A little girl was about to undergo a dangerous operation. Just before the doctor administered the anesthetic, he said: “Before we can make you well, we must put you to sleep.” The girl responded: “Oh, if you are going to put me to sleep, then I must say my prayers first.” And she folded her hands, closed her eyes, and said: ”Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake; I pray the Lord my soul to take. And this I ask for Jesus’ sake. Amen.”
Later on the surgeon admitted that he prayed that prayer that night for the first time in thirty years.
__________
Donald L. Deffner, Seasonal Illustrations , San Jose: Resource, 1992, 88