A Quiet Christian Reflection for Insomnia and Peace

On Night, Sleep & Exhaustion

Insomnia is not just sleeplessness — it is a particular kind of wakefulness, often unwanted, sometimes persistent, always lonely. This reflection is not a cure for insomnia, but a companion within it. When sleep will not come, peace still can. And in that peace, rest of another kind becomes possible.

The Christian tradition has long honored the night hours as times of sacred encounter. The Psalms speak of meditating through the watches of the night. Jesus withdrew to pray while others slept. Monastics rise for Vigils in the darkness. What if your insomnia, rather than being only a problem to solve, could also become a space for presence?

This is not to romanticize sleeplessness. Chronic insomnia is exhausting and deserves attention. But within these wakeful hours, peace is still available, and encountering it may itself bring the rest your body needs.

What Does Peaceful Wakefulness Look Like?

Peaceful wakefulness is different from anxious wakefulness. It does not fight the sleeplessness or catastrophize about tomorrow. It accepts the present moment — awake, quiet, held — and finds rest within that acceptance.

• Lying still without frustration
• Breathing slowly without trying to force sleep
• Releasing the pressure to be asleep by now
• Allowing the mind to rest even if the body stays awake
• Trusting that this night will pass and you will be held through it

Peace in insomnia is not resignation. It is a different kind of engagement — one that stops fighting and starts resting, even without sleep.

Finding God in Sleepless Hours

Scripture repeatedly presents the night as a time when God draws near. David wrote, "On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night" (Psalm 63:6). The night is not God-forsaken territory — it is simply quieter territory, where different kinds of encounter become possible.

When the world sleeps and you cannot join them, you are not alone in your wakefulness. God keeps watch. The presence that holds the universe does not sleep. Your sleeplessness is witnessed, accompanied, held.

Perhaps these hours, unwanted as they are, can become thin places — thresholds where the sacred feels nearer because everything else has quieted down.

A Reflection for Insomnia

This is not a prayer to make sleep come, but a reflection to bring peace whether it does or not.

Lord, I am awake when I would rather be sleeping. The night stretches on and sleep will not come. I stop fighting it. I release my frustration into Your hands. If sleep comes, let it come. If it does not, let peace come instead. I am not alone in this darkness. You are here. You do not sleep. You watch over me even now. Let me rest in Your presence, awake or asleep. Let me find peace in this night, whatever it holds.

The night will pass. Morning will come. And whether you sleep or lie awake, you are held through every hour.

A Practice for Sleepless Nights

When sleep refuses to come, consider shifting from trying to sleep to simply resting. The body can receive restoration even in quiet wakefulness, and the soul can find peace even without unconsciousness.

• Stop looking at the clock — it only feeds anxiety
• Let your body be still, even if your mind wanders
• Breathe slowly, counting each exhale if it helps
• Recite a simple prayer or verse with each breath
• Trust that God is present in the sleepless hours too

Peace is not the same as sleep, but it can prepare the way for it — and if sleep does not come, peace is still worth finding.