The Sound Mind: Sleep - Pastor Brad DeLong

It's so good to be back in the house of the Lord with you. I got to share last Wednesday night with uh 1,600 youth, so this is a little more relaxed setting, and good to be back with you. And And what an awesome week it was, and we thank the Lord for every life changed, and thank you all for allowing us to be there and to serve. The Sound Mind series, anyone uh has this series helped you so far? I know it's helped me. Anybody? All right, there's a couple of us uh that will admit that our mind wasn't as sound as it could be, and we all need some shoring up, and it this sound mind is a goal for us all here at APC.

I believe goal is a Christian that we would have the sound mind that Paul conveys to to Timothy. Uh it's promised to us. It's not beyond our reach. We can have a sound mind. Amen? We should have a sound mind. And we should have it through the power of the word and of the spirit of God as well as the practical steps and considerations that we've been discussing already. Tonight, we're going to continue that discussion. To recap, we we started this series talking about what a sound mind is, a mind that is reasonable, sensible, self-controlled, disciplined, healthy, growing, and full of love.

And I always add those three monikers. We talked about the spirit's work in the mind as well as the word of the Lord and its effect on the mind. Last week, we started to shift into a little more clinical and practical considerations, and we have said from the outset of this series that a sound mind is the result of a partnership between a determined and disciplined Christian and the work of the spirit and the word of God. If you are on your own, you probably can attain a measure of a disciplined mind, a sound mind, but probably will also fall short.

If you just uh are employing the spirit of God, but you have no say or you have no part to play, uh that obviously doesn't work either. You got to have both. Tonight, we're going to have both once more, and near the end, we'll lean into the practical side as we discuss a subject, and I would call it a discipline that is critical for a sound mind. That discipline and uh and subject is sleep. Everyone say, "Sleep." Now, don't go to sleep. This is not the place to practice this discipline, all right?

It is the place to discuss this discipline and as I've studied this, I thought, "Ah, I should have talked about this sooner." Uh it probably would have helped me and some of us, but here we are. Sleep is a critical component of a sound mind, one that scripture discusses frequently, including in Psalm 3 and verse 5, which says this, "I lay down and slept. I awoke for the Lord sustained me." Another version rephrases that when it says it like this, it says, "I sleep and wake up refreshed because you, oh Lord, protect me and sustain me." Tonight, I believe it's God's will for us to have a true rest and an included sleep that only he can give and I believe that these are both a critical part and they're a byproduct of a sound mind.

It's difficult to have one without the other and we'll discuss that. I've had a a burden for this topic because of the amount of people in our world and even people here who suffer because of the lack of sleep and/or the lack of a sound mind. And I believe the Lord is going to help us with that tonight. In fact, I just felt to say and I probably could say this without even feeling it, that there's likely someone here that's struggling in your sleep.

You've needed the Lord's help and word and intervention in your life and I want to remind you that he cares about your rest, your sleep, and your mind and I hope tonight is just further evidence of that. So, before we move any further, would you just invite the Lord into your life and even if he has to get involved in your rest and your sleep, he he should be involved in every area of our life. So, would you lift your voices and hands and invite the Lord to help us and speak to us.

Oh God, we cannot have a sound mind without you. We need your help and we need your word and we need your spirit and we also need your help to employ this discipline of rest and and to do it wisely and to do it in the way that your word prescribes. We're asking for your help tonight. Uh whatever you need to do to help us to be healthy and growing and full of love, including giving us understanding and your help and word when it comes to sleep. In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen. I typed the opening of this lesson in my office this week, and really uh as I said earlier, I just felt the Lord moving on me strongly there because your sleep, believe it or not, it matters to God. Every hour of your day matters to God. Your mind matters to him. Your health matters to him. And it stands to reason that uh the hopefully 7 to 9 hours you get each night, those hours matter to God. They're 1/4 of your life or 1 uh fifth even, or 1/6, hopefully not, of your life, they ought to matter to God, and of course they matter to us.

And his word proves that God takes an interest in the broader subject of rest in the specific practice of sleep. In fact, you'll notice just 33 verses into the Bible and into the biblical narrative, we see the Lord himself resting or ceasing from his creative labor, and it's the first place we find the concept of Sabbath and rest. The word there is uh literally the the Hebrew word for Sabbath. Uh now, we don't read that God actually slept at this time, so it may not have been a literal sleep, but 7 days into creation, and we already see a ceasing in order to develop this pattern of rest, one that would be implanted in his covenant with humanity.

