Sleep in Christian preaching often symbolizes rest, spiritual renewal, or even death and resurrection, reflecting the temporary nature of earthly life (Psalm 127:2). Illustrations may use humorous or extraordinary images—like dozing congregants or legendary long sleepers—to engage listeners and highlight lessons about vigilance and the soul’s need for divine refreshment.
A dozing deacon misunderstands a preacher's question, humorously answering about merchandise price.
Inopportune. In a town not far from Boston, as the clergyman was holding forth, one of the deacons fell into a doze. The preacher happening to use the words, "What is the price of all earthly pleasures?" the good deacon, who kept a small store, thinking the inquiry respecting some kind of merchandise, immediately answered, "Seven and sixpence a dozen."
Herodotus reports a tribe that supposedly sleeps six months continuously each year.
Herodotus alludes incredulously to a race of Scythians or Tartars who were reported to sleep six months continuously in a year.
Excuses for pastors not having devotions:
1. Finding the right time.
2. Falling asleep. Peter fell asleep, and Gentiles were saved as a result.
3. Unanswered prayer.
4. Conflicts of interest. Steal time from other activities.
5. Ownership for your quiet time.
6. Trouble with long silences.
7. Time prioritization.
Sermon series on Proverbs: The Sluggard.
1. Sluggard is a comic, tragic figure.
2. Problems of a sluggard:
a. Won't begin things.
b. Won't finish things.
c. Won't face things.
3. Results:
a. Restless.
b. Helpless.
c. Useless.
4. Alternative - be a winner.
We must wake up to the importance of God's wrath at sin. Liberalism took wrath away from God. But wrath is necessary. Revival cannot happen without it being sensed.
1. God's perspective.
2. Love has conditions.
3. Repentance and wrath.
4. Time to wake up!
#776
*
Sermon on contentment in the face of opponents. Psalm 4:1-8
HEAVENLY SLEEP
==============
I. Insomnia.
II. David's distress. 4:1
A. At night, David is tempted to brood on past wrongs.
B. This challenges David to affirm his faith.
C. David faced three groups of opponents.
III. David's answer to the fickle. 4:2-3
A. David's authority is challenged.
B. Ultimately his vindication will come from God, not people. 4:3
IV. David's answer to hot-heads. 4:4-5
A. Impulsive opponents.
B. Anger and sin.
C. Nighttime is a good opportunity to take assessment. 4:4
V. David's answer to defeatists. 4:6-7
A. He is surrounded by pessimists.
B. The solution of prayer.
C. Inward and outward joy. 4:7
VI. Well-founded peace. 4:8
A. "In safety" or "unafraid." Proverbs 1:33
B. David has this confidence because of the character of his God.
C. How contented is your life?
*
For 16 years, Patricia White Bull was unresponsive to the world - unable to speak, swallow or move much. On Christmas Eve, she suddenly snapped back to consciousness.
“Don’t do that,” she blurted out when nurses were trying to fix her nursing home bed Dec. 24. Doctors cannot explain why Ms. White Bull, 42, awakened from the catatonic state she slipped into while delivering her fourth child. Her mother, Snowflake Flower, said it was a Christmas miracle from God.
Since then, Ms. White Bull — known as “Happi” — has been speaking her children’s names, catching up on family developments and spending a lot of time just watching her children and smiling.
“I just went up to her and gave her a hug, and she gave me a hug back,” said her oldest child, Cindi, a 26-year-old senior at the University of North Carolina. “It was the first time she had ever hugged back. It was scary at first. It was overwhelming emotionally.”
Ms. White Bull’s speech is clear but still limited. She has talked very little but listened a lot. Her hands, which had been clenched tightly for 16 years, have loosened.
(The Detroit News, 4Jan2000)
LET SLEEPING DOGS LIE
One afternoon, I was in the backyard hanging the laundry when an old, tired-
looking dog wandered into the yard. I could tell from his collar and well-
fed belly that he had a home. But when I walked into the house, he followed
me, sauntered down the hall and fell asleep in a corner. An hour later, he
went to the door, and I let him out. The next day he was back. He resumed
his position in the hallway and slept for an hour.
This continued for several weeks. Curious, I pinned a note to his collar:
"Every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap."
The next day he arrived with a different note pinned to his collar: "He lives
in a home with ten children - he's trying to catch up on his sleep."
----------------------------
By Susan F. Roman, from Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul, Copyright 1998
by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Marty Becker and Carol Kline
*
GET A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP
Some three hundred years ago, a statesman who had some responsibility for world affairs, could not sleep at night.
His wakeful servant saw the lighted candle in his master's bedroom. Knocking softly, he entered and found the man pacing the floor. When the disturbed servant asked what he could do, the statesman shook his head, as he paced back and forth.
"It is the terrific problems of the world that keep me awake. You can do nothing about them."
"Sir," the humble servant asked, "Who watched over the world before you came into it?"
"Why, God, of course."
"And, Sir, will God watch over the world after you have gone from it?"
"Certainly," the statesman answered.
"Then, Sir, why don't you let Him watch over it just long enough for you to get a good night's sleep?
The statesman went to bed and slept.
--The Messenger, Paris, TN
From Wayne Greeson:
“Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light” (Eph. 5:14).
“And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed” (Rom. 13:11).
“Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame” (1 Cor. 15:34).
Even for $2,700 cash people couldn’t or wouldn’t stay awake! I just find it funny that after only 6 hours over 100 had already fallen asleep and one man took only 25 minutes.
