A Prayer for the Cravings That Come at Night

Father, it is dark and the house is quiet and the wanting has woken me again. There is something about these hours that strips away my defenses, when no one is awake and the only voice left is the one telling me to give in.

I confess the night is when I am weakest, when loneliness and the old habit braid together and I forget every reason I had to stay clean.

So I reach for You in the dark, before I reach for anything else.

Be with me in this exposed and sleepless hour. Quiet the craving that grows louder when the world goes silent. Hold me until the sky turns gray, until the danger of the night passes and morning gives me back my strength. Do not let me trade tomorrow's clarity for tonight's escape.

You neither slumber nor sleep, and You keep watch over me when I cannot keep watch over myself. Stand guard over me now.

I place this restless night in Your keeping. Sit with me in the dark. Get me to the dawn still standing, and let the first light find me free. Amen.