Psalm 63:6 (NIV) On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.

When I go to bed at night, the last thing I do is to sign off with my Lord Jesus. I have learned to stay connected with Him throughout the day (pray continually - 1 Thessalonians 5:17), but I love to end my day with one more time in prayer to cap off the day. I usually sleep for a couple of hours, wake up and then go back to sleep but sometimes, it doesn’t work out that way. Sometimes, I can’t fall asleep again. Many years ago I used to lay there feeling miserable because although I felt very tired and my eyes were heavy, I just couldn’t fall back asleep. I sometimes would get up and do something to distract myself, usually wasting away time until morning came. But it dawned on me one day that while everyone else was sleeping except me, there was someone who was awake, guaranteed.

I realized that the best thing that I could do when I can’t sleep is to commune with Christ Jesus because He is always ready to receive me into His presence. Before that I had learned, inspired by the verse above, to think about the Lord and to briefly tell Him how much I love Him every time I would get up during the night, even though I was going to go back to sleep. But when my heart started getting closer to God and when I started having more episodes than usual of not being able to fall back asleep, I discovered the best and most valuable thing to do and that is to use that time to pour my heart out to God.

The Bible tells us about how Jesus would get up in the wee hours to pray to the Father (Mark 1:35), sometimes praying all night. There must be a reason why Jesus loved to do that so early. I have found that those wee hours are prime times to connect with God. During those hours there are no distractions, I don’t have to fight off sleep (that’s the reason that I’m up in the first place!), and my mind is razor sharp and unburdened by the cares of the day, which hasn’t started yet. It is such a profitable time in the presence of God that I no longer fret when I can’t sleep. I see it now as an opportunity to get some real, good quality time with the God that I love. So the next time you are having trouble sleeping or falling back asleep, head to your quiet place and speak to God through the watches of the night. He is always up and is waiting for you to come into His presence. Thank the Lord that He never slumbers nor sleeps (Psalm 121:4).

Pastor Joey Vazquez