Bedtime Prayers for Adults And Children: What to Pray For
Ending the day can look different for different people. How do you end your day? Maybe you end it with a book, a ritual, a conversation with your spouse or parents. Some people might end a day with social media, a hobby or even with television.
No matter how the end of your day looks like, one thing that can really fit well into anyone's schedule is a quick prayer. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 urges us to pray without ceasing. I'm pretty sure that that most likely involves praying in the evening as well.
Is praying at the end of the day something God requires? One can consider it an obligation or not, but the point of prayer is not to meet a duty. It's instead to be a delight. Remember the first few months you and a significant other dated? It almost seemed like you wanted to end every single day with each other's company. Likewise, a truly intimate and growing relationship with God will always cause us to seek Him not just once in a while but all the time- even at night.
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So what are some of the conversations we can have with Jesus before bedtime? Here are just a few of the many.
Expression of gratitude
Not all days look great, but irregardless 1 Thessalonians 5:18 reminds us, "give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." No matter how good or bad your day might have gone there is always something to be thankful for. The fact that you had another full twenty-four hours when our sin demanded our death from the beginning is something that we should thank God for.
Praying for the next day
No matter how well you plan your next day, there will always be a few things that might not go our way. Proverbs 3:6 has a solution for that when it says, "In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." When we acknowledge God in prayer, He prepares any day for us.
Interceding for others
It's great that we can approach God with our own concerns and needs but how about those of others? Ezekiel 22:30 tells us, "And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none." Will you "stand in the breach" and intercede for others just as much as you pray for yourself?
Honoring God
Sometimes it's good to come into God's prayers not just with requests and petitions not to simply ask of Him but to give to Him as well. What in the world do we have to give to God? Well, first off we can give Him honor and praise for who He is in our lives. In Psalm 146:2 it says, "I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being." Such a heart that comes to God in praiseful prayer does not just put a smile on God's face but it also does a miraculous work in our hearts that changes and renews us as well.