And we also read just before that rest uh that the Lord made man in his own image. And he built with him uh within him, rather, the need for rest and the need for sleep. Even before the fall, Adam was apparently designed to sleep and in need of physical rest from labor and alertness. Just a few verses later in chapter two, we read about rest and sleep again. The Lord puts Adam into a deep sleep, takes out one of his ribs, forms Eve from the substance of that rib.

So, the first time we find someone sleeping in the Bible, something good and miraculous has happened. Good things happen when we sleep, for the most part. I don't know. In less than two chapters in, we're already reading about God ceasing from labor and we're reading about Adam being put under some kind of anesthesia in order to remove one of his ribs so he can have this deep sleep. Sleep was a part of humanity even in the garden and before the fall in some way, shape, or form.

Beyond that, we see rest mentioned another 400 plus times throughout the Bible. Instances of sleep and its its critical nature and humanity's health mentioned several dozen more times. So, there's obvious physical benefits to sleep, but we even see in the Bible uh Bible characters experiencing powerful spiritual moments during sleep. God will use your sleep. The Lord visited with Abram in Genesis 15 during a deep sleep. He initiates covenant with him.

He does the same thing with Abram's grandson Jacob when he's on the run and he's using a pillow for a rock. I always wondered about that. How in the world does a man sleep on a pillow? Some of you sleep on a pillow at home. It's just uh a rock rather. How does he sleep on a rock? But uh one of my pillows is as hard as a rock, so I guess it's possible, but how do how do you I've never understood it. I've actually tried it one time, not literally in a bed, but I thought, "I'm going to see how this feels." It did not feel good.

The Lord visits with Solomon in a dream during sleep to reaffirm his covenant with him. And then, some 27 generations later, he meets with Solomon's descendant Joseph to reveal his plans in yet another dream. In the middle of all that, we we even find a depressed prophet named Elijah who's running from Jezebel and at one point he throws his hands in the air and I just want to die. I want to end it all, but two meals and two naps later, he's up and running again on his way to fulfill the call of God in his ministry after a couple naps.

Some say that's the power of sleep right there. I'm not sure about how sleep actually helped him. I'm sure there's some some science behind it, but you'll see sleep and rest all throughout the biblical narrative. The psalmist talk about it. Psalm 4:8 I will both lie down in peace and sleep, for you alone, oh Lord, make me dwell in safety. Psalm 127 says unless the Lord builds a house, they labor who in vain who build it. Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.

It's vain for you to rise up early to sit up late to eat the bread of sorrows, for so he gives his beloved rest or sleep. Psalm 3:5, the one that I mentioned earlier, I used to quote this every night during a difficult season in my younger years. It's said to have been the words of David while he's running from his own son Absalom where he says, I lay down and slept. I awoke for the Lord sustained me. And then in Proverbs 3:21 it says, my son, let them not depart from your eyes, talking about wisdom and discretion.

So there'll be life to your soul and grace to your neck. Then you'll walk safely in your way and your foot won't stumble. When you lie down, you won't be afraid. Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet. That was always a good thing in the biblical narrative. Just those couple verses alone seem to indicate to me that God is not just interested in our sleep and our rest, but he's also associated with our sleep and our rest. The The best sleep in the Bible that we find, the Lord's involved in it.

You notice that? And the Lord knows how to put people into a deep sleep. We also know that. Part of the the package when you're walking with the Lord and when you're healthy, growing, and full of love ought to be that you have your more predisposed to having a sound mind or that you have a sound mind and one that is, to use a word again, predisposed to healthy rest and sleep. Does this mean that you will never have problems or never have sleepless nights if you're walking with God?

No, it does not. We all know that. But, it does mean that the Lord himself can become invested in your pattern of rest and sleep. And where God gets involved in our lives, things tend to get better, right? Yes. I'm not saying that a walk with God equals automatic rest and sleep. I am saying that a walk with God ought to aid us in having a sound mind and the subsequent discipline of rest and sleep. It certainly has for me and I believe many more Bible characters would say the same.

