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 vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

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

Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.

And this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

Watch therefore; for ye know not what hour your Lord cometh.

Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, acquit yourselves like men, be strong.

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

Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion.

My eyes anticipated the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word.

Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.

I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.

Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.

For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ:

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

To the chief Musician, Al-taschith, Michtam of David; when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him. Deliver me from my enemies, O my God: defend me from them that rise up against me.

His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.

Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of man cometh.

Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

I have remembered thy name, O LORD, in the night, and have kept thy law.

And now, little children, abide in him; that when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.

Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing earnest in prayer;

Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.But exhort one another daily, while it is called To-day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

Man goeth forth to his work and to his labor until the evening.

Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.

For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and abundant in mercy to all them that call upon thee.

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Wherefore he saith, Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give thee light.

Turn away my eyes from beholding vanity; and revive thou me in thy way.

And said to them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.

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

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Do all things without murmurings and disputings:That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain.

I will set no wicked thing before my eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to 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.

Therefore whoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him to a wise man, who built his house upon a 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 a rock.

Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:So shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth; and thy want as an armed man.

But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch to prayer.

And let us consider one another to excite to love and to good works:Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

And he spoke a parable to them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;

NUN. Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.

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

A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.

To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David. Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.

Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened to ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.

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

Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;

I came before the dawning of the morning, and cried: I hoped in thy word.

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man is wasted, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

But know this, that if the master of the house knew in what watch the thief would come, he would watch, and would not suffer his house to be broken up.

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

ALEPH. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.

Let thy eyes look right on, and let thy eyelids look straight before thee.Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

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

But to thee have I cried, O LORD; and in the morning shall my prayer come before thee.

Then saith he to them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even to death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Give not sleep to thy eyes, nor slumber to thy eyelids.

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

And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

My help cometh from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defense; I shall not be moved.

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

Their heart is as gross as fat; but I delight in thy law.

My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer to thee, and will look up.

Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.

I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.Ye shall know them by their fruits: Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles:

Wherefore, seeing we also are encompassed with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us 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 to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

And she was a widow of about eighty four years, who departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.

He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:But they that wait upon the LORD 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.

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

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

And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed to the day of redemption.

A Song of degrees. I will lift up my eyes to the hills, from whence cometh my help.

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

So then, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, think on these things.

Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord shall come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise from God.

TETH. Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O LORD, according to thy word.

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

Again I say to you, That if two of you shall agree on earth, concerning any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them by my Father who is in heaven.

Pray without ceasing.

Wherefore, comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

Is any sick among you? 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 will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he hath committed sins, they will be forgiven him.

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching for this purpose with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of the righteous man availeth much.

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

At the same time praying also for us, that God would open to us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds:

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

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

For where two or three are assembled in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Prayer