you can pray them with the light off.
| Night | Verse | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | "In peace I will both lay myself down and sleep, for you, Yahweh alone, make me live in safety." | Psalm 4:8 |
| Tuesday | "When I remember you on my bed, and think about you in the night watches." | Psalm 63:6 |
| Wednesday | "He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep." | Psalm 121:3–4 |
| Thursday | "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest." | Matthew 11:28 |
| Friday | "Casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you." | 1 Peter 5:7 |
| Saturday | "In the night his song shall be with me: a prayer to the God of my life." | Psalm 42:8 |
| Sunday | "Into your hand I commend my spirit. You redeem me, Yahweh, God of truth." | Psalm 31:5 |
Print this page (the header and footer drop out) or copy the card onto an index card. Keep it where the evening ends, not where it begins: on the pillow, by the toothbrush, on the phone charger.
Thank. "Thank you for today. Thank you for ______."
Look back. Waking, morning, midday, afternoon, evening. Where did I see God? ______ Where did I go wrong? ______
Confess and forgive. "Today I ______. Forgive me." "I forgive ______ for ______."
Release. "Tonight I give you ______." (a worry / a person / a plan / a hurt)
Commit. Tonight's verse: ______. "Tomorrow, help me ______." Amen.
The rule: if you fall asleep partway through, the prayer is not owed. "He gives sleep to his loved ones" (Psalm 127:2, WEB). In the morning, add one line to your thanks: "Thank you for the sleep."
If it happens three nights in one week, the routine is in the wrong place. Move it to something you do before you lie down (the last dish, brushing your teeth, plugging in the phone) and pray the three-minute version sitting or standing.
The opposite night happens too: you lie awake and the day replays. Do not start the routine over. Pray Psalm 63:6, "when I remember you on my bed, and think about you in the night watches", then step 4 again for whatever is replaying. Choosing that trigger, and what to do after a missed day, is covered in how to start a daily prayer habit.
If you would rather be walked through it, Evening Reflection in Anchored follows this shape across six short screens: questions about what went well, where you fell short and what you learned, a space to write, then "Tonight I release to You" with worries, people, plans and hurts to choose from, a short closing prayer and a button that reads the prayer and a verse aloud in your phone's own voice. It is part of the free daily rhythm. The card above does the same job on paper.
Prayer before sleep is not a treatment for sleeplessness. The NHS advises seeing a GP if you have had trouble sleeping for months, or if it is affecting your daily life in a way that makes it hard to cope (NHS: Insomnia, page last reviewed 19 March 2024). If the look back has become a nightly trial where you only accuse yourself, talk to your pastor. If you are in crisis or thinking about ending your life and you are in the United States, call or text 988 (988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, 988lifeline.org; checked November 12, 2026). Elsewhere, your local emergency number or your doctor can give you the equivalent line.
If you want the set prayers of a tradition, Compline is the night office in both the Anglican Book of Common Prayer (bcponline.org carries the 1979 edition) and the Catholic Liturgy of the Hours, and the Orthodox Church has its own Prayers Before Sleep. This page is the free-prayer routine that sits alongside them, not a replacement.
Tonight: card on the pillow, one thanks, the day from waking to now, one sentence to confess, one to release, the night's verse. Three minutes if that is all there is. If you are new to reading the Bible itself, the Bible reading plan for beginners gives you somewhere to start in the morning. The morning, midday and evening rhythm in Anchored holds the same shape if you want it held for you, and your prayers stay private (privacy policy). Either way, the routine above is yours to keep.
