Bed Time | SermonIndex

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inotof Mar 10, 2005

I'm just curious. . .but does any one know anything about the average time to go to sleep during the times of Jesus? I know if souds silly and there might not be anything anywhere, just wondering. Mark says that Jesus got up a great while before dawn to pray and i was just curious. What's avarage of hours per sleep SI members run on? I get 5-6 a night (with many interupptions, "I had a bad dreams", sippy cup refills, tiny dog bladders, neghibor's cows/pigs/chickens/etc.) Just for fun, anyone else? How many hours to you consider a "great deal before dawn?" Im thinking like 4 in the moring. Again this is just for fun.

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heartaftergo Mar 10, 2005

i have no idea, but i would love to be able to sleep only 4 hours a night and not be grouchy in the morning.

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PreachParsly Mar 10, 2005

I get 6-8 i try not to sleep more than 8, unless the nights before i only get 4 or so..I'm a college guy though... my schedule changes all the time.

sermonindex Mar 10, 2005

We have a 2 week old... and a 21 month old who has had a cold... we are getting NO sleep!Krispy

sermonindex Mar 10, 2005

To let you know....I get up at 4 A.M. every morning to pray for Revival and the salvation of lost souls. Sometimes earlier but never later. I work 9 to 5 basically and I retire at 9 P.M. usually and rarely later. So I get between 7 to 6 1/2 hours of sleep each night. My job requires that I receive 7 hours sleep so I do my best make sure I do so other's don't lose hundreds to thousands of dollars due to lack of obeying scriptures and doing my best at work. It is a great thing to get up at 4 A.M. everyday and meet up with God!!! He is amazing and I've never had a walk as I do now meeting him at 4 A.M. And I make sure that everything is wrapped around making sure I am in bed ontime....I have an appointment at 4 A.M. with God. NOTHING is more important than keeping my daily appointment. Yes, I get made fun of....but I would not trade meeting up with God and all the glorious things he has done with me during our time together and throughout the day and night...won't trade it for anything. PJ

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PTywama3 Mar 10, 2005

To answer the first question, it depends on what you mean by "average." Most of the world without electricity and a great deal of money for lamp oil had a tendency to follow the get up at dawn (or slightly after) and go to sleep shortly after dusk routine. I'm guessing that the Jewish culture wasn't a whole lot different, but extended the waking night hours a bit more in cities. (Rough guess, but 6:00 or 7:00ish to 21:00 or so?) Its not an uncommon practice in similar parts of the world today (and not horribly out of the ordinary with the rest of us, at that)

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Angyl Mar 10, 2005

PTywama3 has the right of it. There was no lights back then, on the street, in the houses, etc. When the sun went down, so did most people...even eating by candlelight or lamp is inconvenient so their lives were totally different. I'd wager they slept from just after sunset to just before dawn... (and at dawn with the rising of the sun, business would commence, so you have to have breakfast, get dressed, kiss the wife and kids good-bye, etc. and get to the office by sunrise). This is why scripture would make a point of telling us that Jesus got up WELL before Dawn...most people got up at dawn or a little earlier than that.

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AgesofWar Mar 10, 2005

The Lord has delivered me from my Lazy sleeping habits and he is still working on me not to sleep after I eat.I get on average about 6Hrs not including weekends when I tend to take a day of rest.As for the Bible times, I would venture to say that they had about the same patterns we do in today's society... Proverbs tells us of those who overslept and got Jumped by poverty.Paul worked a job and preached it all the time (tent maker) so he didn't probably get much sleep.The bible tells us not to love sleep and to work hard, so If you’re getting allot of sleep best to get to work.And I need to take that advice to heart myself...Cyas

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Compton Mar 11, 2005

Inotof,This is an interesting subject. As far as sleep in bible times, I think PTywama3 sounds reasonable.For what's it's worth I keep a "nap as needed" lifestyle, only sleeping when I need it. Being self-employed I find I am more happy and productive to sleep around changing work and family schedules. I might catch anywhere from 3-7 hours at any point in a 24 hour day. Often I'll sleep briefly two times a day. At least once a month it seems I go for 24-30 hours without sleep.I used to try to keep regulated hours but it seemed unnecessay to me to rest when I still had some steam left. So I keep busy while I have strength untill I need recharging. Basically I go untill I stop. On Sunday I try to enter into "powersave" mode after church.My wife thinks I'm a freak of nature but I feel fine.:-) Obviously if I had traditional employment and a commute I would need to keep sleep during scheduled hours. Also, any consideration of sleep would be incomplete without also considering a good diet and minimum exercise routine!Curiously I have always liked this verse regarding sleep: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. MC

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Will Mar 11, 2005

It is a great thing to get up at 4 A.M. everyday and meet up with God!!! He is amazing and I've never had a walk as I do now meeting him at 4 A.M. And I make sure that everything is wrapped around making sure I am in bed ontime....I have an appointment at 4 A.M. with God. NOTHING is more important than keeping my daily appointment. But don't you find it hard to find the energy to do things like street witnessing? If you don't stay up past 9pm you miss sharing the good news with the majority of people who live in a 'night-driven' society.

sermonindex Mar 11, 2005

wow - i have a long way to go! I usually stay up til at least 1 am (i'm a student and there's always more homework) and I aim to get up between 6 and 7...but 4am?! How long do you pray for PJ? I'm trying to develop my prayer life and give myself more time alone with God but i can't imagine getting up at 4 in the morning. Anything is possible and clearly you have made some sacrifices...you must find very little time to day anything else besides prayer?Looking forward to hearing more about this...