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) – Nearly 500 Thais began a marathon movie-watch Friday in a bid to break a world record at a Bangkok cinema, seeing who can stay awake the longest. Some $2,700 in cash is up for grabs, to be shared between whoever can stay the full 52-hour course or endure the most movies without falling asleep. The current record is held by a Hungarian who watched 20 films in 37 hours and 25 minutes. Several thousand applied to take part in the marathon. Participants took a physical to make sure they were fit for three long days and two sleepless nights. “They’re also required to have urine tests before and during the marathon as any stimulant is prohibited,” said Ananya Phungrassamee, a representative for the cinema operator, the Entertainment Golden Village.
Contestants are allowed to take five minutes rest after every movie and another 15 minutes at the end of three movies for mealtimes. They are monitored by an infrared camera to check if they fall asleep, move seats or disturb others. But only six hours after the marathon began, at least 106 contestants were ruled out of the contest as they fell asleep. The first was a man who fell asleep only 25 minutes into the first movie, “The Hurricane,” starring Denzel Washington.
It is told of John Wesley that when he saw some of his hearers asleep
he stopped in his discourse and shouted: "Fire! Fire!" The Sleepers
were alarmed, and waking up, cried out: "Where, sir Where?" "In Hell!"
replied Wesley solemnly -- "In hell for those who sleep under the
preaching of the Word"
The turnpike stood on a quiet country road, and, especially at
night, the traffic was not very great. So the old turnpike man used
to shut his gate when darkness descended on wood and moor, and retire
to bed.
One night, when the rain was falling and neither stars nor moon
dispelled the blackness in which trees and road and heather
disappeared, a horseman cautiously approached the gate, dismounted,
and knocked for the turnpike keeper. "Gate! Gate!" he cried.
"Coming!" replied the old man. Out there in the pitiless rain and
the silence and the gloom the horseman remembered his cozy home, and
became impatient to be gone. So he knocked again. "Gate! Gate!" he
cried. "Coming! Coming!" repeated the voice. After another long
delay, during which he felt the rain penetrating his clothes, he again
banged at the door. "Gate! Gate!" he cried more impatiently. "Coming!
Coming!" was the reply. But still the turnpike man did not appear, and
the horseman became quite angry. He opened the door, and, putting in
his head, demanded: "Why do you say, 'Coming, Coming,' this twenty
minutes, and yet you never appear?"
"Who is there?" asked the old man in a sleepy voice. "Oh! I ask
your pardon sir, but I get so used to hearing 'em knock, that I
answers, 'Coming, Coming,' in my sleep, then I takes no more notice."
How many there are who have become so accustomed to the sound of
the Gospel that they hear without listening, and without
understanding! How many have said, again and again, when they have
heard God's call, "Coming, Coming," and have never meant it at all!
--Glad Tidings
[see also #3343]
A short time ago, a locomotive engine was speeding along the
Northwest line, while the two men who were in it lay fast asleep. A
sharp-eyed signalman, from his lookout, was alert enough to see how
matters stood, and without a moment's delay telegraphed in advance, to
set off an explosive detonation in order to rouse the sleepers.
Happily, it was done in time, and, startled from what might have been
a fatal slumber, the men shut off steam, reversed the engine, and
averted a terrible calamity.
It is no breach of charity, to suspect that some of you are
hastening on to destruction, but know it not, for your consciences are
asleep; and I would set off an explosion on your line that, e'er you
pass another mile, the crashing sound may rouse you to your danger, as
you hear the voice of eternal truth declaring, "If ye live after the
flesh, ye shall die!" --J. Thain Davidson
Carl Sandburg was persuaded to attend the dress rehearsal of a very
serious play by a very serious young dramatist but unfortunately he
slept through the greater part of the performance. The outraged
dramatist chided him later. "How could you sleep when you knew how
much I wanted your opinion?" "Young man," Sandburg reminded him,
"sleep is an opinion." (1 Thess 5:6)
A great captain thought he gave that soldier but his due, whom he
ran through with his sword because he found him asleep when he should
have stood sentinel. Excusing his severity, the captain said that he
left him but as he found him: "Mortuum inveni, et mortuum reliqui "
--"I found him dead in sleep, and left him but asleep in death."
--Gurnal
In our state, we had a Mr. William A. Rogers, president of the
Marietta Female College. One morning his wife was indisposed and he
sent his servant to the drug store for quinine. In a few moments the
servant returned with the medicine. Mrs. Rogers took the powder and
put it on her tongue. She rinsed it down with water, but as soon as
she had swallowed it she walked to the front porch, and to her
husband, who was in the flower yard, she said: "Husband, that was not
quinine I took just now. I sent for quinine, but I am satisfied that
was not quinine."
Mr. Rogers ran down with all his might to the drug store, and said:
"What was that you sent my wife?" The druggist threw up his hands and
said: "Sir, I have sent enough morphine to your house to kill a dozen
persons." Mr. Rogers ran over to the doctor's office and brought two
physicians home with him. They administered emetics and strong coffee
and various remedies, but directly a deathlike stupor began to crawl
over her frame. The agonized husband turned to the doctors and said:
"Is there any chance to save my poor wife?" "Yes," they replied, "if
we can keep her awake for four hours we can save her life."
