Surrendering the 'Tygers' That Haunt You - Your Nightly Prayer
Surrendering the ‘Tygers’ That Haunt You
Your Nightly Prayer for Jan. 31, 2025
by Chris Eyte
TONIGHT'S SCRIPTURE
“My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions.”- Daniel 6:22a
SOMETHING TO PONDER
In my opinion, bedtime routines in my household resemble planning for an immense army maneuver. It’s never a simple case of “goodnight” and lights off. First, there is the need for persuasion - getting the kids off the computer games, stopping talking to friends on calls, or preventing them from doing another cartwheel competition. Secondly, asking them to brush their teeth: “Have you brushed your teeth?” This question is asked about eight times. Thirdly, the mismanagement of pajamas. It’s never a simple case of the children getting changed. They appear half-dressed, hopping with one sock on, asking us the whereabouts of favorite toys, cuddly items, or electric plugs. “Why do you need a plug at this time? It’s bedtime,” a response I often repeated myself.
Lastly, we come to prayers, which involves getting through our devotions whilst coping with little people dancing, standing on their heads, or asking out-of-context questions. At the end of prayer time, when bartering and persuasions begin, trying to get them all to bed, it’s been known for one of our offspring to then inform me that they had wet the bed 24 hours previously.
Finally, we leave the youngsters to settle. That means we stagger into our beds whilst they use the opportunity of our absence to stage some type of upstairs pantomime until I plead with them. My wife gets to sleep in no time at all. A yawn, a blink of eyes - and she’s in another world.
For me, I lie there staring at the ceiling and start to sense the ghosts. I don’t mean real ghosts but the pressures of the mind. As the house falls silent, I become hyper-alert. Memories of loved ones now gone, concerns about the day just spent and the uncertainty of tomorrow, worries about my sugar levels for diabetes, a general sense of dreadfulness. It’s as though I am a guard on duty, keeping awake in case terror strikes.
Surely William Blake’s ‘The Tyger’ poem depicts such psychological disturbances vividly, at least from my perspective: ‘Tyger Tyger, burning bright, In the forests of the night; What immortal hand or eye, Could frame thy fearful symmetry?’ Perhaps I am not the only one who finds themselves on ‘guard duty’ while everyone else sleeps? You just feel that you need to stay awake to keep safe, to keep everyone else safe, too.
However, the God who loves us is more than able to shut the mouths of lions and ‘tygers.’ He is all-powerful and able to look after us at the end of the day, in the Moonshine hours, when our tired flesh, at last, falls into a disturbed slumber. Your God and my God watch over you and me. Let’s trust him and sleep.
YOUR NIGHTLY PRAYER
Father God,
It is your “symmetry”, and yours alone, which is to be feared and not the lions and “tygers” of the night. You love me, and I can trust you. I choose to put my tired mind into your hands and embrace true rest in the hours ahead. I know that as I sleep, your presence is hovering over me. I praise you!
Amen.
THREE THINGS TO MEDITATE ON
- Is your bedtime routine healthy? How can it be made better?
- How important is it for you to read the Bible before you sleep?
- Do you need to talk with a trusted Christian friend about the “tygers” haunting you?
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Siri Stafford
Christopher Eyte lives with his wife Céline and three children in Swansea, Wales, UK. He has worked as a journalist for many years and writes his own blog (hislovefrees.life) encouraging others in their walk with Jesus. He became a Christian in February 2002, after a friend explained God's amazing grace!
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