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crsschk Mar 11, 2005

The subject line is a bit misleading but...My wife thinks I'm a freak of nature but I feel fine.Me too :-) The 4 am call...Been much discussion on this, a marvel in some ways and others... It's practically gone out the window. 2:30, 3, it doesn't seem to matter, up is up and still am amazed at how fast 7:30 rolls around....Definetly a freak...'Peculiar people' :-) I don't even ask 'how'... Oft repeated but, not a 'have to' but a 'get to', don't know how to explain it, it just is....

sermonindex Mar 11, 2005

I used to be one of those street people that partied all night long. I found those street witnessing people did not have the heart to love me like I thought Jesus would. They did not meet me where I lived....they bothered me when I was at my worst...drunk and totally raptured from the fun of the night. The street witnessing person would do better if they met up with God, prayed a lot, lived above reproach and loved me in ways that is hard....come to me when I am sober and befriend me....share some....come again and do the little things....shovel my driveway without me knowing it....small things....and then with time the heart warms up....and I see Jesus on the earth....now that person would of had a much better chance of reaching me then and the crowd I was active in for many years. I was the life of the party and everyone would call to see where I was going and when.Too many people are out there preaching and not with power....they lack one thing....time with God. When you go out...make it a point to spend time with God at say 10 P.M. till Midnight every night...then go out with power from on high. We all have our calling.....and God has called me to 4 A.M. praying....it sure wasn't me wanting to do this....but now I would have it no other way unless God directed me!!!Keep preaching if that is your calling on the streets....but try it with power....PRAY a lot beforehand alone with God.God Bless YouPJ

sermonindex Mar 11, 2005

You would be amazed how much one can accomplish in life if you just shut the TV off completely and permantly. Do you want to see into my Weekday world?4 A.M. - I meet up with God....until we are done and he tells me to get busy with other stuff...sometimes that can be in 30 minutes, a lot of the time it is 1 hour and sometimes it can go until I have to get up and get ready to run fast to the car to get to work without speeding.5 A.M. to maybe 6 A.M. - let's say I finished praying somewhere between these posted time...I now sit down to reading scriptures then to write my book or today...final editing of another book that God has me involved in.7:45 A.M. - feeding the pets that slowly finding new homes so I am free to go as the Spirit leads me....and then to clean up and get dressed for work. Eating breakfast before hitting the door.8:30 A.M. - in the car at the lastest to drive the speed limit at the most to get to work (obeying the law and not sinning is important to me when it comes to driving). I am listening to scriptures on tape and/or sermons downloaded from here.8:50 A.M. - At work and taking 10 minutes to either read some of a Godly work or/and pray for guidance in walking blameless before God with wisdom through the day.9 A.M. - inside at work doing my best and working non stop till 5:45 P.M. without breaks and lunches. I snack during the day because I'm too busy to stop. It is said that I work harder than anyone where I work....all I know is this is the way I was brought up and i like it.5:45 P.M. - I am driving home. Listening to scriptures on tape and/or sermons I have downloaded from here.6:10 P.M. - at the lastest usually I am home. Feeding the pets and cleaning. No dinner cause it is too late to eat. I might have a small snack that is good for you or a small meal but usually not.7 P.M. - at my computer writing usually8:30 P.M. - putting the pets to bed, pulling out the contacts, laying in bed with scriptures and/or working on the book that I am reading...always a Godly book like J. Edwin Orr or something to do with Revival usually.9 P.M. to 9:15 P.M. - usually the lights go out and I pray until I fall asleep....the Devil would rather have you sleeping than praying....so I always start with the big stuff on heart from the day and go to the small stuff....and I usually find myself praying off and on in my sleep throughout the night during this...it's just amazing! What a sweet rest the Lord gives!Now that is a weekday usual schedule I find myself in. No time for TV and lots of time for everything else....especially for God!PJ

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inotof Mar 11, 2005

wow. what would happen if we all cultivated our hunger for Jesus and the revival that is in him. I've started this week getting up around an hour earlier so i can pray and read, I will agree with you 100% it makes such a terrfic difference in the day.

sermonindex Mar 12, 2005

Glad to hear it! Keep it up...draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you!!!PJ

sermonindex Mar 12, 2005

To let you know....I get up at 4 A.M. every morning to pray for Revival and the salvation of lost souls. Sometimes earlier but never later. I work 9 to 5 basically and I retire at 9 P.M. usually and rarely later.John Wesley had a very strict rule for this also to wake up at 4am and be at bed at a reasonable time at night, even parting company no matter how important the people were. His appointment in the morning is the was the most important time to him.If the human body goes without sleep for a week you WILL die.I am sure we can get along with 5 hours of sleep. But on average 7 hours is healthy and normal. I would say it is not the amount of time only but the quality of the time you spend with God. The Spirit will guide, if we are in step with Him.

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Compton Mar 12, 2005

One thing I thought worth mentioning here is the phenomena of clearer thinking during sleep. Many others have commented on how we can see new solutions to problems that were "invisible" to us while we were awake. I know this is true for me...when I wake up often, I'll have a fresh perspective on issues. I think the Holy Spirit can also speak to us in our sleep accordingly. Often, morning prayers are influenced by something the Lord may have put in our hearts while we slept.MC

sermonindex Mar 12, 2005

I think the Holy Spirit can also speak to us in our sleep accordingly. Often, morning prayers are influenced by something the Lord may have put in our hearts while we slept.Yes I sometimes pray that the Lord would commune with me while I sleep, especially if I have had a few bad nights and I belive He does.