Rest

Blessed Creator, You have promised those You love rest;
Give us restoring rest needed for life’s toil;
Let Your Spirit make our time of rest 
a blessed temple of Christ’s holy presence.

May my frequent lying down make me familiar with death,
the bed I approach remind me of the grave,
the eyes I close picture to me their final closing.
Keep me always ready, waiting for admittance to Your presence.

Weaken my attachment to earthly things.
May I hold life loosely in my hand, 
knowing that I receive it on condition of its surrender; 

As pain and suffering indicate temporal health,
may I not shrink from a death that introduces me 
to the freshness of eternal youth.

Even as we close our eyes to sleep, 
we do so in full assurance of one day awakening with You.
All glory for this precious hope, for the gospel of grace, 
for Your unspeakable gift of Jesus, for the fellowship of the Trinity.

Do not withhold Your mercies from us this day;
Your hand never wearies, Your power needs no repose,
Your eyes never sleep.

Help me when I helpless lie, 
when my conscience accuses me of sin, 
when my mind is harassed by apprehensive thoughts,
when I am kept awake with my anxieties.

Show yourself to me as the God of all grace, love, and power; 
You have healing for every wound, a solace for all anguish, 
a remedy for every pain, a peace for all uneasiness.
Permit me to commit myself to You, awake or asleep. Amen. 

*This prayer was adapted from the prayer “Sleep” from The Valley of Vision