Midnight Prayers

May 15, 2018

Linda often wakes up in the middle of the night, and when she does, she has a hard time getting back to sleep. She tells me that when she wakes like that, she just can’t shut her mind off; she thinks about all she needs to do the next day, rehearses conversations with people, frets over the kids and grandkids. She’ll lay there, praying about all that stuff, until she either drifts off (a rare occurrence) or goes downstairs, turns the tv on low, and goes back to sleep. As another proof that compatibility is way overrated as a requirement for marital success, here again, we are totally different. The low hum of conversation puts her to sleep. It keeps me awake.

I’ve never had that problem of sleeplessness. I can usually drift off within a few minutes of lying down, and only wake if I have to use the bathroom. I keep telling her that easy sleep is the sign of a clear conscience, and in reply, she keeps threatening to smother me with a wet pillow. I’ve taken to sleeping with one eye open.

It has often bothered me that when I wake up, I can’t gather thoughts coherent enough to pray. I actually envy those who wake up and turn those midnight hours into fervent prayer. I lay there stupefied till I roll over and promptly fall back to sleep. Until last week. Once last week, I woke in the middle of the night and no matter what I did, I couldn’t get back to sleep. Better yet, I actually was able to use that time praying. My thoughts weren’t all jumbled, so I prayed. For what seemed like hours. I interceded for family and friends, prayed for the Church and our nation’s leaders, worshipped and praised God for his goodness and greatness, and rounded it out in thanksgiving. When I was all done, I felt the closest to God that I have felt in a long time. I’m actually looking forward to the next time God awakens me in the night. Times of sleeplessness will become times of fellowship, and that is worth all the thanksgiving I can offer.