What keeps you up at night? Caffeine? Crying babies? Barking dogs? Stress? Nervous fretting? Darkness has a way of compounding worry and intensifying temptation. Could we be contributing to our own demise here? We engage in excessive amounts of late-night screen time, midnight snacking, and mindless TV.
Evening prayer is a great alternative to prepare for sleep. Prayer affords us the opportunity to gather up the day in prayer and release our worries to God’s care. We can confess any known sins and rest in the assurance of God’s tender mercy. The practice of evening prayer is a time-honored Christian tradition. It is also well-attested in Scripture. There are numerous Psalms written expressly for evening use. Jesus utilized the evening hours for intentional prayer. Nighttime prayer in the Anglican and Catholic traditions is called compline, a word derived from the Latin for completion. Evening prayer is intended to bring the day to completion. The following prayer is attributed to St. Patrick. While it may have originated with him, it was likely adapted for use in the Celtic tradition. Psalm 91 declares, “He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways” (91.11). For any of us who have a difficult time sleeping, why not take this prayer to bed with you:
Celtic Evening Prayer
May your angels, holy Son, Guard our homes when day is done.
When at peace, our sleep is best,
Bid them watch us when we rest.
Prince of everything that is,
High Priest of the mysteries,
Let your angels, God supreme,
Tell us truth dressed as a dream.
May no terror and no fright,
Spoil the slumber in the night,
Free from care our eyelids close,
Spirit, give us prompt repose.
We have labored through the day,
Life our burden when we pray,
Then our souls in safety keep,
That our sleep be soft and sweet.
Rev. Dr. Peter James served 42 years as the senior of Vienna Presbyterian Church in Vienna, VA — 21 years in the 20th century and 21 years in the 21st century. He retired in 2021 and now serves as Pastor-in-Residence at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
Even as a pastor, prayer came slowly to Pete. Read Pete’s story.