FROM A TO ZZZZZ

I could attribute it to the pandemic's disruption of “normal life,” or to old age, but I have my share of nights when it's hard to get to sleep or stay asleep. I try to avoid the pill solutions (like melatonin, although it can be helpful) and opt for a warm cup of milk (in the dark) and a cure I call “A to ZZZZZ.” It's one way that Psalm 127:2 works out for me: “He grants sleep to those He loves.”

Years ago, I'd claim that verse in the middle of the night when a hungry infant didn't care if I got eight solid. Typically, after a feeding, I'd collapse right back to slumberland. But with age and the burden of life's myriad concerns (yes, even COVID), I've needed a new way to ease back to slumber. And for me, it's a practice of praying through the names and attributes of God. As I focus on Him and His help and goodness, some of the concerns and worries that keep stirring me awake fade away.

My prayer notebook has a section titled “Attributes” in which I have jotted, by letter of the alphabet, words for the names and attributes of God. It's helpful in praising Him during devotional times. But when sleep eludes at night, I opt for memory rather than turning on the light. In the darkness, I simply focus, in A to Z order, on ways that God is faithful and has sheltered and helped me in times of need.

For “A,” it might be “ You are ABLE,” from 2 Corinthians 9:8: “And God is ABLE to make all grace abound to you.” It's also in Jude 24 and Daniel 3:07. And it's my paraphrase of Psalm 138:8, “The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me,” which I claimed in one of the lowest points of my life. It was natural for me to add “ABLE,” for “the Lord is ABLE to fulfill his purpose for me,” as I had certainly run out of options. I had a freshly-minted master's degree and couldn't find a job. As a 31-year-old single, I couldn't go back home to Mom and Dad's to wait things out; they had both died the previous year. Then, just days before I had to vacate college housing, no place to go, I got a job offer and provision for temporary housing. That situation and many others come to mind as my heart recalls the times that God was ABLE and made a way forward for me.

Another word, the Hebrew “Adonai” title for God, as One who has power and authority (found some 300 times in the Bible). Or it might be “Abba,” the familiar, fatherly title for God. Or “Abounding in love” (Psalm 86:5, 13), “Advocate” (1 John 2:1),“Almighty” (Rev. 4:7, Psalm 91:1, Isaiah 47:4), “Anchor” (Hebrews 6:19) “Alpha and Omega,” “Awesome” (Daniel 9:4).

Some alphabet letters have creative possibilities. “Q” sends me to queller of storms, quick, quicken-er (Psalm 80:18 KJV), quiet in his love (Zephaniah 3:17). “Z” is zealous—for which I recall “The zeal of the Lord will accomplish this” (found in both 2 Kings 19:31 and Isaiah 9:7).

In the silence and dark of the night, it is a precious time. The problems that try to keep me awake will still be there in the morning. But in the dim of a nearby nightlight, rays of hope illuminate my heart as I focus on the Lord and seek to praise and honor all He is.

Paul concluded his second letter to the Thessalonians: “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you” (2 Thessalonians 3:18). By turning times of insomnia into times of focusing on God's infinite and intimate character, He often blesses me with peace that leads again to rest.

The internet offers many lists of ABC prayers. Here is one: Attributes of God From A-Z | ThePreachersWord