Jesus himself was known to sleep. Sounds crazy. But, we know he slept at least once. And if he was truly a man, which we believe, Jesus likely slept almost every single night, right? Now, his physical act of sleeping was only mentioned once in the Bible and it happened to be in the middle of a storm, which is fascinating to me. I mean, he was wiped out. Tired from the day most likely. I haven't thought that Jesus, when I was reading this uh uh growing up, I thought, well, he's just doing that for dramatic effect.

He probably wasn't actually sleeping. Probably had his eyes cracked like uh what are they going to say? But, no, I mean, it says he was flat out asleep on that boat in the middle of a storm. And I thought of all the miracles that Jesus did, that one's pretty fascinating. 33-year-old, now I don't know maybe 32 or 31, but knocked down in the middle of a squall. But we also read of him resting far more than that. He often withdrew for rest. This rest this is mentioned at least nine times in the Gospels.

And I reiterate again again it's the same God who intentionally rested on the seventh day of creation. He's also the same God who gave one of his greatest and most well-known appeals as a rabbi in Matthew 11 when he said this of a of a general rest. He said, "Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden I'll give you rest. Take my yoke or my way of life upon you. Learn from me for I'm gentle and lowly at heart and you will find rest not just for your bodies, you'll find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Hebrews talks about that at length.

He's a God who cares about and who personally gets involved in our rest. Especially a soul rest. A true rest which I believe will lend themselves to a literal rest and a restful sleep. We know in this passage he's talking about a much more holistic or eternal type of rest pointing back to Jeremiah 6:16, but we also know that taking his yoke and his way of life upon us tends to lead to a sound mind and a discipline of rest he himself exhibited. No, he did good deeds on the Sabbath.

We also can't forget that he himself established the Sabbath back in Genesis and in his covenant with Israel. Rest was central to his covenant even to his first central life or first century life. And I'll also add this for good measure. If Jesus needed sleep, we obviously need sleep. Jesus needed rest. None of us are exempt from needing rest. I also remind us that the pattern of the Sabbath and ceasing from work in first century Israel lent itself to the discipline of of rest.

I was reading about rest through the Gospels and laying on John 11, I thought this was funny. Disciples give this interesting view of rest in their context and in the first century Lazarus is dead. Jesus says he's sleeping. The disciples said, "Well, Lord, if he sleeps, he's going to get well." This is good. They viewed the sleep of a sick person as a regenerative moment. This is a good sign. The word used in the Greek is one of preservation. His sleep will help him recover.

Just as rest and sleep are viewed as beneficial to those struggling with with illness and sickness today, they saw it in this region. He's sleeping, that's good news. And Jesus said, "He's dead." I just kind of picture him like, "No, guys, guys, he's dead." He's not actually sleeping. They're over there like, "Thank God." And he says, "Actually, for your sakes, it's good that he's dead." Like, "What is What are you talking about, Jesus?" But you just see their view of rest.

Oh, he's sleeping, this is good. That's a good sign. You get the point that the Bible has a good deal to say about rest and sleep and we could probably fill an entire series just on the biblical concept of rest alone and what rest is in the Bible. Instead, we're going to zero in on sleep tonight and in our remaining time, we're going to discuss the importance of sleep, the hindrances to sleep, some practical ways to better and improve our sleep. I am not the sleep expert.

I will give this disclaimer from the start. I have consulted sleep experts, all right? But how many here would agree that for us to be healthy, growing, and full of love, we need to have sound minds and we need to have healthy sleep. Anybody? You would agree. We're going to be healthy, growing, and love full of love, sound mind, sleep. Okay. Has anyone ever found it difficult to be healthy, growing, and full of love, especially full of love without sleep.

Anybody? Let me just Okay, let me just gauge the room. You're already being honest. Has anyone here ever had any kind of trouble with your sleep? That might mean sleeplessness, that might mean cannot fall asleep, cannot stay asleep, lack of sleep. Anyone ever had trouble with sleep? My goodness, we're in the right room. Some of you have never had trouble with sleep, and when you need you need to be up here teaching instead of me. The truth is, statistically 1/3 of us in this room or more will have some kind of chronic sleep struggle.

Not just a passing once a week chronic sleep struggle, according to the the odds, which would suggest that most in this room have at least a periodic sleep struggle. Let's just break the ice there. We all need this, I need this, you need this. And let's dive into some sleep stats from the CDC. There's some alliteration for you. Couple uh sources here compiled these stats and and uh one I just mentioned, 32.8% all the way up to 35% of US adults are sleep deprived, regularly sleeping less than the recommended 7 hours per night.

