“My eyes anticipate the night watches, that I may meditate on your word.” Psalm 119:48
“How vast are the possibilities of prayer! How wide is its reach! What great things are accomplished by this divinely appointed means of grace! It lays its hand on Almighty God and moves him to do what he would not otherwise do if prayer was not offered. It brings things to pass which would never otherwise occur. The story of prayer is the story of great achievements. Prayer is a wonderful power placed by Almighty God in the hands of his saints, which may be used to accomplish great purposes and to achieve unusual results.” George Mueller
- Call your prayer partner for your 10-minute prayer call! God is the one who has the power to work in your heart and the hearts of those you love. Prayer changes everything!
- Are you ready to spend time with your Jesus? He is always with us and available, but there is definitely something special about having a few moments to stop and focus on Him and His precious, amazing Word. Grab your Bible, something warm and delicious to drink, and your journal. Go to the place where you meet with God and ask Him to speak to you as you read His Word.
- Read Psalm 63:6, Psalm 119:48, Lamentations 2:15, and Luke 6:12.
Can’t Sleep? Don’t Count Sheep!
Your bedroom is nice and dark, and the temperature, for once, is just right. You are sleeping soundly, but then, right in the middle of a wonderful, sweet dream, something wakes you. Oh no!
You lie there and lie there, rolling over from side to side in an effort to get comfortable and sleep. But to your dismay, Mrs. Sleep is eluding you. This usually faithful friend seems to have escaped to some far off wonderland, never to return. Then, oh no! Your mind begins to race with a situation you have felt anxious about, and the more you think about it and the fact that you are unable to sleep, the harder it is to fall asleep. What do you do? Do you lay there and worry, or do you get up?
This happened to me the other night. I lay there for hours and hours, and the sleep still wouldn’t come. I felt anxious about some personal issues in my life, and these thoughts kept going round- and-round in my head. Finally, at 3 am, I decided to get out of bed and break open my Bible, asking the Lord to minister to me through His Word. My Bible actually opened up to John 15:5: “‘I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.’”
Oh. Well, look at that. God wants me to rest. He wants me to stay close to Him, to stop fretting and feeling anxious.
You see, God knew my heart and that I needed to be woken up in the middle of the night—when all is quiet, when it’s just me and Jesus—to hear what was on His heart for me. It is amazing to me that the Lord knows what we struggle with and that He points us specifically to the passages we need to read to be encouraged!
This isn’t the first time I have gotten up for a middle-of-the-night quiet time. When I had children in my home, I didn’t sleep well then either. I struggled with anxiety and was overwhelmed at the thought of raising up children in a Christian home because I had no idea how to do it!
My childhood was very difficult, and I grew up in a home filled with unrest and trouble. My sweet parents divorced, and our whole family began an uncontrollable downward spiral and, sadly, fell apart. Since my family didn’t go to church, there was no body of Christ to help us, and I felt entirely alone as my life fell apart. Becoming a Christian changed everything for me, and I felt peaceful and at rest for the first time in a long time.
As you can imagine, I desperately wanted a different life for our children but didn’t know to raise up children in a Christian home. I spent many days and nights crying out to God for help, feeling lost in my inadequacy as a mom.
The good news is that, one day at a time, God in His faithfulness taught me everything I needed to know to have a peaceful, Christ-centered home. By the grace of God, here I am, teaching other women how to do the same. So, why am I telling you all this? It is my prayer that you, like me, will get out of bed on those anxious, sleepless nights and crack your Bible open and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you. He is so faithful!
The next time you can’t sleep, try it! Pray and spend some time with your Jesus. Maybe you’ll fall back to sleep peacefully, or maybe you’ll start your day with a little extra Jesus!
Blessings and Love,
Deb
Questions to Ponder
- How about you, sweet mama? Are you having trouble sleeping? Maybe you feel anxious about one of your children, a fight that you had with your husband, or that bill that still needs to be paid?
Faith-Filled Ideas
Take a moment and do a “stress dump.” Write down each and every situation or complaint that is on your heart. Pray for the Lord to guide your hands as you write and don’t stop until you’re done. Don’t worry how your handwriting looks, just keep going.
Now, take that list and say to the Lord, “God, I need you. I can’t handle the stress from this stuff. Please take this from me and help me to rest in you. Help me to ‘Let. It. Go!’”
Now, rip that list out of your journal, fold it up, and put it in a box somewhere. Don’t look at it again for six months. You don’t have to look at it, but if you do, you will be amazed at what all you worried about. Take a moment to write a prayer of thanksgiving to your God for helping you through this difficult time and ask Him to help you as you trust Him with all of the stresses and problems that come your way.
I remember going into my daughter's room night after night and kneeling beside her bed and crying my heart out to God because I didn’t know how to be a Christian mom; I felt like I had no idea what I was doing. You know what? God is so faithful! He answered me and simply said, “Spend time with me, Deb.” And so I did. I began arising 15-30 minutes earlier each day so I could read my Bible and pray, and plan out my day with my family.
If there was one thing I would love to share with you is that God is personal and loves you as you are. You don’t have to be perfect to be loved by our amazing God! Come as you are! His loving presence can be practically known and experienced. He is not a God who is far away, He is near and easily found. He longs for you to come to Him!
Randy and I have been married for 33 years and we have two grown children, Christie, and Jack, and one answer to prayer son-in-law named Alex. And now I get to be a Gigi to my sweet little grandbabies, Aspen and Skylar, and Piper. Yay!
- Homeschooling with Heaven: Partnering with Jesus in Your Homeschool - April 17, 2024
- Mothering with Deb: What to Do When Your Child Struggles with Their Faith - April 16, 2024
- Hearing God Episode Four: Hearing God For Your Kids - April 14, 2024
6 Comments on “Can’t Sleep? Don’t Count Sheep!”
So good! I often forget to pray when I’m anxious, but when I do, God always comes through. Thank you for the needed reminder.
Yes!! He is so good to come through when we need Him!! He is so faithful!
Thanks for reminding me to combat my stress with prayer!
Thanks Daphne! I appreciate you!!
Cracking the Bible open is better than counting sheep. 🙂 Love the faith-filled idea of “stress dumping”. Thanks Deb!
Yes! Me too!
Stress dumping is so awesome!