Here are 10 popular bedtime prayers to teach your children. Don’t use these prayers just to give your children something to say before going to bed. Help your children learn what these prayers mean and why we pray. Obviously, we can pray any time of the day, but having a set time where we teach our children to pray may help instill in them a lifetime habit of talking with the Lord.
I have attributed some of these prayers to their authors. If you know who the original author of the other prayers are, please include their names in the comments below. Or, if you know which book they originally appeared in, leave us a comment.
Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep
Some people may find this prayer a little too heavy for little children, however it is probably one of the best-known prayers that children say at night.
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
Now the Light has Gone Away
Now the light has gone away;
Savior, listen while I pray.
Asking Thee to watch and keep
And to send me quiet sleep.
Jesus, Savior, wash away
All that has been wrong to-day;
Help me every day to be
Good and gentle, more like Thee.
Let my near and dear ones be
Always near and dear to Thee.
O bring me and all I love
To Thy happy home above.
The Day is Done
The day is done;
O God the Son,
Look down upon
Thy little one!
O Light of Light,
Keep me this night,
And shed round me
Thy presence bright.
I need not fear
If Thou art near;
Thou art my Savior
Kind and dear.
Forgive, O Lord
Forgive, O Lord, for Thy dear Son
The ill that I this day have done.
That with the world, myself, and Thee
I, ere I sleep, at peace may be.
Jesus, Tender Shepherd
Jesus, tender Shepherd, hear me:
Bless Thy little child to-night;
Through the darkness be Thou near me,
Keep me safe till morning light.
All this day Thy hand has led me,
And I thank Thee for Thy care;
Thou hast warmed me, clothed me, fed me;
Listen to my evening prayer.
May my sins be all forgiven;
Bless the friends I love so well;
Take me, Lord, at last to heaven.
Happy there with Thee to dwell.
Our Father Who Art in Heaven
Our Father, Who art in Heaven
Hallowed be thy name
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us
And lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil.
Lord, I have Passed Another Day
Lord, I have passed another day
And come to thank Thee for Thy care.
Forgive my faults in work or play
And listen to my evening prayer.
Thy favor gives me daily bread
And friends, who all my wants supply:
And safely now I rest my head,
Preserved and guarded by Thine eye.
Father, We Thank Thee
Father, we thank thee for the night,
And for the pleasant morning light;
For rest and food and loving care,
And all that makes the day so fair.
Help us to do the things we should,
To be to others kind and good;
In all we do, in work or play,
To grow more loving every day.
Rebecca Weston – 1890
Away in a Manger
Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,
The little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head.
The stars in the sky looked down where He lay,
The little Lord Jesus, asleep on the hay.
The cattle are lowing, the Baby awakes,
But little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes;
I love Thee, Lord Jesus, look down from the sky
And stay by my cradle till morning is nigh.
Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever, and love me, I pray;
Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care,
And fit us for Heaven to live with Thee there.
James Murry and John T. McFarland 1887
Abide With Me
Abide With Me is a song that was not written as a bedtime prayer, rather, as a farewell to this world. Henry F. Lyte was dying with tuberculosis in 1847. These beautiful words can be taught as a prayer full of great Bible teaching.
Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.
Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.
Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word;
But as Thou dwell’st with Thy disciples, Lord,
Familiar, condescending, patient, free.
Come not to sojourn, but abide with me.
Come not in terrors, as the King of kings,
But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings,
Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea,
Come, Friend of sinners, and thus bide with me.
Thou on my head in early youth didst smile;
And, though rebellious and perverse meanwhile,
Thou hast not left me, oft as I left Thee,
On to the close, O Lord, abide with me.
I need Thy presence every passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.
I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.
Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
Henry F. Lyte 1847
Do you have a favorite Bedtime prayer? Share it in the comments!
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10 Powerful Prayers For Strength
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“Now I lay me down to sleep ”
the one stated at the top of the article is the one I was taught.
but I remember doing “The lords prayer” at nigh as well.
I am trying to locate the following full Prayer, that I said some 80 yrs ago.