The minutes seemed like hours, as they walked her up and down the
floor, and threw cold water in her face, and whipped her person with
cruel switches, and every means was used. That deathlike stupor be
came so oppressive that she turned to her husband and said: "Husband,
please let me go to sleep"; and he said: "Oh, wife, if you go to sleep
you will never wake in this world. "I know that," she said, "but
please let me go to sleep." They walked her up and down the floor, and
soon, when the stupor overwhelmed her whole being, she turned to her
husband and said: "Husband, please let me sleep for just five
minutes." And he said: "Wife, if you go to sleep for five minutes, you
will never wake up. Arouse! Arouse!" Thus they persevered until the
four hours had passed, and the doctors had pronounced her safe.
I have seen the soul of man in just that condition. I have worked
with him, prayed with him and wrestled with him day after day and week
after week; and the devil would administer opiates to his soul, and he
would say: "Just let me sleep until this service is over, just let me
sleep through this." Oh, brother, how men sleep over their immortal
interests! --Sam Jones
David Livingstone tells us that when he was under the paw of a
lion, when one time, from the recesses of the forest the great beast
was on him and pinned him to the ground, he felt the breath of the
lion soothing him to sleep. There was something in the breath that
brought a dimness over the eyes, and a soothing to the spirit, and the
bloody fangs of the lion that were getting ready to devour him were
prefaced by this blindfolding by the very presence of the beast of
prey.
Yes, the devil causes a similar unconsciousness. I believe that
positively there is an influence from the presence of the devil in a
temptation. I believe that physically, like what Livingstone
described--physically like it, and spiritually like it--the devil
blinds and soothes, and makes unconscious to the realities of God and
heaven and hell, making you unconscious of what you are about. Then he
lights up the imagination to the galleries of the spirit. He brings
pictures and desires and at last sets you on fire with the fire of
hell, the passions of the soul. --John Robertson
"The potential of the average person is like a huge ocean unsailed, a new continent unexplored, a world of possibilities waiting to be released and channeled toward some great good."
-- Brian Tracy
"A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for."
-- William Shedd
"Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations."
-- George Bernard Shaw
"One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar."
-- Helen Keller
"We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us even in our soundest sleep."
-- Henry David Thoreau
"There is great treasure there behind our skull and this is true about all of us. This little treasure has great, great powers, and I would say we only have learned a very, very small part of what it can do."
-- Isaac Bashevis Singer
"You see things; and you say 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say 'Why not?'"
-- George Bernard Shaw
"Start by doing what's necessary, then what's possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible."
-- St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226); founder of Franciscan Order of
Priests; Bits & Pieces, 3/15/02
"True life is lived when tiny changes occur."
-- Count Leo Tolstoy
"And life is what we make it. Always has been, always will be."
-- Grandma Moses
"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."
-- George Bernard Shaw
"The better I get, the more I realize how much better I can get."
-- Martina Navratilova, retired tennis player, Even More of...The Best
of BITS & PIECES
"What we have done has barely scratched the surface. It turns out that there is, in fact, unlimited juice in that lemon. The fact is, this is not about squeezing anything at all: It is about tapping an ocean of creativity, passion, and energy that, as far as we can see, has no bottom and no shores."
-- Jack Welch, CEO, General Electric, BITS & PIECES
"The 'what should be' never did exist, but people keep trying to live up to it. There is no 'what should be,' there is only what is."
-- Lenny Bruce (1925-1966), comedian
"Most people see what is, and never see what can be."
-- Albert Einstein (1879-1955), physicist
"For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been'."
-- John Greenleaf Whittier
"No one has yet fully realized the wealth of sympathy, kindness, and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure."
-- Emma Goldman (1869-1940), social activist
"We know what we are, but know not what we may be."
-- William Shakespeare
"Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), philosopher and writer, B&P 10/15/02
"Things turn out best for the people who make the best out of the way things turn out."
-- Art Linkletter, television and radio personality
"The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled."
-- Plutarch, QFTM 2/15/03
"An optimist thinks this is the best possible world.
A pessimist fears this is true."
-- author unknown
“There is no sadder sight than a young pessimist.”
-- Mark Twain
Ten Best Excuses when you are caught napping...
-------
10. “They told me at the blood bank this might happen.”
9. “This is just a 15 minute power-nap like they raved about in that time management course you sent me to.”
8. “Whew! Guess I left the top off the White-Out. You probably got here just in time!”
7. “I wasn't sleeping! I was meditating on the mission statement and envisioning a new paradigm.”
6. “I was testing my keyboard for drool resistance.”
5. “I was doing a highly specific Yoga exercise to relieve work-related stress. Are you discriminatory toward people who practice Yoga?”
4. “Why did you interrupt me? I had almost figured out a solution to our biggest problem.”
3. “The coffee machine is broken...”
2. “Someone must've put decaf in the wrong pot...”
And the #1 best thing to say if you get caught sleeping at your desk...
1. “...in Jesus' name. Amen.”
*
I saw an ad the other night for one motel chain that had an interesting slant. Apparently, they wanted to highlight how very restful a stay at their motels can be. So as you watch the front of one of their facilities, you hear only the persistent ringing of a room phone. It continues to go unanswered as the narrator points out that you may sleep so soundly at their motel that you may sleep right through your wakeup call. Now, assuming the motel guest has a flight to catch or appointments to keep that day, that is not a good idea.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Sleeping Through Your Wakeup Call."
Now, sleeping through a wakeup call from your hotel can lead to serious consequences - like missing something you really can't afford to miss. Sleeping through a wakeup call from God can lead to deadly consequences - like missing the meaning of your life on earth - as well as the heaven we hope to go to when we die.