This is according to them, 33% at least have a chronic issue of sleep. Some of you just realized that you sleep less than 7 hours a night, and you're like, "Wait a second." Uh we'll get to that, okay? 50 to 70 million Americans suffer from chronic sleep disorders like insomnia, apnea, 20% reporting daily sleepiness. Chronic poor sleep quality raises risk for heart disease, diabetes, mental health issues, and about 14.5% of adults having uh have trouble falling asleep, 17.8, almost 18%, cannot stay asleep.

Women are more likely than men to report poor disrupted sleep. Sorry. Up to 70% of adolescents report sleep deficiencies. The global sleep economy, things like beds, pillows, technology, 432 billion up to 600 billion dollars spent on this annually. The US leads the charge with 95 billion in healthcare costs there, just related to sleep. We're in trouble with our sleep. Common causes, obviously lifestyle, stress, economic, uh device use. 89% of adults use the devices before they go to bed.

Inconsistent schedules, chronic pain, anxiety, depression contribute to these high noise levels, uncomfortable temperatures, all these contribute. And the question is, what happens if I don't get enough sleep, quality sleep over time? Is it really that important? We know it is, but let just paint the picture. The first one, I'm sorry to say, is of mortality. Long-term poor sleep can reduce your lifespan by an estimated 4.7 years for women and almost two and a half years for men.

Your sleep matters. Chronic disease, lack of sleep increases the risk of several of the four horsemen, the leading diseases that result in death in our world. And then, just everyday life. Poor sleep significantly lowers work productivity, increases the likelihood of car accidents, and harms relationships. Did you know that staying awake for 24 hours straight is the equivalent of having a blood alcohol content of 0.10, which is above the legal limit?

It's almost as if you are driving while under the influence. Now, most of you aren't staying up 24 hours straight, so I'll just put it in a different term. If you have three nights of consecutive poor sleep, it's the same thing. It's like you were driving with a 0.10 uh blood alcohol content. Those who have had a rough week of sleep, those with newborns can tell you this is the case. You know, just a few nights of poor sleep can make you feel like you're losing your mind.

Sleep deficiency impairs memory, decision-making, emotional regulation. It's a big deal that we sleep. We've got to talk about this. It also has an incredibly positive benefits. Let's flip this. If you have proper sleep hygiene, which is the the phrase they use, the discipline, your brain function and cognition skyrocket. Sleep aids in memory consolidation, clears out waste products from the brain, keeps your brain's internal clock synchronized. Helps your physical health.

It's It's crucial to maintain metabolism, heart health, weight management, supports repair and healing, muscle growth, protein synthesis. You should sleep. Sufficient rest helps fight off germs. What is sufficient rest? For newborns, it's like 16 hours. That would be great. Most kids, it's 10 to 12 hours. Teenagers still need 9 to or 8 to 10 hours. And adults, they say you need 7 to 9 hours. So, that friend of yours who's always been "Oh, you need 4 hours." They're wrong.

These are recommended. It's not a one-size-fits-all. All right? Again, I'm just telling you what they say, the experts say. 7 to 9 hours for most of the population. Poor sleep reduces stress, improves mood, keeps cognitive abilities such as alertness and problem-solving sharp. Now you know why your toddler is so much different after they take a nap. Well, maybe not. Now you know why Elijah no longer no longer wanted to kill himself after he woke up from his two naps.

It just works. Sleep works. It's It's God's design. It's a critical part of being healthy, growing, and full of love. If you want to have a sound mind, you need proper and healthy sleep. If you want to have proper and healthy sleep, you need a sound mind. Those two go hand in hand, and sleep is often what precedes the latter. In fact, I I listened to a Christian counselor recently say this that they actually prescribe, among other things, they say to persons who are struggling, you need to sleep.

And what they've tracked and at least in this person's profession, but this is they're seeing this in a wider scale, that just sometimes after just several weeks of healthy sleep, persons a high percentage of patients with depression in particular reported the clearing or the lifting of that after weeks of sleep. Sleep is powerful. Our minds are intricate, and they're wonderfully made, and they require the God-given discipline of sleep. You've heard me call it a discipline.

