“Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord, my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord, my soul to take.” First printed in The New England Primer, 1750.

“Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping; that awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep we may rest in peace.” From “An Order for Compline,” The Book of Common Prayer, 1979.

Many people grow up praying a version of the first prayer above. For some, it’s the first religious thing they ever memorize, maybe only slightly edged out by the “God is great, God is good” dinnertime prayer. It might seem strange for a child to pray every night about their possible death, but to the writer in 1750 it would not seem unreasonable. As Tish Harrison Warren writes in her book, Prayer in the Night:

Imagine a world without electric light, a world lit dimly by torch or candle, a world full of shadows lurking with unseen terrors, a world in which no one could be summoned when a thief broke in and no ambulance could be called…for much of history, night was simply terrifying. (12)

This may seem less evident in today’s world where the quick flip of a switch can illuminate a room, and yet who among us hasn’t found themselves jarred awake by a strange sound or clumsily wandering the halls and rooms of our homes to see if there’s an intruder? And even if our homes remain secure from outside threats, there’s no way to lock the door on the anxieties that keep us awake, worrying over things we’ve done or could have done. 

Praying at night is a way of acknowledging our utter helplessness as we lay ourselves down to sleep. 

Nighttime is when we come to terms with our limitations. Limitations of sight. Limitations of physical strength. Limitations of productivity. All of us, sooner or later, give up the ghost, and praying at night helps us remember that sleep is a spiritual exercise. Sleep is, after all, physical surrender. The Lord designed the human body to spend a third of our lives in vulnerable surrender. Sleep can also be a form of emotional surrender, laying down the cares of the day and the concerns of the world and trusting God to govern the world while we take our hands off the wheel. And in that sense, sleep trains us for all of life. 

From the earliest days of monastic life, praying at night was as crucial a part of the daily rhythms as eating, working, or worshiping in the morning. Many Christians around the world still pray these ancient prayers called “Compline.” They are rich with Scripture, mindful of all that afflicts our communities, but always resolving in God’s good providence over everything. They are both a plea for God’s protection and words spoken over our own lives: “Be still my soul, the Lord is on thy side.” 

Learning to pray at night might take some effort, especially for those of us tempted to make our phones the first and last thing we see each day. It begins by stilling our bodies, perhaps opening our palms, and simply being present to the One who keeps watch over our lives as we sleep. If you don’t own a Book of Common Prayer, you can find the Compline prayers online for free, or simply read Psalms 4 and 91—the ancient prayers from Jesus’ prayer book. Work through the events of your day and those things that feel burdensome, and ask the Lord to carry these things and replace them with the light and easy yoke of Jesus. 

Ultimately, nighttime prayer is an invitation to remember that all of our lives, whether awake or asleep, are lived, not in our own strength, but in the strength of another who “neither sleeps not slumbers” (Ps 121:4) and because of this “he gives his beloved sleep” (Ps 127:2).