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Japanese A night prayer for a family: “Lord, thank you for this day and for everyone in this house. Forgive our wrongs, keep us safe through the night, and bring us to the morning in peace. Amen.” The 1928 Book of Common Prayer’s family evening prayer asks God to “defend us from all perils and dangers of this night.”
Traditional night prayers for the family
Anglican, Catholic and Orthodox prayer books all give prayers for the end of the day. The 1928 Book of Common Prayer, the prayer book of the Episcopal Church in the United States, has a whole section of family prayers, to be said with the household together “a little before bedtime.” Each prayer is quoted here as printed, with its source.
“Lighten our darkness” and the family blessing
In the shorter evening form of the prayer book’s Family Prayer, someone reads a short passage of Scripture, everyone says the Lord’s Prayer together, and then “the Head of the Household, or some other member of the family” says this prayer and blessing.
Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord; and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of thy only Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Lord bless us and keep us. The Lord make his face to shine upon us, and be gracious unto us. The Lord lift up his countenance upon us, and give us peace, this night and evermore. Amen.
The Book of Common Prayer (1928), Family Prayer, Evening (shorter form), p. 593
The blessing is the priestly blessing of Numbers 6:24–26, “The LORD bless thee, and keep thee,” turned from “thee” to “us,” with the words “this night and evermore” added at the end.
For the day just ended and the night ahead
The same section of the prayer book has two additional prayers headed “At Night.” This one thanks God for the day and asks for protection until the morning.
O God, who art the life of mortal men, the light of the faithful, the strength of those who labour, and the repose of the dead; We thank thee for the timely blessings of the day, and humbly supplicate thy merciful protection all this night. Bring us, we beseech thee, in safety to the morning hours; through him who died for us and rose again, thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Book of Common Prayer (1928), Family Prayer, Additional Prayers, “At Night,” p. 595
The other prayer under “At Night” asks for rest at the end of life as well as at the end of the day.
O Lord, support us all the day long, until the shadows lengthen and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then in thy mercy grant us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last. Amen.
The Book of Common Prayer (1928), Family Prayer, Additional Prayers, “At Night,” pp. 594–595
A Catholic prayer for the house at night
Compline is the Catholic Church’s night prayer, the last of the daily hours of prayer. The Manual of Prayers of 1888, prepared for American Catholics by order of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore, prints it in English among its evening prayers. Near the end comes this prayer for the house where it is said:
Visit, we beseech Thee, O Lord, this habitation, and drive far from it all snares of the enemy: let Thy holy Angels dwell therein to keep us in peace: and may Thy blessing be upon us always. Through our Lord, etc. Amen.
A Manual of Prayers for the Use of the Catholic Laity (1888), Evening Prayers (Compline), p. 75
The book shortens the usual closing words to “Through our Lord, etc.” A shorter line from the same service, the antiphon said with the Song of Simeon, is easy for a whole family to learn: “Save us, O Lord, watching, guard us sleeping: that we may watch with Christ, and may rest in peace” (p. 74).
An Orthodox evening prayer
In Great Vespers, the Orthodox evening service, the reader begins a short prayer with these words, given here from Isabel Hapgood’s 1906 English translation of the Orthodox service book: “Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this night without sin” (Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic (Greco-Russian) Church, p. 9). “Vouchsafe” means “grant.” The line can be said alone at bedtime.
Bedtime prayers for children
These short prayers are easy for a child to learn by heart and to say with a parent at the bedside.
“Now I lay me down to sleep”
The New England Primer was a reading book for children in colonial New England. The historian Paul Leicester Ford, who traced its history in 1897, found no earlier printing of these lines than the Primer’s 1737 edition. He called them “famous lines” and wrote that their author is unknown. A Boston printing of 1777 gives the prayer like this:
Now I lay me down to take my sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.The New-England Primer (Boston: Edward Draper, 1777)
Ford’s own introduction quotes the first line in the shorter form, “Now I lay me down to sleep.”
“When at night I lay me down”
This rhymed prayer gives thanks for the day, asks forgiveness for its faults, and asks the angels to keep watch. It stands at the head of the evening prayers in Francis Xavier Lasance’s Catholic prayer book The Catholic Girl’s Guide.