That is on purpose. I'm going to give all the caveats in a moment. I would even contend that it is a spiritual discipline. If you think your sleep is not spiritual in any way, go without sleep for a couple days, see how spiritual you are. Do you feel like you're at peak spirituality after a rough night's? I don't. It's just a small sample size. But if the Lord established it, he's probably invested in it. We read earlier how he did establish it, use it for his purpose, he aided with it in Psalm 3, 4, 127, Proverbs 3, among other places.

Your sleep matters to God. He can and will partner with you in your sleep as you discipline your heart and your mind and body in your sleep and to sleep. Here my caveats. It is not automatic. Nothing really stops you from getting up and reading your Bible. That's a spiritual discipline you have control over. Sleep is not automatic. Trust me, I know. It's not in the same box, so to speak. I also know that there are some things beyond our control that affect sleep.

There are mental things, there are biological things, some things that are very personal, some things that are very real. I have at least three of those things at my house every single night. One is 7 years old, one is five, one is two. Things beyond my control. Some have literal physical, mental elements. There There are diagnosable things that make sleep very difficult. So, please, please, do not take this term discipline as me saying that an ounce of discipline and one less cup of coffee a day will make all these things just evaporate.

There are literal physical, mental elements that make it difficult. So, I'm not saying that you have uh you've got a lack of discipline if you're not sleeping. Not saying that. That said, like I mentioned a few weeks ago, I believe that a sound mind and sleep are possible. I believe that they are possible. And I believe that they are much more likely for a believer to experience and to have when there's the combination of the help of the Lord, the word of the Lord, and the resolute discipline of the people of the Lord working together.

I know that uh on my own, my sleep would be drastically different. But with the help of the Lord and my mind and corresponding discipline, my sleep can be healthy. And of course, there's plenty of other things. You heard the amount of money that we spend on sleep. There's plenty of other things that help. We'll talk about those. I do want to talk to someone though who isn't sleeping and who's anxious to even go to bed because you're afraid that you're not going to sleep and your anxiety and your fear are going to overwhelm you again as soon as you close your eyes to go to sleep.

This is real. There may be someone who you're stuck in this and the thought of sleep actually makes you anxious. You go night after night with no sleep. Your mind is in turmoil. You think that oh, this is just my lot in life. I will never have regular sleep. I can tell you it is not your lot in life. And yes, I speak from experience, which is part of the reason I'm so passionate about this subject. I I know all the inter- uh intricacies that the lack of sleep on the mind, the chemical effects.

I only know what I've lived and that the Lord, his word, his spirit, and his counsel through wonderful and godly people and experts does provide a remedy. If God can let David sleep while he's running from his own son who's trying to kill him, you can sleep. Anyone ever overcome a struggle like that with anybody? Sleep struggle, anybody? There's a couple of us in the room. Yeah. Difficult. That anxiety is real. But I'm telling you you can overcome it and I don't have the same situation as you most likely.

But I believe it can happen. You can and should have rest in the Lord because he promised it. Not because I said so, but because he promised it. You can and should have sleep even in the middle of turmoil like David did. You can have a well-rounded discipline of sleep even in a difficult season. Psalm 91 is powerful. He who dwells in the secret place of the most high will abide under the shadow of the almighty. I'll say of the Lord, he's my refuge and my fortress, my God, in him I will trust.

Surely he'll deliver you from the snare of the fowler, from the perilous pestilence. He'll cover you with his feathers. Under his wings you'll take refuge. His His truth will be your shield and your buckler. You won't be afraid of the terror by night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that walks in your darkness, nor the destruction that lays waste at noonday. There's a promise and there's a pattern of rest in scripture and there's something about the night that gets our minds running and restless.

But the Lord can still all of that. He can. He can do it. I almost feel a little resistance to that in this room and again, I I not because you all that, but I think sometimes we get so stuck and we think, "Well, I hear what he's saying, but I just don't know if it can happen for me." Yes, it can. God can heal any person he wants to heal. And God can give rest whenever he wants to give it. You are not the exception to God's power. He's able to do it.

I wonder if you just lift your hands right now so someone can receive this. Would you just take a moment, and maybe you're struggling with sleep right now, and just take a chance. You could even say, "Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief. I I want to start this process. I know that you can help me to have true, wonderful, God-given rest and sleep. It's not beyond your power. It's not beyond your wisdom or your word. You are able to provide it, and you're able to give me the tools, and you're able to put me in the path of the people who can help to provide it.

