Do you ever suffer from insomnia? It frustrates me to be tired, yet wide awake. A few weeks ago, I started a new tactic to battle sleeplessness —meditating on scripture instead of my worries. Something I’ve learned about myself through this exercise is that I don’t know as many Bible verses as I thought I knew.

One night I focused on one of my favorite scriptures, Psalm 23. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want….” When I mentally stumbled through the words, it shocked me. The first thing I did the next morning was review the chapter. Just now, I attempted to say it aloud, stuttered, then peeked in my Bible to make sure I got it right.

Last month while reading through Psalms, this verse seemed to poke me in the rib.  Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14 ESV. I promised myself to commit these words to memory, and I’ve been successful, but my real struggle is to live it.

Something different is happening since I’ve focused on this one short verse. When “the words of my mouth” or my thoughts are not pleasing to God, His spirit nudges me and the verse comes to mind. It’s a constant battle.  I had no idea how many times my thoughts go to the dark side even though there might be a smile on my face.

When my evening prayers are finished and I focus on His words instead of the problems of this world,  I am comforted.

What about you? What’s your strategy for battling insomnia?  I hope you’ll give meditating on scripture a try.  Even if all the words don’t come, you are spending time meditating on good stuff instead of the worries of the world.

Sweet dreams dear ones. Close your eyes and dream of heaven.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14 ESV.