A Prayer for Sleep When My Heart Is Heavy

Father, my body is tired but my heart is heavier than my eyelids. There is a grief, or a worry, or an ache I cannot set down, and it presses on me even as I lie still.

I confess I do not know how to sleep carrying this. Part of me feels that resting would mean abandoning the thing I am sad about, as if my sorrow were a watch I am not allowed to leave.

So I bring this weight to You, because You invited the heavy-laden to come, and I qualify tonight more than ever. I will not pretend to be lighter than I am.

Take this load off my chest for the night. You do not need me to keep holding it for it to matter. Let me lay it at Your feet and trust You to tend it while I cannot.

Your word says to cast all my anxiety on You, because You genuinely care for me. Not as a duty, but because my pain has Your attention.

So I hand You the heavy thing and let my hands fall open. You stay awake over it. Let me finally rest, and meet me gentler in the morning. Amen.