In Psalm 4:4, we’re instructed this way: “When you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.”
I remember how Libby Miller from Camp Greystone taught the young campers how to go to sleep:
After the bugle played taps and camp was quiet, after the closing of the Bible and the prayer of thanks for the day, after snuggling in to the warm, soft blankets, you stay silent. It’s a time to search your heart.
You search for ways you’ve sinned and then ask for cleansing. You search for all the beautiful memories of the day you want to hold in your heart forever. You search for who needs prayer. You search for all God’s loving ways toward you. You think about Him. You search your heart, and fall asleep with Jesus. You feel clean, whole, and joyful.
Those summers were the best sleep of my life.
I teach my teen daughters Libby Miller’s words. There’s a different way to go to sleep. I remember tucking in those campers, and last night, I went back to the devotion, the prayer, and the searching of the heart.
We slept so well last night.