Finding Ways To Include Jesus At Bedtime

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds…

Teach them to your children,

talking about them when you sit at home

and when you walk along the road,

when you lie down

and when you get up….

so that your days and the days of your children may be many

in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors,

as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.

Deuteronomy 11: 18-21

Bedtime is one of those special opportunities in a day for parents and children to connect.  We both have joys and anxieties as our tired minds review the day that just happened. God wants to be a part of this time also. 

He wants us to go to sleep with his words of truth and love in our minds and hearts.  But for our hearts to listen to him, we need a safe time and place to be able to talk out what is weighing on our hearts and to be encouraged to see the blessings God has given us.

The more I put my mouth and my judgment on the shelf and sincerely listen to children, the more I can tell what weighs on their hearts. Asking what the high and low points of the  day were is a simple tool to help the family conversation to start about the struggles and the blessings that were just experienced.

As the emotions tumble out, it is easy for our own thoughts and perceptions to seem like the only reality we live in.  It is so important at bedtime to listen to our Father who is with us. The Father who created us and the day we have just lived in talks to us through his Words in the Bible. To help your children see God’s love for them, ask your children how they see Jesus’ love for them in the Bible story you read together. Ask them what they learn about how their lives are changed by his love.

After reflecting on Jesus’s  love for us, it is natural to talk to him. Prayer is not this churchy, eloquent, have to say all the religious words sort of thing. God is our Father, we are his kids. Just talk to him. Invite your kids to talk to him. He loves our honest questions, concerns, repentance, and praise. 

At the end of this time together …. A few minutes…maybe longer… sing a familiar and comforting Christian song together.