I don’t take any sleep medication, but I know sometimes it’s hard to sleep.

I never have trouble going to sleep, but I often have difficulty staying asleep. My difficulty usually has to do with waking up in the middle of the night worried or stressed about something.

How do you handle such stress? How do you get a good night’s sleep.

Here are seven ways that help me sleep at night.

Recently, I wrote about “Three Essentials for Living at Peace.” I dealt with the things which are foundational for getting a good night’s sleep. You can read the article here: http://waylonbailey.com/2015/07/14/three-essential-steps-for-living-in-peace/

1. Pray about everything. The Apostle (the way Paul was known in his time period and shortly thereafter) told us the way to be anxious about nothing is to be prayerful about everything. This may sound very strange to you, but I don’t want to be praying about things in the middle of the night. I want to have prayed during the day about the needs I have.

I know this: fervent and constant prayer during the day helps me sleep at night.

2. Keep a pen and paper on your night stand. At this point in our lives, Martha is well-accustomed to my getting up at night to jot down sermon ideas. Writing them means I don’t have to interrupt my sleep by trying to remember them all night long.

3. Make a to-do list and update it before you go to bed. These are the things that must be done tomorrow. Again, you want to get it off your mind as you get ready to go to bed.

4. Quit procrastinating. If you put off something that needs to be done, it will nag you all night long. Do in the day what your stomach tells you to do late at night. Get it done and mark it off the list.

5. Tell the truth. Life is too short wondering whether you will be “found out.” Tell the truth to begin with and it won’t keep you up at night.

6. Make amends with those you’ve mistreated. If you misled someone or simply lied, call to correct the story. If you’ve hurt someone, apologize and ask forgiveness. If you need to make restitution, do so.

Jesus had a word to say about this. He counseled His followers to quickly deal with their sins and failures: “When you are on the way to court with your adversary, settle your differences quickly. Otherwise, your accuser may hand you over to the judge, who will hand you over to an officer, and you will be thrown into prison” (Matthew 5:25). That will really keep you from sleeping well!

7. Ask God to bless your sleep. Acknowledge Him as the Master of your life and put everything in His wonderful hands.

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