You can give us the wisdom, Lord, and I believe that we can have that rest in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. I know I I have not been to the extent or the edge of the earth when it comes to sleep, but I know what it's like to have weeks, consecutive weeks, where you just feel like you're out of your mind cuz you just can't sleep. And the night time becomes a dread. Well, man, I'm going to I'm not going to s- I'm not going to sleep again. But thank the Lord, he can overcome that.

He absolutely can. We need the help of the spirit of God and the word of God, and we need practical steps and disciplines. I'm going to name some of those from multiple sources. Uh one of those is a lady named Emma McAdams, who was referred to me by Sister Tressa Wright. Side note, I'm so thankful for these Christian experts, professionals. They they help us, and uh they give us insights that align with the word of truth. I pulled from other sources, even from personal experiences, and I lean heavily on the experts to give you the most accurate information.

I remind us we need the spirit, we need the word of God, uh, but this also includes partnership with the practical. The Lord doesn't necessarily come in and just knock you out every night. Wouldn't that be nice? I start with a couple things to avoid if you're having trouble with rest. If you need to have self, uh, healthy sleep, the first one is easy. We all know it. Screens, phones, blue light. This is hard. 89% of adults, it's said, are struggling with this, and I stand with Paul to say I'm not already perfected, I've not already attained, I press on.

I'm sure he was talking about his smartphone when he said that. So, uh, everyone's heard of blue light, and there's blue light glasses, and there's all these things. It's It's a light that sends signals to your brain to tell your brain, "Hey, it's daytime. Stay awake, stay alert." Uh, this is uh, just talking about the light and not including all the other noises, sounds, stimulates that come with uh, that blue light. That light itself, I'm told, is actually the same wavelength as the sun.

This is Harvard Health. So, when your brain wakes up and and uh, responds to the sun like it should, it does the same thing when you're looking at a phone. It suppresses your brain's production of melatonin. It reduces what they call sleep pressure. Sleep pressure is what some in the room start to feel the moment I start teaching on a Wednesday. It's that feeling of drowsiness. Oh, I could just slip off. It's a relaxation. It's a heaviness. The general idea that the sleep experts and doctors and all that express is, you ought to maximize your sleep pressure as you get close to bed.

Uh, add to it throughout the day and evening. Try to avoid things that detract from it. Like, so just think of your your sleep pressure, you're just building it up throughout the day as you get closer to bed and there things that you can do to take away from that. Like phones and and devices, screens, those things and they say probably you want to put those away. That's the best practice, get them out of your room, get a one of those dumb alarm clocks and keep that in your room but something that doesn't emit light cuz your brain responds to that.

Uh if you can't do that, turn the brightness down, turn on night time mode and definitely don't check emails, the news, especially right now, Facebook feed, don't check those before bed. They distress you, they cause your hamster wheel to turn, your sleep pressure to evaporate because you're thinking about that work situation all night long. And you come up with the weirdest solutions for those things in the middle of the night, don't you? You wake up and you're like, what was I even thinking about?

Uh there is another one obviously, plenty of them but the one of the main ones is caffeine, another hard one. Uh they say to avoid caffeine at least 4 to 6 hours before bed time. In fact, coffee, tea, other caffeinated beverages can affect you for 48 hours after you drink it. And uh there's always a person and they doesn't affect me. It's designed to affect you. It is in some way. Now, it does affect me. I I recall being at a friend's house when I was a teenager.

He had just gotten a cappuccino machine. He was wanting to test this thing out. I didn't know what espresso shots were. He made me three cups of cappuccino likely with a shot or two a piece and I remember it's like 3:00 in the morning and I'm staring at the ceiling thinking, what is wrong with me? Well, I just had you know, six shots of espresso. It was a Saturday night so you probably saw me dragging myself in on Sunday trying to stay awake in church.

Sleep pressure. It that caffeine, it it blocks the I'm going to try not going this word but the adenosine receptors in the brain prevents the chemical that causes fatigue, that causes tiredness. So, try to avoid it. That's the the whole And then they say, "Don't eat a full plate of nachos and pasta before bed, either. That'll get you as well." One of the last hurdles we'll talk about is it's just worries, anxieties, thoughts that keep us awake.

