I Can't Sleep; What Should I Do!?
"Help! I can't sleep and I don't know what to do!"
I've said these words myself before, and I hear similar ones often from coworkers, friends, strangers having too-loud conversations with their friends in public, etc.
Most of us are familiar with the typical advice: "try counting sheep; go through the alphabet in your head; count numbers until you dose off; drink herbal tea; take a warm bath; use essential oils; make your room darker"...the list goes on and on. Some of these are helpful, some are not. And most of them won't work for everyone. I'd like to recommend the thing that helps me the most when I find I am having trouble falling asleep at night: I pray.
To someone who is a-religious (agnostic/atheist, for example), that may sound as meaningful as "rub lavender essential oil on your pillow". But I would encourage you to at least give it a shot. If there really is a caring God out there, then it stands to reason that He would want a relationship with you, and He'd allow you some unrest at night to give you a chance to bring your concerns to Him. "God, if there really is a 'God of Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham' who sent His Word Incarnate, in the Person of Jesus Christ, then I want to know you and I bring you my unrest. Send your Holy Spirit upon me, and please help me sleep." Look, worst-case scenario, nothing will happen and you'll have tried one of a thousand different things that people do to attempt to fall asleep. If you're unsatisfied with the result, "take some melatonin" and "count how many carpet fibers are in each square foot of your rug".
For the Christian, however, I am amazed that "pray" isn't the very first thing that would come to mind. We already know that we are supposed to lay our worries at Christ's feet. And we already know that we are expected to work through our issues WITH HIM. We know that we should be seeking His guidance and offering our sufferings to Him, and praying for/about the people/situations that are keeping us up in the first place. Our bodies won't be able to rest if our spirit is eaten up with problems that we have not dealt with.
When it is fear keeping me awake, I pray Jesus' Name. It's the most simple and basic prayer in the world and it goes like this: As you breathe, either say or think "Jesus", with every breath.
When my personal sins throughout the day keep me awake, I say "the Jesus Prayer": "Lord Jesus Christ, son of the ever-living God, have mercy on me, a sinner". You can even say a simpler version: "Jesus, have mercy on me".
When life troubles, people-drama, or other matters have my mind racing, I go to my Mom-that-Jesus-gave-me, Mary. I ask Mary to pray for me and to take my troubles to her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. I know that, as a Mother, she knows my troubles and knows how to communicate those to our Lord on my behalf. I know she can take my imperfect, poorly worded, confused, not-really-sure-what-to-ask-for prayer request and present it to Christ. In all honesty, the times I have not been able to sleep, when I say a Rosary, I become sleepy within minutes, and by the time I have finished, I am able to immediately fall fast asleep. I think part of the reason it puts me at peace is that the Rosary is such a great way to meditate on the Scriptures, recite the prayer that the Lord gave us, quote God's Words to Mary, and simultaneously ask the Mother of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity to pray for us. If you've never meditated on the Scriptures in this way, I encourage you to try it: http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/prayers-and-devotions/rosaries/how-to-pray-the-rosary.cfm
The Chaplet of Divine Mercy is another great one! This is my go-to prayer when I sense that Jesus just wants me to pray for mercy on behalf of others. I use Rosary beads for this, and on the "Our Father" beads, I pray, "Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins, and those of the whole world". On the "Hail Mary" beads, I pray, "For the sake of His Sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us, and on the whole world". This prayer has also never failed to put my mind to rest so that I can go to sleep. http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-we-teach/new-evangelization/year-of-faith/how-to-pray-the-chaplet-of-divine-mercy.cfm
But some people aren't comfortable with those types of prayer, and that's fine. The point is simply to pray. Read the Bible, talk to God, meditate on His actions in your life, cry at the foot of His Cross; however you like to pray, just pray. Be mindful of the fact that, when we can't sleep at night, it may very well be that God wants us to talk to Him, seek Him and ask Him to help us deal with whatever is keeping us awake. Pray!
