August 21 | Everyday Spirituality Part 1
Discussion Guide
Sleeping
August 21 | Everyday Spirituality Part 1
About the Series
Most of us have a spirituality of the gaps. “Life with God” is what we do on Sunday mornings and perhaps before dinner or early in the morning before the kids walk up. But what about breakfast itself? What does it mean to live with God in the stuff of everyday life? That’s what this series is about.
Part 1: Sleeping
Sleep can be fleeting. Some of us struggle with sleeplessness because of grief, anxiety, chronic pain, etc. Sleep is dangerous. Perhaps you don’t fear for your life or the monsters in the closet, but we all feel vulnerable. Maybe most of all, we fear what might happen to someone entrusted to our care while we sleep.
What does sleep have to do with God?
1. Sleep is a gift
We often see sleep as an obstacle, a weakness to overcome. But in the Psalms we see that God gives us sleep and gives to us while we sleep. Now sleep can become a means of avoiding reality and sometimes we are called to keep vigil, but sleep itself is a gift.
2. Sleep is an act of creatureliness
The heresy of indispensability is the false belief that without your work, without you, the world would fall apart. To combat this, God sees fit for us to spend one third of our lives sleeping—not being Him. God never sleeps (Psalm 121:4). He is his own source of energy and vitality. While we sleep, we accept the fact that we are not God.
3. Sleep is an act of faith
The story of Jonah is example of sleep as avoidance. Jesus’ sleep on the boat is an example of sleep as trust. When you sleep, even when there is a storm, or so much work to be done, you are trusting that God is awake, watching, protecting, caring for those you love.
How can we engage sleep as an act of spirituality?
Sleep more as an antidote to the heresy of indispensability
Tuck your children in to model for them the God that never sleeps
Pray before bed to review the day and ask God to keep you while you sleep
Attend to God in your dreams. Come on Sunday to learn more.
Questions for Discussion
Share about a time in your life when sleep was difficult. Fears you had as a child, insomnia due to anxiety or grief, something else. Maybe that time is in the past, maybe it’s right now.
Which of the 3 points about sleep (gift, act of creatureliness, act of faith) do you find most challenging? Why?
Which of the 4 practices mentioned might God be inviting you to explore? Sleep more, tuck your children in, Pray before bed, or Attend to God in your dreams. What could it look like for you to try it? What obstacles are in the way?
Pray
Take some time to share other prayer requests. Ask God to guide when it comes to exploring a new practice you might feel led to try.
