Soothing Bible Verses On Sleep & Rest
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Use these 17 soothing Bible verses on sleep and rest to calm your worry and anxiety down for the night and sleep in peace.
Having trouble sleeping?
I feel your pain.
Ive struggled to sleep well since I was a kid.
So much so that when I was in college, I started taking melatonin every nightand I continued to do that for a full decade .
Of course, there are a lot of pieces of our physical health that affect sleep but dont discount the mental and spiritual parts, as well.
When our minds are racing with worry and anxiety, it is so difficult to even rest, much less fall asleep.
God knows how real that struggle is for you and His Word talks about it.
Read on to see Bible verses on sleep but also how God can offer you rest on your most stressful nights.
Use Scripture For Breakthrough In The Area Of Dreams
Some ways you can use Scriptural promises concerning your sleep and dreams are:
- Meditate on Gods promises for your sleep and night hours
- Ask the Holy Spirit to highlight particular promises that He is ministering to you personally
- Use insights from the Bible to confess, pray and declare what God has promised you concerning your sleep
The Word of God is our standard, and we should not put up with anything less than the fullness of what God has available for us and our families.
In This Post: Cant Sleep Tossing And Turning Ive Totally Been There Too Here Are 10 Bible Verses For When You Cant Sleep At Night I Hope They Help You Find Rest
Have you spent your night tossing and turning and staring at your phone for hours? Maybe you got up, walked around, watched a TV show, only to find yourself more awake than when you started. How about reading some Bible verses when you cant sleep?
Restless nights happen more frequently than I would like to admit, and no matter how tired I get, sometimes I cant seem to find a way to get to sleep. Ive tried everything from shutting off my devices an hour before bed, drinking a sleepy time tea, or even enjoying a quiet bath just before bed.
Instead of counting sheep, consider spending some time with God in the wee hours of the night when you cant. Ive found that through meditating with God, Ive been able to have a more restful, peaceful, and easier time sleeping at night. Here are 10 Bible verses for when you cant sleep.
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God Is Always Watching Over You While You Sleep
15. Psalm 121:2-5 My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. He will not let you fall. Your guardian will not fall asleep. Indeed, the Guardian of Israel never rests or sleeps. The Lord is your guardian. The Lord is the shade over your right hand.
16. Proverbs 3:24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid. When you rest, your sleep will be peaceful.
17. Psalm 4:7-8 But you have made me happier than they will ever be with all their wine and grain. When I go to bed, I sleep in peace, because, Lord, you keep me safe.
18. Psalm 3:3-6 But you, Lord, protect me. You bring me honor you give me hope. I will pray to the Lord, and he will answer me from his holy mountain. I can lie down to rest and know that I will wake up, because the Lord covers and protects me. So I will not be afraid of my enemies, even if thousands of them surround me.
19. Psalm 37:24 Though he falls, he will not be overwhelmed, for the LORD is holding his hand.
20. Psalm 16:8 I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
21. Psalm 62:2 He only is my rock and my salvation he is my defence I shall not be greatly moved.
22. Psalm 3:3 But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
23. Psalm 5:12 For surely You, O LORD, bless the righteous You surround them with the shield of Your favor.
26. Psalm 121:8 The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in. From this time forth and forever.
What Does God Say About Sleep And Insomnia
The bible talks about sleep many times. Over and over again, Jesus tells us not to be worried or anxious about our lives. What we will eat, or what we will wear, even what tomorrow will bring, which is a huge reason we dont sleep.
When you lie down, you will not be afraid, when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
His gift to us is His peace.
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
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How To Use The Reading Plan And Customize It For You
Below Ive listed the Bible verses for when you cant sleep. Heres how you can keep these verses front and center in your day-to-day life:
- Highlight the verses in your Bible and then refer to them often. Especially when you first wake up and before you go to bed, to sort of bookend your day with Gods truth.
- Another way to use the reading plan below and customize it for you is to grab some cue cards, or cut up paper, and write the verses down, one at a time. Perhaps, tape them to your bathroom mirror, set them on your nightstand, or put them on the fridge.
- Also, read them out loud when you see them each day.
- And finally, memorize the verses you love most.
By reading them, writing them, speaking them, and memorizing them, they will become more ingrained in your brain and will sink deep for easy recall when you again feel pressure or worry.
Bible Promises About Your Sleep Dreams And Night Hours
Imagine what it would be like to approach your sleep with a positive sense of anticipation.
- You look forward to enjoying Gods Presence in the night hours
- You feel safe, at peace, and secure
- You believe that God will impart to you Divine blueprints, strategies and creative ideas as you sleep
- You anticipate encountering the Holy Spirit through prophetic dreams and songs in the night
- You know that you will wake up rested to begin your new day with God
This is your inheritance.
However, I frequently hear from readers who are experiencing trouble with bad dreams, demonic encounters in dreams, or nightmares. I understand a little about this as for many years, I personally struggled with the same problems. I thank God for the freedom I have in my dreams now.
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The Destruction Of The Wicked
Sleep can portray the utter and final punishment of a wicked power that has stood in opposition to God. The prophet Jeremiah foretold the complete destruction of the evil Babylonian regime.
Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling-place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant …. When they are heated, I will make their feast, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith Jehovah .
For a full discussion of precisely how this was accomplished, see the Wayne Jacksons commentary, Jeremiah and Lamentations.
Looking For A Great Devotional On A Night Like This When You Cant Sleep
The Joyful Life has beautiful, life-giving devotionals in both printed and digital formats.
