In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
Psalm 77:2-4, ESV
in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
my soul refuses to be comforted.
When I remember God, I moan;
when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah
You hold my eyelids open;
I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
What causes you to lose sleep? For me it is usually anxiety over something on the horizon, or regrets over something in the past. Maybe I have an important meeting coming up, or perhaps an event I planned didn’t go as well as I had hoped. Sometimes a difficult conversation that needs to be had will keep me tossing and turning. Other times it is guilt over the way I handled myself in a situation that wasn’t ideal. Whatever it may be, we all have nights were our soul is troubled, our mind is racing, and we just can’t seem to find the peace we need to drift off to sleep.
So what should we do when sleep will not come our way? Our first response may be to look for some mindless distraction on our smart phone or to simply toss and turn all night with our troubled thoughts. Anyone who has tried either of these methods knows that they are counterproductive. Maybe we try sleeping pills or resort to some sort of medical treatment. I know people who have mental disorders that benefit from medication, but most of us probably have healthy minds that are just prone to worry. Life is stressful and sometimes the thoughts we didn’t want to deal with during the day just come back to haunt us in the night.
Sleeplessness isn’t a modern problem. People who lived during the Old and New Testament also dealt with stress and sleepless nights, but their response to the problem was probably better than the modern solutions we are quick to resort too. When we see sleeplessness in scripture, the response is usually to seek the Lord in prayer. We see this modeled by Samuel, David, Joel, Isaiah, Peter, Paul, and even Jesus himself:
And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.” And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him.
Mark 14:33-40, ESV
What result should we expect from late night prayer? Sometimes we see prayers answered with a peace that passes understanding, but other times the prayers last throughout the night. I am not suggesting that prayer will always magically send you off to dream land. Prayer is not a means to an ends. What I am saying is that when we are sleepless and troubled, why not use those nights as opportunities for prayer, for meditation on scripture, and for reflection on God’s promises and past faithfulness? Perhaps turning our attention away from the source of our anxiety and placing it upon our good heavenly father will give us the peace we need to rest our weary minds, or maybe the night will give us the opportunity to really hear from God and to wrestle with something in our lives that is amiss. Either way, the result will be better than browsing twitter for another hour or circling through the same pattern of anxious thinking for the hundredth time.
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