A Full-Body Christian Bedtime Blessing for Children

When our son was about one and beginning to understand more of what we said, my wife added a full-body blessing to his bedtime routine.

Featured photo by Helena Lopes on Unsplash.

Most nights she was the one who put him to bed. That quiet time with your first child is special: a few minutes to slow down together after the movement and noise of the day. At the time, it was hard to see just how much these little routines would come to mean to us.

Now our son is about three, and the blessing has become one of the best parts of the night for all of us.

A simple rhythm before sleep

Our routine includes the usual things: getting ready for bed, reading a book or listening to a story on the Little Tikes Story Dream Machine, which our son loves, and settling under the covers.

The final part is what we call the full-body blessing.

As we pray, we gently touch each part of his body named in the blessing: feet, legs, back, arms, hands, neck, head, ears, mouth, eyes, mind and heart. The familiar touchpoints help him settle, but they also connect the words with his whole little life.

At three, he understands far more than he did when the routine began. Watching him listen to each word reminds us that we are not only helping him prepare for sleep. We are speaking faith, purpose, compassion, wisdom and love over his future.

The full-body blessing

This is the version we use for our son. It can easily be adapted with your child’s name or pronouns.

Lord, bless his feet, that they may carry the Good News.
Bless his legs, that they may carry him on through times of trouble.
Lord, bless his back to be strong enough to bear the burdens of others.
Bless his arms to hold the lonely and his hands to do good works.
Bless his neck, and turn his head towards the poor.
Lord, bless his ears to discern the truth and his mouth to speak encouragement.
Bless his eyes to see beauty.
Bless his mind; may he grow wise in the knowledge of You.
Above all, bless his heart. May he come to love You and all that You have made in the right order.

Amen.

My wife painted the blessing for our son’s bedroom. Her hand-lettered version is beautiful. I still find cursive writing difficult to read at bedtime, so having the words typed out helps me when it is my turn to pray.

The full-body blessing my wife painted for our son’s bedroom. Click the image to open it full size.

A blessing shared by other families

For a while I could not find the words online. My memory is not always reliable, and I would much rather read the blessing than accidentally leave half of it out. Then I came across this Facebook post from another parent who had made the same prayer part of their child’s bedtime routine. I bookmarked it immediately.

Another family’s experience of making the body blessing part of bedtime. Click the image to open it full size.

I do not know who first wrote this blessing, but I am grateful for the words they gave families like ours. It is not a formula and it does not make every bedtime peaceful. It is simply a gentle way to entrust our child to God and remind ourselves of the person we hope he will become: someone who brings good news, helps people in trouble, notices those in need, speaks encouragement, grows in wisdom and loves God and His creation well.

This prayer has blessed our family. I hope sharing it here helps many more families make it their own.