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| Photo courtesy of Bionews. "Insomnia" |
I've said these words myself before, and I hear similar ones often from coworkers, friends, strangers having too-loud conversations with their friends in public, etc.
Most of us are familiar with the typical advice: "try counting sheep; go through the alphabet in your head; count numbers until you dose off; drink herbal tea; take a warm bath; use essential oils; make your room darker"...the list goes on and on. Some of these are helpful, some are not. And most of them won't work for everyone. I'd like to recommend the thing that helps me the most when I find I am having trouble falling asleep at night: I pray.
To someone who is a-religious (agnostic/atheist, for example), that may sound as meaningful as "rub lavender essential oil on your pillow". But I would encourage you to at least give it a shot. If there really is a caring God out there, then it stands to reason that He would want a relationship with you, and He'd allow you some unrest at night to give you a chance to bring your concerns to Him. "God, if there really is a 'God of Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham' who sent His Word Incarnate, in the Person of Jesus Christ, then I want to know you and I bring you my unrest. Send your Holy Spirit upon me, and please help me sleep." Look, worst-case scenario, nothing will happen and you'll have tried one of a thousand different things that people do to attempt to fall asleep. If you're unsatisfied with the result, "take some melatonin" and "count how many carpet fibers are in each square foot of your rug".
For the Christian, however, I am amazed that "pray" isn't the very first thing that would come to mind. We already know that we are supposed to lay our worries at Christ's feet. And we already know that we are expected to work through our issues WITH HIM. We know that we should be seeking His guidance and offering our sufferings to Him, and praying for/about the people/situations that are keeping us up in the first place. Our bodies won't be able to rest if our spirit is eaten up with problems that we have not dealt with.
When it is fear keeping me awake, I pray Jesus' Name. It's the most simple and basic prayer in the world and it goes like this: As you breathe, either say or think "Jesus", with every breath.
When my personal sins throughout the day keep me awake, I say "the Jesus Prayer": "Lord Jesus Christ, son of the ever-living God, have mercy on me, a sinner". You can even say a simpler version: "Jesus, have mercy on me".
When life troubles, people-drama, or other matters have my mind racing, I go to my Mom-that-Jesus-gave-me, Mary. I ask Mary to pray for me and to take my troubles to her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. I know that, as a Mother, she knows my troubles and knows how to communicate those to our Lord on my behalf. I know she can take my imperfect, poorly worded, confused, not-really-sure-what-to-ask-for prayer request and present it to Christ. In all honesty, the times I have not been able to sleep, when I say a Rosary, I become sleepy within minutes, and by the time I have finished, I am able to immediately fall fast asleep. I think part of the reason it puts me at peace is that the Rosary is such a great way to meditate on the Scriptures, recite the prayer that the Lord gave us, quote God's Words to Mary, and simultaneously ask the Mother of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity to pray for us. If you've never meditated on the Scriptures in this way, I encourage you to try it: http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/prayers-and-devotions/rosaries/how-to-pray-the-rosary.cfm
The Chaplet of Divine Mercy is another great one! This is my go-to prayer when I sense that Jesus just wants me to pray for mercy on behalf of others. I use Rosary beads for this, and on the "Our Father" beads, I pray, "Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins, and those of the whole world". On the "Hail Mary" beads, I pray, "For the sake of His Sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us, and on the whole world". This prayer has also never failed to put my mind to rest so that I can go to sleep. http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-we-teach/new-evangelization/year-of-faith/how-to-pray-the-chaplet-of-divine-mercy.cfm
But some people aren't comfortable with those types of prayer, and that's fine. The point is simply to pray. Read the Bible, talk to God, meditate on His actions in your life, cry at the foot of His Cross; however you like to pray, just pray. Be mindful of the fact that, when we can't sleep at night, it may very well be that God wants us to talk to Him, seek Him and ask Him to help us deal with whatever is keeping us awake. Pray!
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