Only hours before Jesus was crucified, He asked His close friends this haunting question - "Are you still sleeping?" (Mark 14:41) It might be a question Jesus is asking you today - "Are you still sleeping after all the wakeup calls I've given you? After all the reminders and opportunities I've given you to get things settled with Me?"
Jesus loves you so much that He gave His life on that cross so you wouldn't have to die for your sins. He is not asking you to join a religion or go through some rituals. He's asking you to commit your life to the One who gave His life for you. But you've been putting Him off, pursuing other things, maybe hiding behind some excuses, or hoping that all the Christians and Christianity you know will somehow be enough. You can lock Jesus out rudely or you can do it politely. Either way, He's still not in your life and you're still what He calls "lost."
But because Jesus does not want to lose you, He's sent you wakeup calls. They may have been delivered through a Christian friend or maybe your spouse or family member who knows Christ personally. But you've put them off, blown them off. Those calls weren't from them - they were from Jesus. Sometimes, Jesus will even allow you to run into a wall to get your attention - a crisis, a loss, a medical emergency, a close call. Wakeup calls to show you your need for a Savior.
In Matthew 23:37, our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus wept over the people of Jerusalem and said, "How often I have longed to gather your children together ... but you were not willing." He may be saying something like that to you right now - "How many times I've called you to Myself, but you were not willing."
I don't know how many more times He's going to call. I don't know - you don't know - when your time is going to be over. Bottom line - this is heaven or hell we're talking about. Today - right now - Jesus is calling one more time. Please, don't sleep through His call again. There's way too much to lose.
Open the door to this Man who loves you more than anyone has ever loved you. Tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours." If you want to finally know that you belong to Him, I hope you'll let me send you the booklet "Yours For Life." It's about beginning your relationship with Jesus.
The Bible puts it this way, "Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near." (Isaiah 55:6) That implies you may not always be able to find Him. He may not always be near. But, He's near right now. Please, grab Him while you can.
________________
Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. 'Practical Answers to Real Life Issues'
*
The lady in the airplane seat next to me was from Norway. And I knew she had experienced something I needed to know about - winter months with very long nights and summer months with very long days. With our Native American team planning major summer outreach among Native young people in Alaska, I was especially interested in what our days would be like up there. My neighbor from Norway made the answer very clear - they would be endless! She said that even after all the years living there, she never can sleep much in those northern days where there is virtually no dark. I thought, "Ooo, it should be a lot of fun getting our team to sleep at night, when there is no night." But then I was curious to know about those December days when we have only about nine hours or so of daylight. She told me about a time when it was, in her words, "almost always dark," where she lives. It's hard for me to imagine weeks where you basically never see the light of the sun. It's not hard for me to imagine the way my Norwegian neighbor said many people feel during that time ... really depressed.
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "When The Night Never Stops."
A long, depressing darkness. You don't have to live in the North Country to know what darkness like that feels like - in your heart, that is. It may have been winter inside your soul for a long time ... maybe concealed from others by a smiling mask or a very busy life. But it's still dark inside most of the time.
It might be the guilt of mistakes that you've made that has brought on the long winter. Or a nagging sense of worthlessness. Or a chronic despair over the pain of the past or the meaninglessness of the present. Or it could be the darkness might be summed up in one increasingly, desperate word - loneliness. But whatever the cause, this heaviness inside, this relentless darkness has been there long enough.
The end of a long, long night can begin with a hope-filled promise made by Jesus Christ - who has never made a promise He did not keep. It's our word for today from the Word of God, John 8:12. "Jesus said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'" Jesus promises that if you belong to Him, if you'll stay close to Him, He will lead you out of the darkness that no one else has been able to dispel ... the beginning of the end of your long, dark winter.
But ONLY Jesus can replace your darkness with what He called "the light of life." Why? Because our problem isn't really the darkness. Near the North Pole in winter, the problem is that the sun doesn't shine there. Our problem isn't ultimately the darkness of our loneliness or despair - it's the absence of the Light! We were created to live in a love-relationship with our Creator, which we have lost by running our lives our way instead of His way. In God's own words, "Your sins have separated you from your God." (Isaiah 59:2)
That separation could only be healed by the death penalty for your sin being erased. And that's what was going on when Jesus was bleeding and dying on that cross - He was paying for your sin, which is the ultimate cause of the darkness in your soul. And the forgiveness, the peace, the light He died to give you becomes yours when you tell Him you're trusting Him to be your Savior from your sin.
If you do that, Jesus will shed His light on every dark stretch you ever walk, including the darkest stretch of all, when one day you walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Why don't you open your heart to Jesus Christ today, right where you are? It's been dark long enough.
If you want to begin this relationship with Jesus, I'd like to send you the booklet I wrote about it called "Yours For Life" if you'll let me know you're ready.
Then this wonderful promise of God will be all about you ... "God has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves." (Colossians 1:13)
*
John Tadlock says there is an epidemic of "hurry sickness" in today's run-as-fast-as-you-can world.
"Everyone is busy. Everyone uses the words, 'There aren't enough hours in a day.'" But, he said, days have the same number of hours they always have. Hurry sickness is "the continuous struggle to participate in more and more events in less and less time, frequently in the face of opposition of other people.
"We have faxes, e-mails, voice mail, pay at the pump and microwaves -- all this stuff designed to take less time so we will have more time. But, you know, it doesn't work that way," he said.
