Bedtime Prayer: Connecting, Submitting, Trusting God

Sleep and the bedtime prayer before sleep presents a unique opportunity for us to connect with God.

Maybe we had a good day. Maybe we had a bad day. Either way, bedtime prayer is an opportunity for us to reset, in a sense. To freshly connect with God. To properly align our hearts with God’s will before we go to sleep.

But sometimes we don’t know what to pray when it comes to bedtime prayer. Should we pray the Lord’s prayer? That’s certainly one solid option. But there are numerous other helpful ways we can pray before we go to sleep.

Here are 5 simple, profound bedtime prayers to align your heart with God before you go to sleep.

Bedtime Prayer #1: A Prayer of Dependence

I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me (Psalm 3:5)

Father, sleep is a reminder that I am totally and completely dependent upon you. I don’t have infinite strength. I cannot keep working indefinitely. I need sleep to refresh me. Ultimately, I need you to refresh me.

The truth is, I am a dependent creature. I am dependent on you to give me life and breath and strength. When I try to live on my own, it results in heartache. When I live in dependence on you, I receive grace and mercy.

So as I go to sleep, I want to proclaim my total dependence upon you. As I drift off to sleep, it’s a clear reminder that I am not in control. I need you. I need you to sustain me through the night, and I need you to sustain me through my life.

Please give me the grace of sleep. Give me the grace of strength. Allow me to wake refreshed in the morning.

I depend on you, my good and gracious Father. I trust you to sustain me and to wake me with fresh energy in the morning.

Bedtime Prayer #2: A Prayer of Trust

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Father, many things have happened today. Some good, some bad, some hard, some joyful. Before I go to sleep, I want to entrust all these things to you. Honestly, there are many things I can’t figure out. Many circumstances that are confusing. Many situations that are just plain hard.

Even though I can’t figure out how all these things will work out, I know that you are good and I know that you will do good to me. Ultimately, I know that I can completely, 100% trust in you.

As I go to sleep, I declare that I trust in you. I trust you with the big things and the little things, with the happy things and the hard things. I trust you to deliver me out of evil and to lead me into paths of righteousness. You are my hope. My help. The lifter of my head.

I may not know how all things will work out, but you do, and because you are good I proclaim my trust in you.

Bedtime Prayer #3: A Prayer of Thanks

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits…(Psalm 103:1-2)

Father, you have poured out so many mercies upon me today. To say that I am grateful is a staggering understatement. Thank you that Jesus himself has been praying for me all day. What an incredible blessing.

Thank you for providing abundant food and shelter for me. When I consider how many people don’t have even those most basic things, I can’t help but be filled with gratefulness.

Thank you for the many ways, known and unknown, that you protected me and guarded over my life, as well as the lives of my loved ones.

Thank you for giving me yet another day to live, to please you, and to glorify you. Every day I live is a glorious blessing.

Most of all, thank you that you have brought me into a relationship with you. That I am your child and that you delight in me. Thank you that through Jesus, all my sins are forgiven. Thank you that you are my Father and you delight to bless me. As I go to sleep, I want to express my joy and thankfulness.

Bedtime Prayer #4: A Prayer of Confession

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9)

Father, before I go to sleep I want to confess my many sins to you. I have sinned in many ways today, both in omission and commission.

I have neglected to love my neighbor as you’ve called me to, and I have selfishly focused only on the things I desired. I have lusted after things you have forbidden while also not loving you like I should. I’ve been impatient and angry, not merciful and not gracious.

For all my sins, please forgive me. I repent of them and ask you to help me change. I don’t want to sin. I don’t want to do the things that you forbid. So I ask that you would give me supernatural power to change and pursue you.

I thank you that in Christ, all my sins are indeed forgiven. Jesus himself has paid my debt. He is my savior, my hope, my righteousness. As I prepare for sleep, I put all my trust in Jesus Christ as my redeemer and savior. He alone is my hope, and he is a sure hope indeed.

Bedtime Prayer #5: A Prayer of Protection

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you (Psalm 56:3).

Father, sleep is a reminder that I depend on you completely for protection. I cannot keep my heart beating or my lungs breathing throughout the night. I am totally dependent on you to sustain me and protect me. When I sleep, I am putting myself completely and fully in your hands.

Please protect me through the night, as well as those in my family. Keep us safe from Satan and his schemes. Keep our bodies working properly. Let us wake in the morning energized and in good health.

Thank you for the many ways you protected me through this day. Please continue that protection through the night. I entrust myself completely to you and your good, sovereign, almighty hands. Nothing can separate me from you or take me out of your good plans.

The God Who Gives Sleep

God is so good to give us sleep, isn’t he? Not only does it allow our bodies to recharge, but it also enables to freshly connect with our good, loving Father. Let me encourage you to make these bedtime prayers part of your nightly routine. Obviously, you don’t need to say them all every night, and you don’t need to say the, word for word.

But take the opportunity to freshly depend on God, entrust yourself to him, give thanks to him, confess your sins, and trust in him for protection.

May your sleep be sweet indeed.