3:00 a.m. Theology: Who Will Pray for Me?
Summer 2025
This summer series will explore questions that we may wonder when we’re awake at 3:00 a.m., or, generally, in the middle of the night. Some of my reflections will come from my experiences as a chaplain working the night shift at a Level I Trauma Center. Other stories come from other times in my life. If you have questions that you wonder when you’re awake in the middle of the night, I invite you to leave a comment or message me to submit them, as I’d love to ponder more than just the ones I’ve thought of or been asked. Also, as a little fun, I’ll schedule these posts to publish at 3:00 a.m. EST.
Who will pray for me?
Sometimes, when we’re awake at 3:00 a.m., we feel lonely. We feel scared. The future feels uncertain. Even the immediate future of, when will I fall back asleep, seems unknown. All kinds of thoughts can, and will, hit us when we’re awake at 3:00 a.m. If we’re people of faith, then we may want to know, who will pray for me?
Who will intercede for me? Who will stand in the yawning (pun intended) gap between me and my Maker? Who will tell these storms of life to be still? Who will remind me of God’s love, and that God is with me, even here and even now?
If you’re a patient in a large hospital, or a smaller hospital connected to a large system, chances are there’s a chaplain on-call. They may not be waiting with bated breath for the page from your nurse, but they’re certainly willing to receive it and come meet your need for prayer.
Sometimes, when we’re awake at 3:00 a.m., it’s not ourselves we want prayer for. Sometimes we’re awake and thinking about a loved one, worried about them, missing them, distracting ourselves from our situation by focusing on theirs instead. We want prayer then, too. We may be unsure how to pray for others, or more ready to pray for others than for ourselves. That leads back to the original question, who will pray for me?
Maybe it feels selfish to pray for ourselves. Maybe we only acknowledge that we need prayer at 3 a.m., in spite of singing, “It’s me, it’s me, it’s me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer.” Or maybe that’s what we’re singing at 3:00 a.m. because we don’t know what else to say.
We want someone else to pray for us, not just because we don’t feel eloquent, but because we want to know someone else cares. We need reassurance that we are not lost or forgotten. We desire, even at 3:00 a.m. to be seen and heard. We’re not sure if God sees or hears us then, but a physical presence in front of us sure helps. “Who will pray for me” is also asking “Who cares about me?” You don’t pray for someone you don’t care about. Who will pray for me? The Night Chaplain will.