My aunt recently told me that she remembers her grandmother teaching her a little prayer in German. In English it goes: "I am small. My heart is pure. I don't want anyone in except Jesus alone." In German it rhymes: "Ich bin klein, mein Herz ist rein, soll niemand drin wohnen, als Jesus allein." (I couldn't find the origin of the prayer on the internet.) My father remembers the same grandmother having them kneel before bedtime and reciting the prayer "Now I lay me down to sleep".
It seems a German custom. A Google search reveals Robert A. Jonas's comments:
Grandma reaches forward to pull her homemade quilt to my chin. After she settles herself again, she begins to whisper, “Our Father, who art in heaven.” Taking my cue, I join her in prayer. After we reach “forever and ever, Amen,” we breathe together in the silence. Then Grandma begins the prayer that she learned from her German parents, Ich bin klein, mein Herz ist rein, soll niemand drin wohnen, als Jesus allein. I know what it means: “I am small, my heart is pure. No one lives in my heart, but Jesus alone.” Some nights, Grandma offers a different prayer: “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.”
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