VERSES FOR VIGILS

Think about all the incredible things that happen in the Bible just before dawn. The Holy Spirit made sure those powerful moments were recorded so we could learn about the intense spiritual battles fought during those quiet hours. God's trying to get our attention, showing us that praying at night, especially in the wee hours of the morning, is different, special. The Word tells us to pay attention to what the Spirit is revealing to us.

Ephesians 6:18¹ talks about "praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints." A vigil, staying awake all or part of the night, was a way to keep watch, like a sentinel standing guard. But it also reminds us to stay spiritually alert, awake to the darkness around us in the world.

When you're going through a tough time, those late-night hours can be a powerful time to seek God's comfort. Lamentations 2:19² says, "Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches; Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift your hands toward Him..."

Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.}

Be sober, be watchful: your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour,

Take ye heed, watch: for ye know not when the time is.

But watch ye at every season, making supplication, that ye may prevail to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.}\par

so then let us not sleep, as do the rest, but let us watch and be sober.

My soul {\i waiteth} for the Lord\par\tab More than watchmen {\i wait} for the morning;\par\tab {\i Yea, more than} watchmen for the morning.

And this, knowing the season, that already it is time for you to awake out of sleep: for now is salvation nearer to us than when we {\i first} believed.

Watch therefore: for ye know not on what day your Lord cometh.

Behold, he that keepeth Israel\par\tab Will neither slumber nor sleep.

Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.

Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them sit down to meat, and shall come and serve them.

The voice of thy watchmen! they lift up the voice, together do they sing; for they shall see eye to eye, when Jehovah returneth to Zion.

Mine eyes anticipated the night-watches,\par\tab That I might meditate on thy word.

Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.}

I have set Jehovah always before me:\par\tab Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

Keep thy heart with all diligence;\par\tab For out of it are the issues of life.

So teach us to number our days,\par\tab That we may get us a heart of wisdom.

Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit {\i to them}: for they watch in behalf of your souls, as they that shall give account; that they may do this with joy, and not with grief: for this {\i were} unprofitable for you.\par

For our citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:

And let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

{\b For the Chief Musician; {\i set to} Al-tashheth. {\i A Psalm} of David. Michtam; when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him.}\par\par\tab Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God:\par\tab Set me on high from them that rise up against me.

His watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.

Watch therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour.\par

Rest in Jehovah, and wait patiently for him:\par\tab Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way,\par\tab Because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God.

But be thou sober in all things, suffer hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil thy ministry.

I have remembered thy name, O Jehovah, in the night,\par\tab And have observed thy law.

And now, {\i my} little children, abide in him; that, if he shall be manifested, we may have boldness, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

Whether he cometh in the second watch, or even in the third, and find {\i them} so, blessed are those {\i servants}.

rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing stedfastly in prayer;

Take heed, brethren, lest haply there shall be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God:but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called {\b To-day}; lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin:

Man goeth forth unto his work And to his labor until the evening.

Blessed is the man that heareth me,\par\tab Watching daily at my gates,\par\tab Waiting at the posts of my doors.

For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive,\par\tab And abundant in lovingkindness unto all them that call upon thee.

Fight the good fight of the faith, lay hold on the life eternal, whereunto thou wast called, and didst confess the good confession in the sight of many witnesses.

Thou wilt keep {\i him} in perfect peace, {\i whose} mind {\i is} stayed {\i on thee}; because he trusteth in thee.

Even so let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.\par

But I say, Walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

Wherefore {\i he} saith, Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine upon thee.\par

Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity,\par\tab And quicken me in thy ways.

and said unto them, {\cf6 Why sleep ye? rise and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.}\par

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit.\par

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not vain in the Lord.\par

Do all things without murmurings and questionings:that ye may become blameless and harmless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom ye are seen as lights in the world,holding forth the word of life; that I may have whereof to glory in the day of Christ, that I did not run in vain neither labor in vain.

I will set no base thing before mine eyes:\par\tab I hate the work of them that turn aside;\par\tab It shall not cleave unto me.

Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.

Every one therefore that heareth these words of mine, and doeth them, shall be likened unto a wise man, who built his house upon the rock:and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon the rock.

Then I beheld, and considered well;\par\tab I saw, and received instruction:{\i Yet} a little sleep, a little slumber,\par\tab A little folding of the hands to sleep;So shall thy poverty come as a robber,\par\tab And thy want as an armed man.\par

But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore of sound mind, and be sober unto prayer:

and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works;not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting {\i one another}; and so much the more, as ye see the day drawing nigh.\par

And he spake a parable unto them to the end that they ought always to pray, and not to faint;

{\b NUN.}\par\par\tab Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,\par\tab And light unto my path.