” Now, I lay me down to sleep, I know my God, my soul will keep I Live in Him, I cannot die God is my strength and my Health…………………….. Lost the rest of it. Thanks, Jim
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
Bless this bed that I lie on.
There are four corners to my bed
there are four angels by my head.
One to watch, and one to pray,
and two to bear my soul away.
Jesus thank you for this day, bless me bless my family bless my friends and bless me to thank you Jesus I love you Jesus Amen
This is the version that my mother taught us in the l940’s
as she always felt the other version was too harsh and
probably terrifying to very inquisitive child.
I wish more people would really think about :
“If I should die before I wake” Is this any way to send a child to bed ? Not in my book !
Thank-you for this opportunity of commenting, been wanting to do something like tis fopr years.
The way I learned Now I Lay Me is…
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
Watch and guard me through the night,
and wake me with the morning light.
Amen.
A bit less heavy than the other version. 🙂
I taught my boys…
Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
See me safely through the night
And wake me with the morning light
I am 11 but
Thank you lord for another day,thank you for your presence all throughout the day, thank you for forgiving me , as you see what I see, thank you for giving me courage to stand up for myself, but I know you and me both are working on world peace,but most of all thank you for creating earth.
My mother wrote this bedtime prayer for me and my sisters:
Dear Jesus,
Take this heart of mine;
Make it pure and only Thine.
I Your little child will be.
Teach me, Lord, to live for Thee.
By Bertie W. Evans, circa 1960
We always sang it to the tune of ‘Jesus Loves Me’. It seems to have been published in 1915 in “Bible stories and character building : a practical book for inculcating high ideals”. You can find it in the online Albert R. Mann Library, Cornell University.
FOR A PURE HEART
Jesus, take this heart of mine,
Make it pure, and only thine.
I thy little child would be.
Help me. Lord, to live for thee.
How precious that you associate it so closely with your memories of your mother!
Gentle Jesus meek and mild
Look upon a little child
Pity my simplicity
Suffer me to come to thee
On this bed I lie to sleep
Lord stay, keep and care
until the sun is yet to show
my little soul will wake with joy
sing all to praise your name Amen!!
Thank you so much for these night prayers that I can teach my little one,
The following few lines concluded primary school each afternoon having been taught for class recitation by our teacher around 1965. I have used them myself as part of an evening prayer ever since. I only now realise that the words were taken and adapted from a nineteenth century hymn. I owe the teacher a huge debt for starting me on the road to faith. The prayer is : “Into Thy loving care, Into Thy keeping, Thou who art everywhere, Keep us we pray, O Lord. Amen.”
For Now I Lay Me I always said:
Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the lord my soul to keep
Guide me through the starry night
Wake me up when the sun shines bright
Be near me lord Jesus ask you to stay
Close by me forever, and love me I Pray
Amen
I don’t know what version or adaptation it’s from (or if it was a family modification), but my Ukrainian Grandparents always taught me this one.
Mathew, Mark, Luke and John, Bless this bed i lie upon. Four a corners to my bed, four angels around my head. One to watch, and one to pray, two to keep all harm away. Amen
Thanks for this bedtime prayers..i love them, I can’t wait to start teaching my kids
My mommy taught me one when I was a baby. It helped me when I had nightmares about goblins hurting me. I still say this prayer every night, especially when I’m scared.
“Bound bound bound
Wound around
Guard me now,
Sky to ground.
Lady of the moon,
Lord of the sun,
Protect me now, day is done.
If I die before I wake
I pray dear lord my soul to take
Let angels watch me as I rest
To the world I pray God bless”
I remember it going now I lay me down to sleep I pray the lord my soul to keep the Angels watch me through the night until I wake in morning light…plus it came from a stuffed toy bunny.
Hi I’m almost 27 and I had a small hardback hand shaped prayer book when I was about 5 . I’ve looked everywhere for it but still can’t find the same . I can only remember a few lines but if anyone recognizes them and know what book it was please let me know I would be so grateful thank you .
