pRayER : NOw i Lay ME dOwN tO SLEEp (VERSiONS
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“Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. Guard me Jesus, through the night, And wake me with the morning light.
“I lay myself down and slept. I awoke, for the LORD watched over me.”
-Psalm 3:5
“I will both lay myself down in peace, and sleep. For only You, LORD, enable me to live in safety.”
-Psalm 4:8
This is a classic Children’s Prayer from the 18th Century (1700’s).
The version that I was taught as a toddler, and prayed out of habit every night of my life until age 18 or 19, was:
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
I wasn’t sure about thinking that I might die in my sleep, every single night of my entire youth.
After looking at all of these different versions, my preferred version is the one which we have posted at the top of this page.
As an adult Christian, I have chosen to pray the St. Francis prayer:
“Lord, Make Me an Instrument of Thy Peace” and Psalm 4, each night before sleeping.
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-Lay Monk Preston
Below are some additional versions. You may find the one that you are most familiar with, or the one that you most prefer, among them.
Prayer: Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (Versions) _______________________________
Thank you Lord for another day,
The chance to learn, the chance to play.
Now as I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
Please, guard me Jesus through the night,
And keep me safe till morning’s light.
But if I should I die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
And should I live for other days,
I pray that God will guide my ways.
Amen. _______________________________
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
Angels watch me through the night, and wake me with the morning light. Amen. ______________________
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
Lord, be with me through the night and keep me ’til the morning light. _____________________
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
If I should live for other days,
I pray the Lord to guide my ways. ______________________
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep;
If I die before I wake,
I ask the Lord my soul to take. ______________________
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep;
when in the morning light I wake,
teach me the path of love to take. ______________________
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray, dear Lord, my soul to keep;
and if I die before I wake,
I pray, Dear Lord, my soul He’ll take. ______________________
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
thy angels watch me through the night, and keep me safe till morning’s light. ______________________
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I die before I wake,
bless me Lord, my soul to take. _______________________
Now I lay me down to
sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep, Keep me safe all through the night, and wake me with the morning light. Amen. ______________________
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep. God bless those who are so dear,
and thank you Lord, for all good cheer. Amen. _______________________
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
May angels watch me through the night, and wake me with the morning light. _____________________
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord, my soul to keep.
May angels watch me through the night, and keep me in their blessed sight. ______________________
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray thee, Lord, my soul to keep;
Guide me safely through the night, wake me with the morning’s light. _____________________
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray thee, Lord, my soul to keep;
See me safely through the night,
and wake me with the morning’s light. ______________________
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
Guide me through the starry night, wake me when the sun shines bright. For Jesus’ sake. Amen. _______________________
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep;
Guide us through the starry night,
and wake us with the morning’s light.
I ask not for myself alone,
but for thy children — every one. _______________________
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
Thank you for another day,
a chance to learn, a chance to play. Amen. ______________________
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
See me safely through the night,
and wake me with the morning light. Amen. ______________________
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
May angels watch me through the night, and keep me in their pleasant sight. Amen. _______________________
Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. His love be with me through the night, and wake me with the morning light. And if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
c.S. LEwiS / J.R.R. tOLKiiEn
“I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping.”
“Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done.”
“Integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching.”
“True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.”
“Ever since I became a Christian I have thought that the best, perhaps the only, service I could do for my unbelieving neighbours was to explain and defend the belief that has been common to nearly all Christians at all times.”
“Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.”
-C.S. Lewis (1898-1963)
Author: “Mere Christianity” and
“The Chronicles of Narnia”
“Eucastrophe (eu-cas-tro-phe): A sudden and
favourable resolution of events in a story;
a happy ending.” -Oxford English Dictionary
____________________
“The birth of Christ is the eucastrophe
of Man’s history.
The Resurrection is the eucastrophe of the story
of the Incarnation.
This story begins and ends in joy.
It has pre-eminently
the ‘inner consistency of reality.’
There is no tale ever told that men would rather find was true, and none which so many skeptical men have accepted as true on its own merits.
For the Art of it has the supremely convincing tone of Primary Art, that is, of Creation.
To reject it leads either to sadness or to wrath.”
J.R.R.Tolkien (1892-1973)
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