Ok, it is 3 AM and I just woke up. Sometimes I try to go back to sleep, but often I just go ahead and get up and watch a TV series (I suggest Sue Thomas FBI on Amazon Prime, 3 seasons)- or I start blogging! “No, not another blog! When will he quit doing a daily blog?”

So, what about waking up at 3 AM? C.S.Lewis said, “You probably think you have insomnia.No you probably do not have a sleeping problem . Instead something spiritual is taking place. God is trying to reach out to you as one of his chosen.” Often it is the middle of the night that our darkest fears arise, maybe even a panic attack (if you’ve never had one, you can’t empathize). We awaken to a cloud of worry and doom. (AI) “According to C.S. Lewis, when God wakes you up between 3 AM and 5 AM, He wants you to: 1) Align yourself with His will: Hear His voice, intercede for others, and receive direction, wisdom, and spiritual empowerment.  2) Pray fervently: Pray against the enemy, who can pervert the good things God does.  3) Maximize the moment: Don’t force yourself back to sleep, but embrace the moment of encounter.”  Lewis says that God speaks specifically to us at 3 AM. His voice gives us instructions on how to deal with and solve the problems and issues we will face during the day. It is a time to ask God questions and then patiently wait for his answers to your questions. Those answers may come in many different forms, but they will come.

Jacob wrestled all night with the man at Penuel as he anxiously waiting meeting Esau, thinking Esau would seek revenge for how Jacob stole his birthright and blessing. After the man touched Jacob’s hip and knocked it our of joint, Jacob realized he had been wrestling with, not just a man, but God visiting him in human form. He named the place Penuel, “the face of God”, b/c he had seen the face of God and lived. But then Jacob demanded a blessing before he would let the man go! That takes a lot of nerve! It would be obvious to Jacob that, if the man could knock his hip out by touching him, that he could knock out every joint in body, totally disabling him. And yet Jacob dared to. demand a blessing before he would let him go. And then the man blessed him and changed his name from Jacob to Israel (“he who wrestles with God).

Lewis suggests that you sleeplessness could be you subconsciously wrestling with your fears, your worris, your doubts, and your questions. But, like Jacob, you can emerge from your 3 AM wakening with a new sense of purpose and closeness to God. The world might sleep, but God does not sleep. Psalms 121:4-5 TPT He will never slumber nor sleep; he is the Guardian-God for his people, Israel. YAHWEH himself will watch over you; he’s always at your side to shelter you safely in his presence.” (Lewis) “While the world sleeps, God is fully alert, intimately aware of your fears, doubts, and deepest desires. Don’t worry. God is waking you up at 3 AM to have a divine encounter.”

I encourage you to watch this video of C.S.Lewis. Even if you don’t wake up at 3 AM regularly, it is still a very inspiring message. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJXGdXdrW-8

David cried out to God in the middle of the night. Psalm 119:62 states, “At midnight I rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments.” Psalm 63:6 says this: “On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.” Actually, David had 7 set times of prayer. Psalm 119:164 Seven times a day I praise You Because of Your righteous judgments.” I don’t know the 7 exact times of the day that David praised God, but maybe this helps. “The divisions in earlier times were simpler, and here they are listed in 7 stages beginning from sunset – the start of the Hebrew day:

Cool of the day – breezes before evening (Gen. 3:8)

Evening – the 1st night watch (Lamentations 2:19)

Midnight – the middle night watch (Judges 7:19)

Cockcrow – the last night watch (3 Maccabees 5:23-26)

Dawn – the morning watch (Exodus 14:24)

When the sun gets hot – late morning (1 Sam. 11:9,11)

Noon – the middle of the day (Psalm 55:17)

David prayed and praised the Lord at all of these times, including the 3rd watch, which is from 12 AM midnight to 3 AM. Jesus mentioned 4 watches: Mark 13:³⁵ Therefore, stay alert—for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning”. We should be on the alert for spiritual danger and pray at these hours. Prayer is a weapon to fight the evil influences in your life. If you don’t pray regularly, then that is like going into a battle without any weapons (Lewsi). Lewis said that God is awakening us spiritually at 3 AM (or 3AM – 5 PM). It is a time for self reflection spiritually, for praying for others, for finding the “peace that passes all understanding” (Philippians 4:8). The distractions and daily worries and routine are still a few hours away. The mind is clearer and not rushed. Jesus walked on water in the 4th watch (3-5 AM) to meet the disciples in the storm for a divine encounter.

Ok, you don’t wake up at 3 AM like me. What about when you first wake up every morning at 6 AM or 7 AM. Lewis in Mere Christianity: “It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. And so on, all day. Standing back from all your natural fussings and frettings; coming in out of the wind.” How many of us begin each day without even talking or listening to God in a brief moment of prayer? We are always in a hurry to get ready to go to work, to go workout, to go play golf, to get the kids ready for school and make breakfast for the family (at least my mother did that; today I think it’s “grab a pop tart on the way out”). Rush, rush, rush: no time for God. Then we are so busy at work or school and we spend the whole day without talking to God. We come home tired, ready for supper and to watch a ballgame or a movie or read a book. We forget to talk to God. We go to bed and maybe say a brief prayer, maybe even fall asleep while praying (I do that often). All that doesn’t sound like someone who is seeking God and God’s guidance 24/7.

At 3 AM, we can relax, pray, and encounter God. We can pray for others. As I write this (closer to 6 AM now), I can almost feel the presence of God in our kitchen/den area. It’s like God is everywhere, but God is right here with me in this room. That’s the amazing thing about God. He is a spirit that fills the universe, and yet He is a personal being who can intimately be with anyone who seeks him. Lewis said “relying on God has to begin again every day.”

If we wake to pray at 3 AM or whenever we awake, praye will call us to action and purpose during the day. We pray for guidance, and then we look all day for God guiding us to do things, say things. We pray for others, and then all day we look for ways to contact and encourage those we pray for. We pray for God to “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” and then we are more alert to spiritual temptation during the day. We thank him in the morning, and then we are more likely to thank him often during the day.

It is important to clear our minds of daily distractions and stresses in order to clearly hear the voice of God. You know how irritating it is to try to talk to someone when their minds are on something else. It is the same with God. How do we know when God is actually speaking to us? You always have the word of God, but what about that small voice He talks to us with, or that divine feeling or emotion? It took little boy Samuel 4 times to decide that the voice calling him was not Eli, but Samuel But when he finally answered the voice, God gave him the instructions he needed to tell Eli. Each of us has to decide when God is directly speaking to us. The key is your closeness to God. The closer you are to God, the easier it will be to determine that God is speaking to you. All that is subjective, but true.

So, if God does wake you up at 3 Am, or if you have trouble falling asleep, or if you wake at 6 AM, I hope C..S.Lewis’ suggestions will help you. Listen to the video. Meanwhile, we went to McDonalds for breakfast and I’m headed home to take a nap!