In Luke 23-25, Jesus and his disciples were on their way to Gerasenes, Jesus took a nap in the boat. He rested into sleep while sailing was smooth, but soon after He fell asleep a storm began to brew, and the wind and waves picked up. Terrified, the disciples woke Jesus up, and He rebuked them for having little faith.

This is a recorded nap that Jesus took to restore physical health before casting out demons from a man. He was a man with human limitations on His health. In 1 Kings 19:5-8, Elijah was commanded by an angel to eat and sleep and eat some more before journeying 40 days and 40 nights to Horeb, the mountain of God. Each person needs sleep, so sleep!

In addition to men of the Bible, many other famous people were dedicated nappers. John F. Kennedy, John D. Rockefeller, Thomas Edison, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Ronald Reagan are among those who took short naps every afternoon. These are men who were highly influential in their time, and they all had this same winning idea.

There are also great benefits to taking naps. The National Sleep Foundation recommends 20-30 minute naps as a natural way to restore alertness and prevent the burnout that occurs after a long day. According to Dr. Sandra Mednick, this alertness also heightens sensory perception in sight, taste, and hearing. The Archives of Internal Medicine conducted a study on naps that associated 3 or more naps a week with a 37% reduced risk of heart disease. This may, in part, have to do with the stress relieving effects of napping. The final benefit of a 30 minute power nap is that it leads to an increase in productivity.

This blog was written by Vladimir Savchuk.

Pastor Vlad is the lead pastor of Hungry Generation Church, an author of “Break Free” and “Single, Ready to Mingle” and a founder of free online school “Vlad’s School.” To download free e-books, sermon series, small group study guides go to vladimirsavchuk.com