Anyone ever notice that when you lie down to sleep, all those worries from the entire day, the worry or the things that you need to do tomorrow, that conversation you had 5 months ago that didn't go well, they all come back right then and there. I have a theory. I think it's because we outrun them all of our day in our busyness and our distractions, and then they catch up then. They find a way to catch up right before you go to sleep. This might sound simple, but one of the things I do personally to combat this is rooted in Matthew 6:34.

Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself, its own thing. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Well, that sounds so simple. You know what I just I tell myself, "There is nothing I can do about this tonight." Absolutely nothing. It's 2:00 in the morning. I'm not texting that person. I'm not getting I'm just There's nothing I can do. Now, again, sounds so simple, but I've just found that this it's simple enough that it works.

And I try to put it out of my mind. This is where the discipline kicks in. Uh those thoughts come, I just I try to push them until I can actually do something about them. I also find I think a whole lot clearly in the morning, uh a lot more clearly in the morning when I'm praying and drinking a cup of coffee. So, there's the caffeine. All right. Uh coupled with worry, I need to mention this. There's also sometimes when there's a natural reaction of the brain that keeps you alert.

It's helpful to recognize this, especially when you're sleep deprived. I am told it comes from what's called the amygdala. They call it the watchdog of your brain. So, if you're ever uh asleep and you hear a noise and you you jolt out of bed, that amygdala is doing its job. But, when you're sleep deprived and when there's other things going on, that thing goes into overdrive and it takes over your brain. So, what it looks like is you're starting to doze and starting to doze the amygdala, the watchdog, is saying, "Hey, wake up.

Imminent danger." There's no danger. But, especially when you're sleep deprived, that thing kicks on and will not rest. And it was I mean, I guess there's plenty of theories out there, but in ancient times there was always danger. You could have had a wolf walking around in your house, you know, and the amygdala kept them alive. We don't need it near as much. But, that thing will keep you awake. And the remedy for that is actually rest, sleep. Sorry.

It's kind of a vicious cycle. Let's talk about some practical steps. All right. These are from, again, Emma McAdam, other sleep sources. Here's some helpful sleep aids, things that add to sleep pressure. Have a bedtime routine that trains your brain to sleep. Again, this is where the discipline, the routine, the consistency comes. Your brain is so central to your sleep, according to the experts. Those who have kids will notice kids thrive when they have a consistent bedtime.

So do adults. We've got to train our brains. Uh this is what the experts say. Have a wind-down routine, consistent schedule. 8:00, you're going to bed. No, not 8:00. But, it could be 8:00. Some of you in the room, yes. Some of you in my own house. No, I'm just joking. Have a consistent time. Dim the lights, cuz your brain responds to that. Cool the temperature. Uh-huh. Those of you who sleep with a fan, it's science. I knew you were here. All right.

Science. Reduce the stimulants, screens, lights, sounds, etc. And then they say, "Ramp your routine up right before bedtime. If you have to have a light snack, that's debatable. Uh again, don't don't raid the pantry and don't get the leftover spaghetti. Uh you know, have a consistent snack, pajamas, brush teeth, get into bed, read a book, pray." This is her and I love that. And then sleep. Oh, wouldn't it be great if it was just that easy? What you're doing is you're telling your brain through this routine, "Hey, it's time to go to sleep.

Do not keep me awake." Your brain is winding down, building sleep pressure. They say, "Try to use uh bedroom for just sleep to trick your brain, okay?" This is part of the reason why I'm told that hotel rooms are all designed the same to tell your brain, "This is where we sleep." Dim lighting, all those things. This is how we It's also for economic reasons, but they're designed to help you sleep, even though I don't sleep well in hotels. Few extra steps to maximize sleep pressure.

Exercise during the day. That'll do it. That'll get you tired real quick. Be around children. I added that one. That'll get you tired. Uh have a room that's as dark as possible. Light wakes us up. That's how we're designed. Dark helps us sleep. If there's something else that makes you sleepy, maybe it's a podcast, listening to something, a boring book, go for it. Read that encyclopedia. Don't say the Bible. Bible's not boring. All right. If you cannot sleep, couple recommendations.

Again, y'all, this is we're just skimming the surface, but I'm trying to give as many practical tools I can. Few sources. If you can't sleep, quote scripture. I can tell you it works. Memorize a psalm, memorize a short New Testament book, meditate on it, quote it, pray. Prayer puts me at ease. Prayer puts some of you to sleep. Jesus, man. It actually works. Prayer has a way. When you're anxious, uh we just memorized Philippians 4:6-7. Uh be anxious for nothing but everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving.

