Every night as a child I said the same bedtime prayer. You know the ditty:
Now I lay me down to sleep; I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.
And then came the barrage of “God blesses.”
When I began to have a more mature prayer life, I grew embarrassed of this prayer. I was ashamed that I had prayed this same rote prayer for my entire childhood when there were so many other things I could have been praying. So I moved on to richer theology in my prayers.
But the other night that prayer came to me and I realized a profound truth that it taught me–our complete dependence on God. This whole sleep-thing that every living being has to contend with is such a natural revelation of God’s sovereignty and omnipotence, and our utter weakness.
I fight sleep. I want to stay up late and wake up early. I want to squeeze in every minute I can out of my day. I get mad at sleep! Why do we have to give in to this nightly activity? There are many theories, but scientists do not have proof for the main function of sleep. Some of the hypotheses include restoration and repair for the body, emotional unloading, and even downsizing our brains. But one thing is certain, sleep is a much more active process than we realize. While we are unconscious, our brain activity increases in certain functions, our endocrine system is busy releasing hormones, our metabolic rate is still going strong, albeit a bit lower than wakefulness, and our organs are still busy doing their thing. And yet we know that there is an important element of rest that calls us to the pillow in the first place.
There is some major theology going on in that simple bedtime prayer I said over and over again as a child. I have to go to sleep, and I am completely vulnerable when I do so. I’ve never really prayed this prayer with my children for my reasons stated above, and because I thought it might be a little morbid for a youngster. Apparently, this version of the prayer made its debut in the New England Primer. They didn’t seem to slap velvet on anything in the 17th century. The last thing I want to bring up to my frightened kid at night is death. But I think I found it quite comforting as a child. Knowing that God was powerful and loving even while I was asleep and being able to ask for his special care was assuring. And if the worst did happen, if he allowed me to lose my life in my sleep, I was comforted to know that I would be with my Lord.
Whether you want more sleep or not, everyone has to sleep. In fact, we spend about a third of our lives on this unconscious activity. We have to submit. We are not God.
*This is how I thought the prayer started for the longest time! Clueless. And self-centered.
I am at the stage of life where sleep is a nightly struggle. I can get to sleep just fine, but sleep is hardly restful, with waking up repeatedly, sometimes, lying awake for an hour at a time, and then feeling like a zombie all day. As a young woman, I could go to bed at midnight and get up at 5:00 and I could accomplish lots of things. Now, I find myself having to give into the body that God gave me, and that means taking little naps in the day. As this has happened, I have become intimately aware that I am not God
Kim, that must be so frustrating!
It is, but I try not to get upset about it. My daughter has narcolepsy, a sleep disorder. As a grad student, staying awake is really important, and she has to take medication to help her with that. My problems are pretty small in comparison.
My dad prayed the same prayer over us every night, but it wasn’t quite the prayer. It always involved some form of the phrase “watch over and protect them, and give them a good night’s sleep.” I used to think it was “rote” as well and left it as I got older. But now looking back I realize that his prayer was quite profound and has been answered over the years
There were some other forms of the prayer before it was published in the Primer. And the New England Primer was a reading textbook that also taught the basics of the faith. This prayer offers an obvious basic about God–that he is and we are not! And also, as you have pointed out, he is loving and caring in his providence toward the saints.
Aimee, you got me thinking about Psalm 127:2. The NIV gives the principal translation as “he grants sleep to those he loves” but the alternate translation in the footnote is “while they sleep he provides for those he loves”. In context, that seems to fit better.
I’ve read a lot about sleep being similar to death recently, although the articles I’ve read trace the concept back for millennia. The idea in Psalm 127 that God provides for us even when we are in that “death” is reminiscent of the fact that he provided salvation for us while we were spiritually dead. (Eph. 2:1-5.)
Great connection, Tim.
It was enlightening as I was reading some articles about sleep to see how much the body is still at work. God really does take care of us.
[...] Now I’m Aimee, down to sleep Aimee revives a childhood prayer. And for the opposite view, here’s an argument for taking drugs to reduce sleeping hours and increase productivity. [...]
Great thoughts on a simple prayer! It challenges me to look at other things with new eyes. And I think it is so amusing your child self thought it was “Now I’m Aimee…”!! haha! I used to read your blog regularly and then somehow forgot about it (sorry!) – I have missed some worthwhile posts and I’m glad to be back.
Thank you, and welcome back!
I have enjoyed your posts and the your depth of thought and sincerity. This one brought back fond memories of my childhood prayer. It made smile! I also smiled about the comment “not slapping velvet on things in the 17th century!” but now…..we smother everthing in sappy velvet…so sad!