Sleep as an antidote to Pride

What does sleep have to do with humility?

CJ Mahaney: Surprisingly a lot! Sleep is a sweet gift from God but it is also a daily reminder that we are not God. Only God “neither slumbers nor sleeps” (Psalm 121:4). Each night as I confront my need for sleep I am reminded that I am a totally dependent upon God. Sleep is a gift but it’s a humbling gift. Don’t just fall asleep tonight but seize the moment before you fall asleep to weaken pride and cultivate humility by acknowledging you are not self-sufficient, you are not the Creator. Sleep is a daily humbling reminder that we are completely dependent upon God.

A Prayer Before Sleep

Calm me, O Lord, as You stilled the storm.

Still me, O Lord, keep me from harm.
Let all the tumult within me cease.
Enfold me, Lord, in Your peace.

* Father, bless the work that is done,
and the work that is to be.

* Father, bless the servant that I am,
and the servant that I will be.

Thou Lord and God of power,
shield and sustain me this night.

I will lie down this night with God,
and God will lie down with me;
I will lie down this night with Christ,
and Christ will lie down with me;
I will lie down this night with the Spirit,
and the Spirit will lie down with me;
God and Christ and the Spirit,
be lying down with me.

* The peace of God
be over me to shelter me,

* under me to uphold me,

* about me to protect me,

* behind me to direct me,

* ever with me to save me.

The peace of all peace be mine this night in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Sleeping well may also be part of Christian discipleship, at least in our time and place. For not only might a counter-cultural embrace of sleep witness to values higher than ‘the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things.’ A night of good sleep—a week, or month, or year of good sleep—also testifies to the basic Christian story of Creation. We are creatures, and we are creatures with bodies that are finite and contingent. The unarguable demands that our bodies make for sleep are a good reminder that we are mere creatures, not the Creator” --Lauren Winner