Thirty-four years ago some members of Congress predicted that by the turn of the century one of the main problems in the United States would be what people would do with all their spare time, he noted. With all the "new" time-saving devices, the U.S. work week would be cut to about 30 hours, they had predicted.
"Now, tell me, how many of you have all that spare time?" he asked. "You may have hurry sickness if you are constantly speeding up the pace of your daily activities.
"If you are approaching a stop light and you judge which lane to get in based on the make and model of the cars already there, you probably have hurry sickness. If you choose a lane at Wal-Mart based not only the number of people in the lane, but by doing a mental tabulation of the number of items they have in their carts, you probably have hurry sickness," Tadlock said.
"But you know you have a bad case if you even keep track of the people in the other lanes and you calculate if they are moving more quickly than you are and you are upset if they get through their lane before you do."
He said a second symptom of hurry sickness is becoming "polyphasic," when a person always is trying to do more than one thing at a time.
"You're never satisfied with how much you are accomplishing, are you?" he asked. "You're always doing at least two things simultaneously -- talking on the phone and typing on the computer, reading a book and watching television. Oh, and driving your car ... what all do we do while we are driving? Put on make-up, talk on a cell phone, shave, comb our hair, eat breakfast, change CDs in the player. Does this sound familiar?
"And the classic -- think about it. Do you have magazines or books in your bathroom?" he asked the group.
Tadlock said there is a spiritual danger when people become polyphasic in their prayer life. "How many of you have your prayer time when you are driving the car or when you are in the shower?"
He cited studies showing, contrary to popular opinion, that increases in stimulation of the brain do not cause it to function better. "The brain actually starts to shut down when you do several things at once. We aren't functioning better as we get busier."
A third symptom of hurry sickness, he said, is clutter. "Our lives have too much clutter. We lack simplicity. Our culture doesn't let us simplify well. We have too many dates on our calendar. We have too much stuff!"
Posing the question, "How does the hurry sickness affect you?" Tadlock responded by saying it causes people to become superficial and destroys a Christian's intimacy with God.
"When we are intimate with God, the rest of our life will be in order; we operate more effectively," he said. "Hurry crowds out significant relationships. It crowds out prayer. We use words to keep us from listening to God. To listen, you have to be still and quiet. The importance of listening to God cannot be overstated."
Busyness also erodes a person's capacity to love.
"We lose the capacity to love God and others," Tadlock said. "Hurry and love are fundamentally opposed."
He said a danger of constant activity is getting addicted to hurry. "We live in such a state of adrenaline arousal that we can't slow down."
So, what can be done?
"We have to ruthlessly delete hurry from our lives," Tadlock said. "The opposite of hurry isn't slow. The opposite of hurry is rest. God wants us to understand the importance of rest, of sleep."
He quoted what he said is often heard in religious circles: "'I'd rather burn out than rust out.' Well, people, either way, you're out!
"Maybe the most spiritual thing you can do tonight is to get a good night's sleep," Tadlock counseled. "You can't be loving to anyone if you're tired. Sleep is a spiritual act that may bring you closer to God. You can't pursue life and God without it."
*
"O fool, what else is sleep but chill death's likeness?" -- Ovid
Wake up! It won't kill you, but staying in bed just might. A six-year study of more than a million Americans shows that a good night's sleep lasts seven hours. More sleep isn't better. People who sleep for eight hours or more tend to die a bit sooner. Six hours' sleep, on the other hand, isn't that bad.
Study leader Daniel F. Kripke, MD, says this is good news for most of us. The average American gets six-and-a-half hours of sleep on a weeknight.
"You really don't have to sleep for eight hours and you don't have to worry about it," says Kripke, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego. "It is evidently very safe to sleep only seven, six, or even five hours a night."
The findings confirm earlier studies, says sleep expert Donald L. Bliwise, PhD, director of the program in sleep, aging, and chronobiology at Atlanta's Emory University. However, Bliwise warns that they don't mean it's good to get way too little sleep for too long.
"Getting a couple of nights' short sleep is nothing to be concerned about," Bliwise tells WebMD. "If someone on a chronic basis is truly getting a short amount of sleep -- less than five hours, night after night -- there are some concerns. If you are a long-haul truck driver getting by on four hours of sleep, week after week, that is just not good."
Kripke and co-workers analyzed data from an American Cancer Society study conducted between 1982 and 1988. The study gathered information on people's sleep habits and health, and then followed them for six years. Study participants ranged in age from 30 to 102 years, with an average starting age of 57 years for women and 58 years for men.
Because the study included 1.1 million people, the study could detect relatively small risks. For too much sleep, the risk of death over six years went up 12% for people who slept eight hours, 17% for those who slept nine hours, and 34% for those who slept 10 hours.
"For 10-hour sleepers, the increased risk of death was about the same as that for moderate obesity," Kripke noted.
Death risk increased for those who go too little sleep, too, but the numbers are smaller. The risk of death went up 8% for those who slept six hours, 11% for those who slept five hours, and 17% for those who slept only four hours a night.
While this increased risk is statistically significant, it doesn't translate into much of a risk for an individual person. The study's main finding, Kripke says, is that sleeping less than eight hours isn't bad for you. In fact, eight hours' sleep can no longer be considered normal.
So why does it feel good to sleep in? Oversleeping may be a lot like overeating, suggests Jim Horne, PhD, director of the sleep research center at Loughborough University, England.