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

A prudent man seeth the evil, {\i and} hideth himself;\par\tab {\i But} the simple pass on, {\i and} suffer for it.

{\b For the Chief Musician; after the manner of Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.}\par\par\tab My soul waiteth in silence for God only:\par\tab From him {\i cometh} my salvation.He only is my rock and my salvation:\par\tab {\i He is} my high tower;\par\tab I shall not be greatly moved.

Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are upon the earth.

{\cf6 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, who took their own lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.And five of them were foolish, and five were wise.For the foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them:

Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might.

Set a watch, O Jehovah, before my mouth;\par\tab Keep the door of my lips.

Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and declare unto my people their transgression, and to the house of Jacob their sins.

in diligence not slothful; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;

I anticipated the dawning of the morning, and cried:\par\tab I hoped in thy words.

Wherefore we faint not; but though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day.

But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken through.

who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

{\b ALEPH.}\par\par\tab Blessed are they that are perfect in the way,\par\tab Who walk in the law of Jehovah.Blessed are they that keep his testimonies,\par\tab That seek him with the whole heart.

Let thine eyes look right on,\par\tab And let thine eyelids look straight before thee.Make level the path of thy feet,\par\tab And let all thy ways be established.Turn not to the right hand nor to the left:\par\tab Remove thy foot from evil.\par

And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, {\i even} in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

But unto thee, O Jehovah, have I cried;\par\tab And in the morning shall my prayer come before thee.

Then saith he unto them, {\cf6 My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: abide ye here, and watch with me.}

and without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing {\i unto him}; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and {\i that} he is a rewarder of them that seek after him.

Give not sleep to thine eyes,\par\tab Nor slumber to thine eyelids;

If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk.

But take heed to yourselves, lest haply your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day come on you suddenly as a snare:for {\i so} shall it come upon all them that dwell on the face of all the earth.But watch ye at every season, making supplication, that ye may prevail to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.}\par

My help {\i cometh} from Jehovah,\par\tab Who made heaven and earth.

My soul, wait thou in silence for God only;\par\tab For my expectation is from him.He only is my rock and my salvation:\par\tab {\i He is} my high tower;\par\tab I shall not be moved.

Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

Their heart is as fat as grease;\par\tab But I delight in thy law.

O Jehovah, in the morning shalt thou hear my voice;\par\tab In the morning will I order {\i my prayer} unto thee, and will keep watch.

Wherefore girding up the loins of your mind, be sober and set your hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

Blessed be the Lord, who daily beareth our burden,\par\tab Even the God who is our salvation. {\i Selah

I will say of Jehovah, He is my refuge and my fortress;\par\tab My God, in whom I trust.

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them that are causing the divisions and occasions of stumbling, contrary to the doctrine which ye learned: and turn away from them.For they that are such serve not our Lord Christ, but their own belly; and by their smooth and fair speech they beguile the hearts of the innocent.

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.By their fruits ye shall know them. Do {\i men} gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of {\i our} faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

and she had been a widow even unto fourscore and four years), who departed not from the temple, worshipping with fastings and supplications night and day.

He giveth power to the faint; and to him that hath no might he increaseth strength.Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:but they that wait for Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.\par

Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and {\i such} we are. For this cause the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

Guide me in thy truth, and teach me;\par\tab For thou art the God of my salvation;\par\tab For thee do I wait all the day.

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye were sealed unto the day of redemption.

{\b A Song of Ascents.}\par\par\tab I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains:\par\tab From whence shall my help come?

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

So belief {\i cometh} of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Wherefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the hearts; and then shall each man have his praise from God.\par

{\b TETH.}\par\par\tab Thou hast dealt well with thy servant,\par\tab O Jehovah, according unto thy word.

These all with one accord continued stedfastly in prayer, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.\par

Again, verily I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father who is in heaven.

pray without ceasing;

Wherefore exhort one another, and build each other up, even as also ye do.\par

Is any among you sick? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:and the prayer of faith shall save him that is sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, it shall be forgiven him.

with all prayer and supplication praying at all seasons in the Spirit, and watching thereunto in all perseverance and supplication for all the saints,

Continue stedfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving;

Confess therefore your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working.

I exhort therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings, be made for all men;

withal praying for us also, that God may open unto us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds;

We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,

And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.\par

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.}\par

Prayer