A prayer before sleep
About 2 minutes · say the bold lines out loud if you can
New to praying? Just read it slowly, or stay with one line. That counts.
Pray
Lord, the day is done, finished or not.Forgive what I did wrong today, and bless what was good.Watch over the people I love tonight, and the people I worry about.Let me sleep in peace, because you keep watch. Amen.
Or Luther’s evening prayer:
My Heavenly Father, I thank You, through Jesus Christ, Your beloved Son, that You have protected me, by Your grace. Forgive, I pray, all my sins and the evil I have done. Protect me, by Your grace, tonight. I put myself in your care, body and soul and all that I have. Let Your holy angels be with me, so that the evil enemy will not gain power over me. Amen.
Luther’s prayers from the Small Catechism, translated by Robert E. Smith and placed in the public domain. All four.
From the Bible
Psalm 4 has been prayed at night for three thousand years. It doesn’t ask for a perfect day, only for rest, because God keeps watch when we can’t.
I will both lie down and sleep in peace;for you alone, O LORD, make me lie down in safety.
Psalm 4:8 · NRSV · Other translations