What about falling asleep in the middle of a conversation with someone, have you ever done that? I remember sitting in my boss's office a few years back and suddenly he asked, "Are you OK?" That question woke me up. Now, to my defense, I had accidentally taken some Benadryl which knocks me out. (How I accidentally took the wrong medicine is a different story, y'all stay focused here.) However, it's embarrassing to fall asleep when someone is talking to you. It's kind of insulting to the other person.
When I was younger I was taught to pray. My parents believe in prayer and they demonstrated that belief everyday as well as encouraged me to pray daily. In fact, as a teen and through most of my 20's I would pray every night once I was lying in bed ready to go to sleep. There were even many times I would have a special prayer time right before lying down, yet I would still find myself praying once my head hit the pillow. It seemed funny to me that I couldn't go to sleep until I had prayed while in bed, understand that kneeling beside the bed prior or sitting in the living room with my family praying simply did not suffice. (Yep I'm weird.)Eventually I somehow convinced myself that praying while in bed was not a requirement but simply a habit. I got in the habit of praying during the day and sometimes right before bed but not normally IN bed. Lots of things have changed through the years and my relationship with God has risen to great heights and sunken to embarrassing lows. Over the past year God has done amazing things to challenge me, convict me, correct me and call me to a closer walk with Him. For the past 19 days I've been taking part in a Daniel Fast which has been absolutely amazing. (I will write more about it once it's completed. We will wrap up 21 days at 7 pm on Saturday, January 26 and either that night or on Sunday I hope to write a blog post about my 3 week experience.) During this time my Bible Study and Prayer Life have both increased and improved in astonishing ways.
I realized a few days ago that I am back to praying when I lie down at night. I can have an incredible time with God, pouring out my heart, worshiping and listening to Him and yet I still will pray when I lie down. The realization also hit me that I've been falling asleep many nights while praying. I began to contemplate this last night and wonder if that is insulting to God. Does He see it as me treating Him as a routine or does He see it as me giving my last waking moment to Him? I have noticed that on the nights I've fallen asleep while praying, I enjoy a more peaceful sleep, my dreams are relaxing and pleasant and I wake up refreshed.
Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 that we should "Pray without ceasing." (NKJV) I won't go into all that can be taught by that statement and how it should effect our lives but it is clear that we should stay in contact with God. I have been rejoicing lately with all that God has been teaching me and how He has been changing me. I think the amount of time I've been spending in Real, Honest, Relational, God-Seeking Prayer has made a difference in my life. I am going to choose to believe that when I fall asleep praying, God sees my heart and knows that I gave my last moment of consciousness to Him. I simply want to honor Him and know Him more. I am convinced more than ever that Prayer Changes things, especially the person praying.
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