Dear lord Jesus , forgive mum too she’s kind and caring just like you , as you look down from up above amen
I am trying to find a child’s prayer that goes like this:
Dear God please bless my little eyes
that greet the morning sun, and bless my feet throughout the day, where they may walk or run. And bless hands and find for them the kindest things to do, and bless my heart and bless my soul and keep them clean and true. And last of all please bless my toys and bless my little bed and bless this little life of mine after my prayers are said. Amen
I am trying to locate the following child’s prayer which goes like ….
Dear God please bless my little eyes that greet the morning sun.
And bless my feet throughout the day where they may walk or
run.
And bless my heart and bless my soul, and keep them clean and true. And bless my toys and bless my little bed, and bless this little life of mind after my prayers are said.
Father in Heaven
Hear my prayer, keep me in thy loving care, be my guide in all I do and bless all those who love me too.
BED TIME PRAYER
ALLMIGHTY ALLKNOWING ALLFORGIVING, ALLPROVIDING FATHER
GOD of Faith Hope and Love, creator of universe
Only king of both the worlds..(2) died on cross for all my sins
How I know my father God, looks like Jesus only Son
Born as light of the word, Gave the grace and the truth
Only king of both the worlds..(2) died on cross for all my sins
Thank you Lord forgiving me, every thing I did all day
Jesus is the God with us, he only is good shepherd
Only king of both the worlds..(2) died on cross for all my sins
God of all impossibles, Jesus answers the prayers
Heals, protects me in my sleep, love and prayer of Jesus
He controls the everything..(2) present past and the future
Praising Jesus before the bed, are the children of the God
Now I lay me down to sleep was the one I was taught as a child; however, I adapted it for my children as follows:
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep;
Watch over me all through the night,
And guide me to the morning light.
I am now teaching it to my grandchildren.
My dad taught me the ” Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep” bedtime prayer when I was little. I love that prayer!
Now I lay me down to rest
Angels guard my little nest
Like the wee birds in the tree
Loving Father care for me
Glad and well let me wake
This I ask for Jesus sake, Amen
A spin off of the Now I Lay me Down to Sleep prayer, but instead of saying…If I die before I wake, I would always say with my son , and keep me safe throughout the night and guide me with the morning light.
My Parents Allan & Alice taught us this Prayer at Night;
“In the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Amen.
Infant Jesus meek and mild,
look on me a little child,
When I work and when I play,
Please be with me all the day,
Sweet Holy Child.
Night, Night Jesus, make me a good boy/girl, Please Bless; My Mother, My Father, Janice, Sandy, Robert, Bonnie, and my dog LuLu.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.”
Meal Time Prayer
“In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.
“Bless us, O Lord, and these, Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen
In the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Amen.
Praise for Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Now and Forever, Amen”
Trying to find this children’s bedtime prayer:
Watch me as the lions sleep
as a shepherd guards his sheep
when I close my eyes this night
keep me safe till morning light
for the wrong as I have done this day
please forgive me Lord I pray
cleanse me Jesus from all sin
till Heaven’s Gate I enter in
Amen
There was a prayer taught to me by my mom who has passed and I only remember parts of it. It goes like this;
Good night my dear Jesus the one I love best I have finished my work and now I must rest. The rest I cannot remember. My mom taught me this 45 years ago. If anyone knows this prayer please post it. Thank you.
Goodnight dear Jesus, the one I love best. I have finished my work and now I must rest. You have blessed me this day, now bless me this night. And keep me from sin and danger til morning’s light and always.
My dad was a Lutheran minister and my mother taught us to pray every night. We had a variety of prayers to say, including Jesus, tender shepherd, hear me, which I still love. My littlest sister said, “Jesus, tender Chepherd,” one reason it’s still in my memory. The one we each said every night was “Now I Lay Me” and it went:
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
Guide me safely through the night
And wake me with the morning light.
Amen
Followed by:
God bless Mommy, Daddy, Mom-mom, Pop-pop, (my name, my sisters’ names, and the names of all our animals) and we added anyone we wished to have God bless. Sometimes it took a while. Sometimes we said it fast and it ran together. I have sweet memories of saying this and still do every once in a while now.