Bedtime Prayers for Kids

Ten short goodnight prayers a child can actually say at the end of a long day, each one paired with a verse from the Bible. Print them, keep them by the bed, and pray the same few lines until they know them by heart.

By Hannah Whitford, Childhood Bible Stories · Last updated September 2026

Ten bedtime prayers for kids.

Each prayer is written for ages 3 to 8 and paired with a verse from the World English Bible. Say one at lights out, or let your child pick the one that fits the day they had.

All ten prayers on one page.

A single US-letter sheet with every prayer and its verse, set in our storybook serif and ready for the fridge, the nightstand, or a classroom wall.

“Now I lay me down to sleep”

This is the bedtime prayer most English-speaking families already know. It first appeared in print in the New England Primer in the 1700s, and because it was passed down by memory as much as by print, the wording shifted from edition to edition. The version below is the one most often printed. Yours may differ by a line, and that is normal.

Plenty of parents love the old prayer and keep it exactly as it is. Others would rather not end the night on the fourth line with a small child, so we wrote the second version for that house. Both are on the printable card below, so you can cut out the one your family says.

How to pray with your child at bedtime.

Keep it short and keep it the same. A prayer a child can finish is worth more than a beautiful one they cannot follow, and repetition is how the words become theirs. Most families settle on one prayer and say it for months.

Let them add a line of their own. After the prayer, ask who they want to pray for, then leave a gap for the names. Grandparents, a friend who was sad at school, and the dog all count. This is usually the moment a child starts praying rather than reciting.

Pray about the day they actually had. If bedtime followed a hard afternoon, the prayer for being sorry fits better than the thank-you one. Matching the prayer to the day teaches them that God is interested in the real thing, not a performance.

Let the prayer end the night. Prayer, then lights, then quiet works better than prayer followed by one more story and a glass of water. Children take the cue from the order of things.

What is a good short prayer for kids?

Four or five lines, plain words, and the same words most nights. The first two prayers on this page are the shortest here: prayer one asks for a peaceful night, and prayer two is a thank-you prayer that a toddler can join in on by naming one good thing from the day. If your child is under three, use only the first two lines of either one until they ask for more.

Did Jesus pray at night?

Yes. Luke 6:12 records that he went out to the mountain to pray, and “he continued all night in prayer to God.” Mark 1:35 records the other end of the night: “Early in the morning, while it was still dark, he rose up and went out, and departed into a deserted place, and prayed there.”

The Bible does not record a bedtime prayer that Jesus taught for going to sleep, so you will not find one presented that way here. What Scripture does record is what he said at the very end: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” (Luke 23:46), words taken from Psalm 31:5, which reads “Into your hand I commend my spirit.” That line from the Psalms has been part of night prayer in many Christian traditions for centuries, and it is a fitting one to say over a sleeping child.

Bedtime prayer questions.

• What is a good short bedtime prayer for kids?

  A good bedtime prayer for a young child is four or five short lines they can say from memory: a thank you for the day, a request for a safe night, and the people they love by name. Prayer one on this page is written for exactly that, and every prayer here is short enough for a tired three-year-old to finish.

• Where does the Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep prayer come from?

  It first appeared in print in the New England Primer in the 1700s and has been passed down in families ever since. Because it travelled by memory as much as by print, the wording varies between editions and between families. Both the traditional wording and a gentler version are on this page.

• Did Jesus pray at night?

  Yes. Luke 6:12 says he went out to the mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God, and Mark 1:35 says he rose early in the morning, while it was still dark, and prayed. The Bible does not record a bedtime prayer that Jesus taught for sleep, so we do not present one as his.

• Are these prayers free to print?

  Yes. Enter your email once and every printable on the site unlocks, including the one-page sheet of all ten prayers and the Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep prayer cards. Print them as many times as you like for your family, your class, or your church.

• What age can a child start praying at bedtime?

  As soon as they can talk, and even before that, while they listen to you pray over them. Toddlers do well with one repeated line, preschoolers can add a name or two of their own, and children around five and up often want to pray about the day they actually had.

By Hannah Whitford, Childhood Bible Stories · Last updated September 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, a public-domain translation.

Looking for more free pages to print? Browse all our Bible printables or read a gentle bedtime Bible story before the prayer.

Ten bedtime prayers, with your child on every page.

Build your child in the customizer and order the keepsake version of a bedtime prayer, hardcover $49.99 or softcover $39.99.