Layering Prayer Into Your Day #3

Another way that I have layered more prayer into my life is by training myself to pray anytime I wake up in the night. I am a person who falls back asleep pretty quickly but I can usually manage to pray a thought or two, something like--“Thank you God that the alarm is not going to go off for another two hours. Thank you God for this warm bed!”--and then back to snoozing. It may seem insignificant, but it has become an automatic habit no matter how groggy I am and I think it helps me feel the presence of God more continually. I also feel a sort of kinship with David and the other psalmists who wrote about praying on their beds through the night.

For lots of people, wakeful times during the night are the times they are most prone to worry or to fear. What a perfect response—to replace the habit of worrying through the night with deliberately handing over those worries to God, to replace the fearful hours with time spent asking God for safety and thanking Him for the protection He has provided so far.

Of course, if you really suffer from insomnia, you could try the old practice of counting your blessings instead of counting sheep. I personally have never been able to try this since I conk out so fast but I would imagine that if you are accustomed to tossing and turning for hours, it could be very helpful to focus your mind on remembering and repeating all the good things He has done for you, thanking Him that He has so constantly kept His eye out for you.

Praying throughout the night is a habit that took a few months for me to build since I am pretty dazed and confused at night (and I must admit I’ve found myself praying some rather odd prayers—like this morning when I woke up 15 minutes before the alarm and prayed “Oh God, please make these 15 minutes seem really long!”) but it has been worthwhile. I now immediately sense His welcoming presence and protection in the darkness. Not only do I pray more, but I also pray more continually.