Dozing Off During Bedtime Prayers

By Trisha Bleau Smith

Do you say your end of the day prayers as you lie in bed each night? Do you ever find that you doze off in the middle of these prayers? If you are anything like me this is a common occurrence for you. My days are long with working two jobs, going to school, and running Teens4Jesus and all of its millions of sites. I practically fall into bed each night, exhausted from my busy days. And most of the time my mind wanders as I try to pray and I find myself falling asleep before my Amen is said.

Is this a bad thing? Am I sinning by nodding off? Is this being disrespectful to God by falling asleep in the midst of talking to Him?

I honestly don’t know. The way I look at it is this – If I were talking to a coworker or an administrator and dozed off I would probably get in trouble. But if I were talking to my bestest friend in the whole wide world and fell asleep they would forgive me because they know what my life is life. Knowing that my friends would forgive me I find so much more comfort in knowing that my Lord forgives me. He is better than any friend and knows me so much more.

Someone once told me that it is better to fall asleep during prayer than to not pray at all. They also said what better place can you sleep than in the arms of God? I liked that thought. Falling asleep in the arms of God…

So how do you prevent dozing off during prayer time? Here are a few simple ideas:

1. Kneel – Did your parents have you kneel to say prayers when you were young? Mine never taught me to do that, or even how to pray. I simply lay in bed and talked to God in my head. Try kneeling when you pray. You will find you are not only unable to fall asleep this way but are before God in reverence while praying.

2. Pray with Someone – Ask your parents if you can pray with them. Ask your brother. Ask your sister. Ask your spouse. Pray with someone rather than alone.

3. Pray out loud – If you are by yourself pray out loud. Talk to God. You won’t fall asleep while you are talking. (I used to do this. One time my sister spent the night. She told me the next day that I had been praying in my sleep long after I had said my nightly prayers. I found it amusing to know I had done that. So beware, you may just end up praying more than when you are awake!)

4. Write your prayers – Keep a prayer journal and write out your prayer requests. Check them off as you pray for them. Or write out your prayers. When you are writing you definitely won’t be able to fall asleep.

These are just a few ideas to help you with bedtime prayers. Don’t worry if you nod off before finishing though. God still loves you and knows exactly what you were praying for and all of the needs. He is still going to answer.

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