Bedtime Prayer

“Ah, children, be afraid of going prayerless to bed, lest the Devil be your bedfellow” -Cotton Mather

I can remember that at a very early age, probably much earlier than I think, my parents encouraged and constantly reminded my sister and I to say our prayers before we went to sleep. We were told to always say our prayers and never go to bed mad at anyone.

We were being taught a godly practice before either of us were Christian or even understood exactly what we were doing. Our prayers were short and probably funny at times, but we were always Instructed to pray.

For the most part I held to the practice of praying before bed as my parents taught me. In my wilder days the prayers were scattered, but they were still there. And now I often find my prayers to be much longer, and I sometimes fall asleep before completing. When I wake up it’s a terrible feeling knowing I let sleep interrupt me, so I try to pick up where I left off.

I see different times of my life, times where I struggled due to my own decisions, and times where the struggle was just ordinary life events, times where I felt peace and times when I felt alone. During every situation I felt a great comfort in my bed time prayers in particular. I could leave everything with God, all the anger, hurt, sadness, confusion. I could go to Him in the darkness and silence of my bed and leave it there and not carry those feelings with me to my sleep like the devil would have me do.

I took what my parents taught me and taught my child the same. It feels like a great net of safety to me knowing that my child will grow with the thought of God as her final thought before she closes her eyes to sleep. She will be able to open her heart to the Creator who gave her life, and He will gradually align her will with His.

Being taught to pray before bed as a child has definitely had a huge impact on my life and has relieved a great deal of anxieties and heartaches I have had, but most of all it taught me to honor God by speaking to Him, to love God, and recognize all the great and small blessings He gives daily that I do not deserve, and give God all the thanks and glory for everything.