- Types of Prayer
- Saying thank you sorry please
- Fingertip Tips for Prayer
- Seeking Inspiration from your Surroundings
- Reflecting on your Life through Prayer
- Spiritual Exercises
- Thankfulness - the Celtic Tradition
- Work-Life Balance
- When Prayer Seems not to 'Work'
- Praying when you're Busy
- Bedtime Prayers
- John 6:16-25
Bedtime Prayers
As we go to bed many of us find it hard to ‘switch off' or quieten our minds. Prayer can help us with this, by focusing our mind on something beyond the immediate experiences of our day.
You may find it helpful to review your day as you go to bed, as a way of leaving it with God. Think back over the events of the day and ask yourself what was your general impression of it: was it a good day or a bad day?
Think of those you interacted with, and remember them to God.
If there was a moment or situation that you found stressful, offer it to God.
Say ‘thank you' for at least one part of your day, whether it was a conversation, a piece of work,
or a good lunch.
Our thoughts very easily wander back to the work or worries of the day and it can be calming to continue praying by repeating a simple phrase like, ‘In peace we lie down and sleep; for you alone, Lord, make us dwell in safety.' This phrase is often used as a concluding prayer in Compline, a church service for night time prayer. Compline takes its name from the Latin word for ‘completion' and it recognises that ending the day in prayer is a good way of completing it; a way of finding comfort and a place of mental rest as we prepare to sleep.
Bedtime may also be a time when we pray with children; saying a prayer before bed as a child is often a person's first experience of prayer, and sometimes our adult curiosity about prayer can come from a child asking us to pray with them.
Prayer is a good way for children to find a restful place at the end of the day and can be a useful tool in helping them process their own thoughts and experiences as well as encouraging them to think of others. It is also an opportunity to air anxieties about the next day and give them a feeling of safety before they sleep.
There are many ways of praying with children: try blindly placing a finger on a map or globe, and then praying for the people living in that country; or praying for something beginning with ‘A' one night, and something beginning with ‘B' the next night, and so on. Or it maybe helpful to use numbers and say some short prayers every night, where each number is a different type of prayer; 1 might be a prayer for friends or family, 2 a prayer of thanks, 3 a prayer for the world and so on.
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