When at night I lay me down,
God’s protecting love I own;
Heart and hands to Him I raise,
For His gifts I give Him praise.
Forgive me, Lord, for Thy dear Son,
The ills that I this day have done;
And let His cross—my refuge sure—
Preserve my soul from thoughts impure;
May holy angels, while I sleep,
Their watchful guard around me keep.F. X. Lasance, The Catholic Girl’s Guide (1906), Evening Prayers, p. 451
“Angel of God, my guardian dear”
The same book prints this four-line Catholic prayer to the guardian angel among its daily prayers. Jesus said of children, “in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 18:10).
Angel of God, my guardian dear,
To whom His love commits me here,
Ever this day be at my side,
To light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.F. X. Lasance, The Catholic Girl’s Guide (1906), Daily Prayers, p. 446
Catholic and Orthodox Christians ask the angels and saints to pray for them; most Protestants address their prayers to God alone. For a child in any church, Psalm 4:8 is a whole bedtime prayer in one verse: “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.”
A bedtime prayer with your child's name
Choose their age, one thing to thank God for today and one worry. The prayer is ready to read aloud or print.
Your child repeats each line after you
A bedtime prayerA bedtime prayer for
Dear Lord God, you are always with me, and you are always good.
Thank you for my family who loves me.
Keep watch over us while we sleep.
Help us to sleep peacefully, knowing that we are safe in your care. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Then say over your child:
The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: the LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: the LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
Numbers 6:24–26 (KJV)
Lines from Prayers for ChildrenPrayers for KidsNight Prayers for the FamilyPrayers for Bedtime
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Keep it for tomorrow night: the bedtime blessing builder has a page of its own.
A thanksgiving at the end of the day
This prayer suits a family gathered before bed, or one parent praying for the whole household. Put the names of the family where [names] appears.
Father, thank you for this day and for each person in this house. Thank you for [names], for the food we ate together, for the work that got done, and for the small kindnesses we hardly noticed. Thank you for the moments we laughed, and for carrying us through the parts of the day that were hard. Forgive us where we were short with each other, careless or unkind, and help us forgive one another before we sleep. Your mercies are “new every morning” (Lamentations 3:23); let us wake tomorrow ready to receive them. We give you this day as it was, the good and the unfinished, and we leave it with you. Into your hands we put ourselves and everyone we love. Amen.
For protection through the night
Say this when the doors are locked and the lights are out, and especially when someone in the house is afraid of the dark or of noises in the night.
Lord God, the day is over and the house is quiet. Keep watch over us while we sleep. Guard the doors and windows, every room where someone lies down tonight, and the roads our family will travel tomorrow. Keep us from fire and accident, from sudden sickness, and from anyone who would do us harm. Your word says, “Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night” (Psalm 91:5). Take away the fears that come in the dark, and quiet the children who wake from bad dreams. You do not sleep: “he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4). So we can rest, because you are awake. Give your angels charge over this house, and bring us to the morning safe and whole. Amen.
For the children as they sleep
A parent can pray this at the bedside or at the bedroom door once the children are asleep. For one son or daughter, use his or her name.
Father, I stand at my children’s door and give them back to you. They were yours before they were ours. Watch over [names] tonight. Give them deep sleep, healthy bodies and hearts that are not afraid. Whatever happened at school or with their friends today, heal what hurt them and undo anything false they were taught. Jesus took the children “up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them” (Mark 10:16); bless mine the same way. Let them grow up knowing that you love them and that they are loved at home. Forgive me for the times I was impatient with them today, and give me patience for tomorrow. Keep them all their lives, long after they are grown and gone from this house. Amen.
For a husband or wife
This prayer is for a spouse at the end of the day. It can be said together, said alone beside a husband or wife who is already asleep, or said for one who is away tonight.
Lord, thank you for [name], who shares this life and this house with me. You know the day [he or she] had: the pressure at work, the tiredness, the things not said. Give [him or her] rest tonight, rest of body and of mind. Where I added to the weight today, forgive me, and show me tomorrow how to carry some of it instead. Keep us faithful to each other and to the promises we made before you. Guard our marriage from bitterness, from drifting apart, and from anything that would come between us. Your word says, “let not the sun go down upon your wrath” (Ephesians 4:26); do not let us go to sleep angry. Renew our love, keep us kind, and let us wake glad to see each other. Amen.