"As we can eat more food than we require and drink more fluids than we require, or drink beer, or eat foods we don't need, we may sleep more than we require," Horne tells WebMD. "There is an optionality about it. The amount of sleep we require is what we need not to be sleepy in the daytime."
The Kripke study also shows that people who say they have insomnia aren't necessarily in bad health. But those who often take sleeping pills have an increased risk of death. Frequent use of sleeping pills increased the risk of death by 25%.
"The risk of taking a sleeping pill every night is equivalent to sleeping three or 10 hours," Kripke says. "It is a substantial risk factor. We cannot say it causes these deaths or that this risk applies to newer medicines. But lacking evidence for safety, the wisest choice is to be cautious in their use."
________________________
By Daniel DeNoon WebMD Medical News, reviewed by Charlotte Grayson
*
Read: Isaiah 26:1-9
You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. — Isaiah 26:3
We spend approximately 30 percent of our lives sleeping—or trying to sleep. Today there are more than 300 sleep disorder clinics in the United States. There are also 90 million Americans who snore, and they (or the people who share a room with them) spend about $200 million a year on anti-snoring remedies.
Think of it! Nearly a third of our entire lives sleeping! Yet how much do we plan and prepare spiritually for those important hours of sleep?
For many years, a friend of mine has followed a simple guideline he refers to as HWLW, which stands for “His Word the Last Word.” Every night, just before turning out the light, he reads a passage from the Bible or meditates on a verse he has memorized. Before he goes to sleep, he wants the last word he thinks about to be from God—not the evening news or the weather, not the late-night talk-show host or the celebrity guest, but a final word from the Lord.
Is it possible that the words of Isaiah 26:3 could apply to our subconscious as well as our conscious minds? Wouldn’t “perfect peace” for the person “whose mind is stayed on” the Lord make for a good night’s sleep?
Why don’t we all try it? “His Word the Last Word”—spiritual preparation for a peaceful night’s sleep! —DCM
Putting It Into Practice: Before going to sleep, read a portion from the Bible or recall a verse you read earlier in the day. Meditate on God and your relationship with Him. Before you turn out the light, turn to the light of God’s Word.
Then I lay down and slept in peace and woke up safely, for the Lord was watching over me. (Psalm 3:5)
When we know God, we can have a peaceful night sleep no matter what is going on in our lives.
(1) We can be assured that while we are sleeping, God is not. He watches over us and protects us just as a new mother watches over her newborn baby. Nothing deters His attention from us. We are safe. No matter how old we get, we never outgrow the watchful eyes of God.
(2) Sleep might not come easily during a crisis. It is at those things that we need to have full assurance that God has our circumstances in control. If you are lying awake at night worrying about situations you can’t change, have a little talk with Jesus and before long you will fall to sleep in His loving arms.
Can’t sleep at night? Don’t count sheep … rely on the Shepherd.
A. The Lord Our Protector « Leader information »
I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the LORD sustains me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people Who have set themselves against me round about. Psalms 3:5-6 (NAS)
1. God’s people have always lived in troublous times
a. we do today
b. as in, “Abide with Me” (Henry F. Lyte, 1793-1847)
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.
c. or, in “The Solid Rock” (Edward Mote, 1797-1884)
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.
d. Martin Luther knew it: These were the circumstances under which Luther was placed, as he journeyed toward Worms. His friend Spalatin heard it said, by the enemies of the Reformation, that the safe conduct of a heretic ought not to be respected, and became alarmed for the reformer. At the moment when the latter was approaching the city, a messenger appeared before him with this advice from the chaplain, “Do not enter Worms!” And this from his best friend, the elector’s confidant, from Spalatin himself! … But Luther, undismayed, turned his eyes upon the messenger, and replied, “Go, and tell your master, that even should there be as many devils in Worms as tiles upon the housetops, still I would enter it.” The messenger returned to Worms, with this astounding answer: “I was then undaunted,” said Luther, a few days before his death, “I feared nothing.” (Spurgeon, Treasury of David)
e. and, as the title of the Psalm tells us, with David fleeing from his son, Absolom, it was certainly true of him
(A) « talking about the 10,000 opponents was not just some abstract idea … this was reality! »
(B) « and when he spoke of them being set against him round about, this was not exaggeration; if you read the history, you will find that »
2. Yet, they have known peace and rest in the presence of God
a. Psalms 127:2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives sleep to his beloved.
b. So, where do we find this quietness of heart in the midst of the storms of life?
(A) « in faith in the Lord — The steadfast of mind Thou wilt keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in Thee. Isaiah 26:3 (NAS) »
(B) « in prayer to the Lord — Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 (NAS) »
(C) « in walking obediently with the Lord — “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and ‘you shall find rest for your souls.’ For My yoke is easy, and My load is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 (NAS) »
I love to sleep. In fact, I earned the nickname “Sleeping Beauty” in college. It seems I never outgrew my teenage ability to sleep until 11:00 AM if left undisturbed. My husband, on the other hand, thinks sleeping late is a waste of time. He wakes every morning about 7:00, and couldn’t sleep another wink if he tried. Did I mention I also love to nap?
Despite my affinity for sleeping, I am not very good at going to sleep. My body temperature rises in the evenings and I tend to gain energy as the sun sets. I find evenings are prime-time for me to get things done, particularly once the kids are in bed. I hate to stop my productive work to retire for the day. Once in bed, my head has the same difficulty winding down as my body. My mind is filled with thoughts of the day, concerns for tomorrow and hopes for the future. Do you ever wish there was a switch in your mind you could flip to “off” when you were in need of some rest?