So if you want a pretty devotional to keep on your nightstand to grab on nights like this, this set of two Joy devotionals might be perfect for you:
And if youd like a digital devo to have handy at all times, check out their digital versions.
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Truth To Help You Sleep
Psalm 3:5, Proverbs 20:13
What does the Bible say about sleep? This is an important question considering that anywhere from one-third of our life will be spent on earth with our eyes closed, slumbering away in our beds. Thats a lot of time sleeping! So what does God think about sleep? Can we sleep too much, too little, and how can we use sleep the way God intended?
Sleep, like everything else God has made, is good when its used right but also has the potential to be greatly misused.
The Bible Says Sleep Is Good
Everything God created in the beginning was deemed good. When God made Adam and Eve, he designed them with the need and capability of sleep. Sleep, therefore, should never be seen as an evil thing. The problems arise in our use of sleep. Right from the beginning God ordained sleep as good by causing Adam to go to sleep. Anything God causes is always good.
But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. 21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.
Now certainly Im stretching the context of Genesis 2:20-22. This is not a passage meant to highlight the importance of sleep. Rather these verses highlight Gods power to create humans in his image. But sleep, nonetheless, was a part of this amazing scene which reveals the beginning of human origins.
Bible Verses About Sleep And Death
You turn man back into dustAnd say, Return, O children of men.For a thousand years in Your sightAre like yesterday when it passes by,Or as a watch in the night.You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew.In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew Toward evening it fades and withers away.
Why then do You not pardon my transgressionAnd take away my iniquity?For now I will lie down in the dust And You will seek me, but I will not be.
But man dies and lies prostrate.Man expires, and where is he?As water evaporates from the sea,And a river becomes parched and dried up,So man lies down and does not rise.Until the heavens are no longer,He will not awake nor be aroused out of his sleep.
Consider and answer me, O Lord my God Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
The Lord said to Moses, Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers and this people will arise and play the harlot with the strange gods of the land, into the midst of which they are going, and will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them.
Do not marvel at this for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice,and will come forth those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.
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What The Bible Says About Sleep And Anxiety
Have you ever been too anxious to sleep? Too stressed? Too worried? Thoughts of the past day or the day ahead swirling around in your head and you cant settle down and drift off to sleep? Youre not alone! Lots of people experience this problem and it is nothing new to the modern world. Lets see what the Bible says about the connection between anxiety and sleep.
Even When Awake In The Night Hours Our Reflections Can Be Full Of Gods Grace:
3. On my bed I remember you I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.
4. By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with mea prayer to the God of my life.
It is also our inheritance to feel safe at night. Our loving Father is the source of our security:
5. In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.
6. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
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What The Bible Says About Sleep
Whether you love to sleep or find it a huge struggle, the Bible has a lot to say about it
There are more than 100 references to sleep in the Bible, and many more references to rest, slumber and dreams. We know that rest is important to God because he chose to rest on the seventh day in the creation account and Jesus slept even in the midst of a storm . But what else does it say?
The sleep God gives is sweet and sustaining
- At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me .
- If you lie down, you will not be afraid when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet .
- In peace I will both lie down and sleep for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety .
- I lay down and slept I woke again, for the Lord sustained me .
Its possible to have too much of a good thing
- Love not sleep, lest you come to poverty open your eyes, and you will have plenty of bread .
- How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? .
- A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man .
- Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep .
- Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger .
We need to get the balance right
Oh, and one more thing Dont sit beside an open window if youre listening to a long sermon while youre very tired:
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The Sleep Of Unpreparedness
I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you .
This is not literal sleep like the first two points. Instead, this is the state of being oblivious to the dangers that threaten us. This was the condition of the church in Sardis in the passage above. They needed to wake up and if they did not, they would face the Lords judgment.
This could apply to many areas of life, but here we will focus on the spiritual dangers we face. There are several ways in which we could be asleep in this regard:
When we are unprepared for something and then we encounter it before we are ready for it, we will often face serious consequences. When it comes to spiritual matters, these consequences can be eternal.
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Examples Of Sleeping In The Bible
92. Jeremiah 31:25-26 I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint. At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been pleasant to me.
93. Matthew 9:24 He said, Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping. And they laughed at him.
94. John 11:11 After saying these things, he said to them, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.
95. 1 Kings 19:5 Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, Get up and eat.
96. Matthew 8:24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.
97. Matthew 25:5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.
98. Genesis 2:21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.
99. Genesis 15:12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and suddenly great terror and darkness overwhelmed him.
100. 1 Samuel 26:12 So David took the spear and water jug by Sauls head, and they departed. No one saw them or knew about it, nor did anyone wake up they all remained asleep, because a deep sleep from the LORD had fallen on them.
101. Psalm 76:5 The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil they sank into sleep all the men of war were unable to use their hands.
104. John 11:13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
Connection Between Anxiety And Sleep
Psalm 127:1-2 says, Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain unless the LORD protects the city, its watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for bread to eat for He gives sleep to His beloved. One of the sources of anxiety that keeps people up at night is the fear that they wont have enough money, food, or other things that they need in life. It is the fear that everything will go wrong. The good news is that God knows our needs and . God created 24 hours in the day and He created us with the ability to accomplish all that we need to accomplish in those 24 hours. If we feel like we need more time than that, we are either squandering the time that God has given us in doing unnecessary activities, or we are failing to trust Gods ability and willingness to care for us as a good father does. Regardless of what the case may be, the first thing we need to do is pray.
In Philippians 4:6-7, the Apostle Paul counsels us, do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
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