The Gift of Sleep

The idea of this prayer is to entrust what Ignatius called ‘the powers of the soul’ to God during the night: memory, understanding and will. Sleep is a gift that we receive from God rather than something we need to make happen. All we have to do is to dispose ourselves so that we can receive it and let it do its healing work.

Sleep comes slowly as a gift… I prepare myself to receive it… I gently close my eyes… I ease my breathing… I soften my body… I let wave after wave roll over me…as sleep approaches…

I allow my memory to flood with recollections of the day… the moments I would like to keep for tomorrow… the moments I would rather forget… I trust God to continue this healing task throughout the night…

I allow my understanding to appreciate the lessons I have learned today…about humanity… about nature… about love… about suffering… I let God place them in the recesses of my mind…

I allow my will to fill with desire… all the dreams yet to be realised… all my yearning for beauty… all the healing I need… no matter how slight my desires… I let them strengthen in the presence of God…

I wait to receive the gift of sleep… I rest patiently in silence and peace… I entrust all my memory, my understanding and my entire will to God this night… I sink into the ebb and flow of grace… sleep comes slowly as a gift…

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.