Sleeping While Praying

Somewhere between "Father God" and "Amen,"  I dozed off.  Well, dozing off is not actually true.  I went to sleep while praying.  I have gone to sleep in some other religious moments like in the middle of a sermon to which I am listening.  When I started preaching as a young seminary preacher, I was confident that no one would ever go to sleep while I was preaching.  It did not take long for that illusion to be shattered.  A front row member of my first church put it to rest while the rest of us wondered what to do with his snoring.  It just seems that sometimes sleep should not overtake us.  

Certainly, we should not sleep when hearing the Word of God being preached, or when asking for God's ears and heart while praying.  I remember the story of Eutychus who went to sleep while Paul was preaching.  He did not just doze, but went to sleep so soundly, he fell out a three story high window and was found dead on the ground. (Acts 20:7-12).  The Bible has a story of some others who should have stayed awake, but went to sleep.  The gospel writers remembered the night of Jesus praying in Gethsemane.  Jesus asked the disciples to pray with Him and they went to sleep. (Matthew 26:26-46).  The fact that the disciples went to sleep, not once but three times, comforts me little when I should be paying attention in a moment with God and go to sleep. 

When I wake up early in the morning to pray and find myself asleep and about ready to fall out of my chair, I quietly fuss at myself a bit and think, "At least I was where I was supposed to be."  I am not sure the Lord takes any real pleasure in such a rationalization when His heart is grieved over the things about which He has put on my heart to pray.  I feel sure He looks at me, shakes His head, and murmurs, "So, could you not stay awake with me one hour?" (Matthew 26:40).  Who knows?  Maybe it is His voice speaking such a Word in my spirit that shakes me back to consciousness?