A Prayer for the Middle of the Night

Father, it is some small hour I did not mean to see. The house is silent, the street is empty, and I am awake when everyone I love is sleeping. There is a particular loneliness to this kind of dark.

I confess that the night magnifies things. Fears that seem manageable in daylight grow teeth at three in the morning. I lie here feeling small and far from help, half believing the lie that I am alone.

But You do not sleep. You are awake in this hour with me, not because something is wrong, but because You never close Your eyes on the ones You keep.

Meet me in this strange stillness. If You woke me for a reason, give me ears to hear it. If this is just a sleepless hour, hold me until it passes.

Your word says the one who watches over me will neither slumber nor sleep, that You are the keeper standing guard while I cannot guard myself. Let that truth fill this dark room.

I am not the only one awake tonight. You are here. So I close my eyes again, trusting the Watcher who never tires. Carry me back into sleep. Amen.