If any man should have had trouble falling asleep, it would have been King David. David was a man after God’s own heart, but he was also a man with many enemies. His own son Absalom rebelled against him and gathered as many as 10,000 soldiers to kill him. In Psalm 3:5 David said, “I lie down and sleep; I wake again because the Lord sustains me” (NIV). The king echoes this thought in Psalm 4:8 when he says, “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety” (NIV). With so many men seeking his harm, David had left his palace for the cover of wilderness. There in the forest, David declared his life to be in the hands of the Lord and he lay down and slept like a baby. It’s not likely you and I will ever be on the run from soldiers seeking to take our life, but it is likely that this very day we are pursued by strife and stress who seek to take our quality of life. Like David, we should look to the Lord as our source of life, peace and rest.
Jesus told us how we can find rest. He said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matt. 11:28-29 NIV). Sleep is like the reset button for the body. It helps us recover from the day’s events. While sleeping our bodies repair themselves at the cellular level and we regain our strength. Coming to Jesus with our burdens is like hitting the reset button for our souls. It too will help us recover from each day’s events. While we pray, the Holy Spirit repairs us at the spiritual level and we regain strength of mind and heart.
I have found the best way to quiet my body for sleep in the evenings is to stretch to a 20-minute Pilates video or take a 15 minute soak in the tub. I also have found the best way to quiet my mind in the evening is to spend a similar amount of time contemplating my blessings, meditating on promises in the scriptures, and laying my concerns before Jesus in prayer.
The apostle Paul advised in Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” No sleeping pill is a better prescription for rest than this promise. So when you get ready for bed tonight, spend some time in pillow talk prayer with Jesus, the lover of your soul. Sweet dreams.
My prayer for today:
Dear Jesus, teach me to daily lay my burdens at your feet. Show me I can trust in your loving care. Grant me, your beloved, the nourishing blessing of rest and peaceful sleep.
Application Steps:
Whether it is on a pillow or in the bathtub, find a place to spend time alone with God before drifting off to sleep. Thank Him for all that went well today and release to Him all that did not. Ask Him to develop in you His gentle humbleness, and to give you a restorative night’s rest.
Reflection points:
• God made our bodies in such a way as to require a certain amount of sleep each night for us to function at our best.
• As wives and mothers are we seeing that our families get the necessary amount of rest and sleep each day?
• As wives and mothers are we seeing that we get the necessary amount of rest and sleep each day?
• When your mind is anxious or your body weary, do you turn to the Lord as your source of comfort and strength? How long does it usually take you to turn to Him?
Power Verses:
• Psalm 119:55 (NIV)
• Deut. 33:12 (NIV)
• Isaiah 40:28-31 (NIV)
• Jeremiah 6:16 (NLT)
As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you. — Isaiah 66:13.
I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep… – Psalm 4:8
Take me Saviour to Thy breast
Folded close in warmth and rest
Keep me near to Thee
Silenced in the bliss profound
Of the love that wraps me round
Every care shall be
Every breath for Thee alone
0 my heart’s beloved One
Comfort me in sleep
Still deep rest art Thou to Thine
Safely in Thy arms divine
Thy beloved keep.
… for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety. — Psalm 4:8.
A little child of summers three,
Seeking her little bed at night,
Paused on the dark stair timidly;
“Dear mother, take my hand,” said she,
“And then the darkness will be light.”
Social networking site MySpace.com sold out to Rupert Murdoch for $650 million in 2005. Competing site Facebook.com may be worth more than $1 billion, analysts say. Microsoft recently brokered a deal with the company to supply a minimum of $200 million of ad revenue over three years. But when Microsoft tried to get an appointment to talk with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to talk about buying the company, it didn’t go the way the software giant thought. They wanted to set up an 8:00 a.m. conference call, but Zuckerberg doesn’t get up that early. “I’m in the office at 10:30 a.m.,” he said. “Sometimes.”
[Facebook's IPO raised $100 billion in 2012 but dropped by 25% in its first week.]
________
Wall Street Journal
Gentlemen:
Enclosed you will find a check for $150. I cheated on my income tax return last year and have not been able to sleep ever since. If I still have trouble sleeping I will send you the rest.
Sincerely,
A Tax Payer
Sermon on contentment in the face of opponents. Psalm 4:1-8
HEAVENLY SLEEP
==============
I. Insomnia.
II. David's distress. 4:1
A. At night, David is tempted to brood on past wrongs.
B. This challenges David to affirm his faith.
C. David faced three groups of opponents.
III. David's answer to the fickle. 4:2-3
A. David's authority is challenged.
B. Ultimately his vindication will come from God, not people. 4:3
IV. David's answer to hot-heads. 4:4-5
A. Impulsive opponents.
B. Anger and sin.
C. Nighttime is a good opportunity to take assessment. 4:4
V. David's answer to defeatists. 4:6-7
A. He is surrounded by pessimists.
B. The solution of prayer.
C. Inward and outward joy. 4:7
VI. Well-founded peace. 4:8
A. "In safety" or "unafraid." Proverbs 1:33
B. David has this confidence because of the character of his God.
C. How contented is your life?
*
I love to sleep. In fact, I earned the nickname “Sleeping Beauty” in college. It seems I never outgrew my teenage ability to sleep until 11:00 AM if left undisturbed. My husband, on the other hand, thinks sleeping late is a waste of time. He wakes every morning about 7:00, and couldn’t sleep another wink if he tried. Did I mention I also love to nap?