For peace in the house after a hard day
This prayer is for an evening after an argument, a bad day at work or school, or a night when everyone went to bed upset.
Prince of Peace, this was a hard day in our house. Voices were raised, doors were shut, and some of us are going to bed hurt or angry. You heard what each of us said, and you know why we said it. Calm the tempers that are still hot, and soften what has gone hard between us. Give me the humility to apologize first where I was wrong, and the grace to forgive where I was wronged. Your word tells us to live “forbearing one another, and forgiving one another” (Colossians 3:13). Do not let tonight’s quarrel become tomorrow’s silence. Heal the trouble underneath the arguments: the worry about money, the tiredness, the old wounds. Let your peace settle on every room, and let us sit down to breakfast as a family again. Amen.
If someone at home is threatening or hurting you or the children, get help as well as praying. In the US, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline on 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788, and call 911 in an emergency. In the UK, the domestic abuse helplines are 0808 2000 247 in England (Refuge), 0800 027 1234 in Scotland, 0808 80 10 800 in Wales (Live Fear Free) and 0808 802 1414 in Northern Ireland. There are also more Christian and crisis lines.
For a family member who is far away
This prayer fits a son or daughter away at college, a husband or wife traveling or deployed, a parent in another country, or anyone missing from the table tonight.
Lord, there is an empty place in our house tonight. [Name] is far from us, and we cannot see where [he or she] will sleep or who is nearby. You can. Your care reaches every city and every road. Keep [name] safe tonight from accident and illness, from loneliness, and from people who would take advantage. If [he or she] is lying awake, homesick or worried, come close and give rest. Give [him or her] good friends and good sense, and keep [him or her] near to you while far from us. “The LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another” (Genesis 31:49). Watch between us, Lord, and bring us together again in your good time. Amen.
For someone who is sick at home
This prayer is for a child with a fever, an elderly parent, or anyone at home who is unwell tonight.
Merciful Father, [name] is sick tonight, and the whole house feels it. Ease the fever and the pain, and let the medicine work. Give [him or her] sleep, and let the body heal while [he or she] rests. Your word says, “The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness” (Psalm 41:3). Make [his or her] bed tonight, Lord. Give those of us looking after [name] clear heads if we are up in the night, and the wisdom to know when to call the doctor. Keep the rest of the family well. Restore [name] to health, if it is your will, and let us thank you together when [he or she] is better. Amen.
Prayer goes alongside a doctor’s care and never replaces it. If someone at home becomes seriously ill in the night, call a doctor or the emergency services first, and pray as well. There are more short prayers for the sick to say at a bedside or send in a message.
When worry keeps you awake
This prayer is for a parent or spouse lying awake over money, a child in trouble, a diagnosis, or what tomorrow will bring. Name the worry where the brackets are.
Lord, everyone else is asleep, and I am lying here going over the same worries: [the bills, the test results, the conversation tomorrow]. I cannot fix any of them tonight. Your word tells me to cast “all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7), so I am giving them to you one at a time. Take [this worry] and keep it until morning. You have said, “It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep” (Psalm 127:2). Give me that sleep. Quiet my mind, slow my breathing, and keep my family safe while I rest. In the morning, give me the strength and the clear head I will need. Amen.
How a family can pray together at night
The 1928 Book of Common Prayer sets out a simple order for a household at bedtime: a short passage of Scripture, the Lord’s Prayer said by everyone, one or two prayers, and a blessing. Its longer evening form adds a short pause “that every one may secretly confess the sins and failings of that day,” a thanksgiving, and a prayer for God’s blessings “upon all our relations, friends, and neighbours.” It also asks that the family “never suffer the sun to go down upon our wrath; but may always go to our rest in peace, charity, and good-will.”
Deuteronomy tells parents to teach God’s words to their children and to “talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up” (Deuteronomy 6:7). With small children the prayer can be very short: thanks for one good thing from the day, the name of each person they want God to keep, and one memorized bedtime prayer.
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