My understanding is that in the time of Jesus the Jewish day began at sunset.

This means that since Jesus was a Jew, his day began at sunset. 

This knowledge has helped me in my own prayer life.

Accordingly, I have found that the few minutes just before bedtime is an excellent time to ‘anchor’ the day that’s ending and ‘pray ahead’ the coming day.

For the last 40 years, I have done a simple, brief prayerful ‘review’ of the day that the sixteenth century St. Ignatius described in his Spiritual Exercises.

In our own day, people of many Christian denominations rely on this daily review to help them ‘anchor’ their day spiritually.

Before I turn off my light, I prayerfully review, very briefly, the day’s events (I shall teach you how in a minute). And then I ask the Lord to guide me in the new day I shall awaken to.

Then I commit my body, mind, emotions, imagination, soul and spirit to God.

On waking the next day, I have often discovered that during my time of sleep I’ve been given a new, important insight on a situation, person, or problem —or even a new sense of peace and joy.

The Spirit had been working in me as I slept.

I have learned to regard my night’s sleep as an important time of prayer.

Isaiah 26:9 describes my own experience:

My soul longs for you throughout the night, and my spirit within me seeks your presence.

Isaiah 26:9 New Catholic Bible

So Guess What: Even as You Sleep, You Pray!

You see, even as you sleep, you pray.

The Daily Review

A very helpful way to end the day (or begin it if you are a Jew!) is to review your day briefly before going to bed.

I learned this way from my gifted spiritual guide nearly 40 years ago. Not surprisingly, it comes more or less naturally to me now as I lay my head on my pillow just before turning off my light.

It has become part of my day and, as a result, an important part of my ongoing journey with the Lord.

It can become the same for you.

In this prayer, you ask the Holy Spirit to take you through the events of the day that’s now ending. You ask Him to help you see where He has been acting and where, perhaps, you have kept Him at a distance.

This prayer helps you become more aware of the Lord’s presence with you throughout each day, and also of the ways in which He works in your life throughout each day.

As such, it can be a highly valuable part of your ongoing journey  with the Lord.

Your Daily Experiences are Where God Lives

God is to be found IN EACH AND EVERY ONE of your life experiences, both good and bad , NOT somewhere outside of them!

This includes everything you experience each and every day, even your ‘little’ experiences.

God is ALWAYS present to you in your experiences each and every day.

But here’s the thing:

You and I can keep Him at bay.

Sometimes we might do so deliberately, sometimes unintentionally.

This review at day’s end helps you see where you have let God in and where perhaps you have shut Him out.

Your Prayerful Review of the Day That’s Ending

The purpose of this review is to

• give thanks to God for the good things of your day
• share the disappointments, failures, negative reactions, dark emotions etc. with the Lord just as you might with a very close and trusted friend or confidante
• ask His forgiveness and healing where you need them
• ask for a real sense of His love and guidance and wisdom for the day ahead

Note

As you go through this brief review …

Please do not engage in self-judgment

Please refrain from any attempt to analyze your experiences

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Here’s a way to prayerfully review your day:

1. Start with
   Thanking the Lord for the events of the day for which you are grateful.
   Even in days when things might have gone badly wrong, there’s still at least ONE thing to thank the Lord for.

2. Ask God to show you where you have let Him be God and where you might have kept Him at bay.

3. Reflect on your negative experiences of the day.
   Ask the Lord to show you the attitudes which gave rise to them.
   Recalling your emotions during the day is important. What feelings did you experience e. g. anger, joy, worry, fear, irritability, gratitude, frustration, satisfaction, etc?
   Ask the Lord to show you whatever He wants you to see. Usually, God doesn’t reveal this to you instantly but over a period of time, His time.
   The important thing is to ask Him tonight. Then leave it with Him.

Ask the Lord to be with you as you do this.

Imagine Him sitting in a chair next to you looking at you with that inviting, disarming, welcoming, indescribable love of His.

Take a minute to remind yourself that His love has no conditions.

Remind yourself that He is never judgmental.

Use the pdf ‘Relax Your Body’ on this web page to remind you of this. 

4. Ask the Lord to forgive you for the events of the day where you might have shut Him out.
   Ask Him to HEAL you from any painful experiences.
   As you do, consciously remind yourself of these 2 key facts:

1. 1. The Lord NEVER gets tired of forgiving you. 
   2. The Lord wants passionately to bring you HEALING.

5. Look briefly at the day ahead. Ask God for the grace, strength, and guidance you need to live the next day hand-in-hand with Him. Ask the Lord to be with you in every detail of it —both the day’s good events and emotions and its not-so-good ones.

Then ask Him to give you the faith to believe that He will be with you. 

That’s it!

Benefits

This brief review before bed

• Helps to maintain your inner peace before you go to sleep. It does this by anchoring the experiences of your day, whether joyful or painful, rather than letting them keep floating around in your head like a never-ending movie screen.
• Helps you acknowledge any negative emotions and what might have given rise to them
• Offers you an opportunity to see where you need God’s forgiveness and/or His healing
• Offers you an opportunity to ask for God’s light, strength, wisdom, and guidance for the day ahead

2 Tips

1. When it comes to anchoring the day’s events, there’s nothing to beat jotting down on paper any important thought or insight that jumps out at you; or making a note of a particularly forceful emotion that you experienced, whether positive or negative.

2. If you’re feeling the need to relax and wind down with the Lord before you do the review, get the FREE pdf, ‘Relax Your Body’ from this web page.  In a few short lines, it offers you a way to relax both your mind and body in God’s presence. It enables you to open yourself more confidently and freely to Him.