Despite my affinity for sleeping, I am not very good at going to sleep. My body temperature rises in the evenings and I tend to gain energy as the sun sets. I find evenings are prime-time for me to get things done, particularly once the kids are in bed. I hate to stop my productive work to retire for the day. Once in bed, my head has the same difficulty winding down as my body. My mind is filled with thoughts of the day, concerns for tomorrow and hopes for the future. Do you ever wish there was a switch in your mind you could flip to “off” when you were in need of some rest?
If any man should have had trouble falling asleep, it would have been King David. David was a man after God’s own heart, but he was also a man with many enemies. His own son Absalom rebelled against him and gathered as many as 10,000 soldiers to kill him. In Psalm 3:5 David said, “I lie down and sleep; I wake again because the Lord sustains me” (NIV). The king echoes this thought in Psalm 4:8 when he says, “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety” (NIV). With so many men seeking his harm, David had left his palace for the cover of wilderness. There in the forest, David declared his life to be in the hands of the Lord and he lay down and slept like a baby. It’s not likely you and I will ever be on the run from soldiers seeking to take our life, but it is likely that this very day we are pursued by strife and stress who seek to take our quality of life. Like David, we should look to the Lord as our source of life, peace and rest.
Jesus told us how we can find rest. He said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matt. 11:28-29 NIV). Sleep is like the reset button for the body. It helps us recover from the day’s events. While sleeping our bodies repair themselves at the cellular level and we regain our strength. Coming to Jesus with our burdens is like hitting the reset button for our souls. It too will help us recover from each day’s events. While we pray, the Holy Spirit repairs us at the spiritual level and we regain strength of mind and heart.
I have found the best way to quiet my body for sleep in the evenings is to stretch to a 20-minute Pilates video or take a 15 minute soak in the tub. I also have found the best way to quiet my mind in the evening is to spend a similar amount of time contemplating my blessings, meditating on promises in the scriptures, and laying my concerns before Jesus in prayer.
The apostle Paul advised in Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” No sleeping pill is a better prescription for rest than this promise. So when you get ready for bed tonight, spend some time in pillow talk prayer with Jesus, the lover of your soul. Sweet dreams.
My prayer for today:
Dear Jesus, teach me to daily lay my burdens at your feet. Show me I can trust in your loving care. Grant me, your beloved, the nourishing blessing of rest and peaceful sleep.
Application Steps:
Whether it is on a pillow or in the bathtub, find a place to spend time alone with God before drifting off to sleep. Thank Him for all that went well today and release to Him all that did not. Ask Him to develop in you His gentle humbleness, and to give you a restorative night’s rest.
Reflection points:
• God made our bodies in such a way as to require a certain amount of sleep each night for us to function at our best.
• As wives and mothers are we seeing that our families get the necessary amount of rest and sleep each day?
• As wives and mothers are we seeing that we get the necessary amount of rest and sleep each day?
• When your mind is anxious or your body weary, do you turn to the Lord as your source of comfort and strength? How long does it usually take you to turn to Him?
Power Verses:
• Psalm 119:55 (NIV)
• Deut. 33:12 (NIV)
• Isaiah 40:28-31 (NIV)
• Jeremiah 6:16 (NLT)
Read: Isaiah 26:1-9
You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. — Isaiah 26:3
We spend approximately 30 percent of our lives sleeping—or trying to sleep. Today there are more than 300 sleep disorder clinics in the United States. There are also 90 million Americans who snore, and they (or the people who share a room with them) spend about $200 million a year on anti-snoring remedies.
Think of it! Nearly a third of our entire lives sleeping! Yet how much do we plan and prepare spiritually for those important hours of sleep?
For many years, a friend of mine has followed a simple guideline he refers to as HWLW, which stands for “His Word the Last Word.” Every night, just before turning out the light, he reads a passage from the Bible or meditates on a verse he has memorized. Before he goes to sleep, he wants the last word he thinks about to be from God—not the evening news or the weather, not the late-night talk-show host or the celebrity guest, but a final word from the Lord.
Is it possible that the words of Isaiah 26:3 could apply to our subconscious as well as our conscious minds? Wouldn’t “perfect peace” for the person “whose mind is stayed on” the Lord make for a good night’s sleep?
Why don’t we all try it? “His Word the Last Word”—spiritual preparation for a peaceful night’s sleep! —DCM
Putting It Into Practice: Before going to sleep, read a portion from the Bible or recall a verse you read earlier in the day. Meditate on God and your relationship with Him. Before you turn out the light, turn to the light of God’s Word.
Social networking site MySpace.com sold out to Rupert Murdoch for $650 million in 2005. Competing site Facebook.com may be worth more than $1 billion, analysts say. Microsoft recently brokered a deal with the company to supply a minimum of $200 million of ad revenue over three years. But when Microsoft tried to get an appointment to talk with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to talk about buying the company, it didn’t go the way the software giant thought. They wanted to set up an 8:00 a.m. conference call, but Zuckerberg doesn’t get up that early. “I’m in the office at 10:30 a.m.,” he said. “Sometimes.”
[Facebook's IPO raised $100 billion in 2012 but dropped by 25% in its first week.]
________
Wall Street Journal
Gentlemen:
Enclosed you will find a check for $150. I cheated on my income tax return last year and have not been able to sleep ever since. If I still have trouble sleeping I will send you the rest.
Sincerely,
A Tax Payer
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