Let your requests be made known. You keep sitting there for an hour thinking about the same thought, thinking about the same struggle. Get up and talk to the Lord about it. Give it to him. Cast your care on him. And then try to go back to sleep. It actually is uh suggested to get up, get out of that place where you're at. If you can't sleep there, go somewhere else. Uh listen, there's uh sleep podcast designed to tell you stories about nothing. Make your mind so bored it falls asleep.

There's breathing and grounding techniques you can look up. There's apps that uh track your sleep, offer sleeping techniques. If all else fails, McAdams suggests get up out of bed, find a new spot, do something boring, then go back and try to sleep again. It might be that your brain has associated where you're at with with entertainment, watching something. Again, your our brains are wired in such a certain uh way and synapses and all those things.

Rather than sitting there and tossing and turning all night, just personally I I'll get up, I'll go, I'll pray till I'm at peace, and then I'll go back to bed. If I'm still up then, I go try a new place. Uh not outside, obviously, but uh a different place. Try to trick my brain to sleep. These usually work for me. When all else fails, there are plenty of healthy sleep aids out there. The key, I am told, is not to become addicted to them or completely dependent on them.

I'm going to say that and then move on because I'm not a pharmaceutical expert, I'm not well versed enough in medicine to give you advice. I will also say though that that is where counseling and a doctor's advice greatly help. And our sleep is important enough to seek wise and godly counsel if it is chronically affected. If you're at a point where you're completely stuck and none of those things work, your sleep, your health, your sound mind, they are important enough for you to reach out to somebody who can help you.

Even if it's someone who raised their hand a moment ago and said, "Yeah, I've been there." Talk to somebody. Don't stay stuck for weeks and even months in that if you can reach out. And I know it's vulnerable and I know we don't like to talk about those things, but get unstuck through some godly counsel and help. Sleep is that critical. It's also so critical that Sister Christine and a few others helped me come up with an assessment to help us gauge where our sleep actually stands.

Are we really healthy growing and full of love? Is our sleep contributing to that? I saw some of you looking at it when you walked in and it looked like pure panic on your face. You're uh there you're not turning this in, all right? Uh is what it does is it gives you a sleep score, okay? You can walk through, you can score yourself one to five. If you're a two or a four, you can put that in as well. Uh some of you are are were thinking of that and give yourself a a total and then add them up and you see the scoring guide in the next page.

60 to 70's flourishing rest, 45 to 59 growing but needs adjustment, 30 to 44 inconsistent, below 30 rest deficit. Do not have an existential crisis if you're 30 or below because of last night's score. Uh and if you're concerned about it, just come talk to us. And then it has a a plan for rest in general. If we don't plan, if we are not intentional, everything will fill our time and we'll just run the rat race. But we want to be healthy growing in full love.

We want to have a sound mind and we all said a moment ago that we need sleep in order to do that. So I'm going to wrap this thing up. We're going to pray. I'll give you a couple announcements and then if you want to take some time to fill that out. If you have any questions again, I'm not the sleep expert. I can refer you to someone who is, but I might be able to give you a couple helpful hints and suggestions and we'll we'll give you some time to fill those out.

All right. Why don't we pray? Would you stand with me? I I know this is the end especially very practical, but I say again the Lord is invested in every hour of your day. If you're getting 8 hours, that's 1/3 of your day. God cares about this stuff. And God can help with your sleep. He absolutely can and will help with your sleep. How many of you have ever had the Lord intervene and help you with your sleep? Anybody? All right. Come on. You're already on the right track.

You could have taught this lesson. The Lord cares about it and we want to invite the Lord for his help in our doing our part and then of course his help in doing his part. Would you pray with me? Lord, again I'm so thankful for the wisdom that comes from your word and we know from your word that we're called to rest and that if we will come to you and take your way of life and discipline and yoke upon us that you will give us a soul rest. You'll give us an all encompassing rest and I know that and believe that that includes this physical rest that we all need that you designed us to need.

I pray that you'd help us, Lord, to tackle this very difficult subject that plagues so many in our world and maybe even so many in our church. You would help us to be healthy growing and full of love and help us to get the sleep and the rest that we actually need to see it. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen.