It’s not an idle question. Sometimes it is asked with anxiety in the voice.
In a “Hearing God’s Voice” class I asked, “How many of you have ever had dark or demonic dreams?” Instantly every hand went up! No one stopped to think. I was watching a reflex action. As I saw the hands and faces I pictured others I’ve spoken to who would also raise their hands.
One woman told me that almost all her dreams were troublesome. It even made her hesitant about going to sleep. Frankly, this ticks me off! Our loving God doesn’t want his children harassed by nightmares and boogie men in their sleep. I feel the anger of God that His precious children deal with such things!
Let’s bring down the hammer and crush this problem! You can stop most of your dark dreams before they ever happen by doing a few simple things. And the ones you do get, you can overcome handily!
Key Takeaways
- Dark dreams can be prevented through proper sleep habits, healthy eating, and good physical health
- What we consume mentally and spiritually affects our dream life
- God promises peaceful sleep to His children through numerous Scripture passages
- Dark dreams that still occur may be divine warnings requiring action
- We can overcome remaining dark dreams by invoking God’s light and maintaining proper spiritual perspective
- Practical strategies include prayer, laughter, and seeing beyond the immediate dream to God’s greater presence
TROUBLESHOOTING DARK DREAMS
When we have troubling dark dreams we do troubleshooting. Nothing comes from nothing. Where do they come from and how do we nip them in the bud?
Physical Health Factors
First check out your health. Lack of sleep or poor sleep naturally makes us feel anxious and vulnerable. Getting good regular rest may be an easy fix for nightmares.
Are you eating right? If you go to sleep bloated with food expect poor sleep and crazy dreams. Eat lighter before sleep and give yourself time to digest your food before bed. These are practices of disciples.
Sickness can produce sick dreams. Pray and work for your optimum health!
Medication and Mental Input
Some meds and drugs mess with our minds. Once I took a med for an infection. It caused hallucinations, day and night! Be careful what you put in your body.
“You are what you eat.” This is true of our physical consumption, it is also true in regard to what we think about and what we permit in daily life. A wholesome life tends to have wholesome dreams.
GOD PROMISES GOOD SLEEP. WE CLAIM AND CONTEND FOR IT!
He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, He refreshes my soul (Ps 23:2).
I wonder if God sometimes wants us to go to sleep earlier. Could He at times want to “make us lie down,” but we insist on staying up to watch the movie, the news or another funny reel. We actually choose restlessness, and refuse to rest at the proper time.
I seem to remember John Wesley who woke at 4 to 5 every morning saying to guests in his home at 10 PM something like, “Come, come, it is time for good men to be in their beds.” You can stop many dark dreams simply by keeping a reasonable sleep schedule.
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (Matt 11:28).
Here is the Savior with a promise of rest. Are we missing His rest because we have refused to lay our weariness and burdens at His feet? Practice doing this and you are bound to cull many of your dark dreams.
It is vain for you to rise up early, To sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows; For so He gives His beloved sleep (Psalm 127:2).
Do you have a warped drive to be productive, and rely on your own steam to achieve things? Do you burn the candle at both ends when God wills you to get a good night’s sleep? God wants to give His beloved sleep to keep us healthy and productive for a lifetime. His supernatural success will be seen more often when we are humble enough to lie down in green pastures and get rest for our souls.
Casting Your Cares
Jesus said the riches and cares of this world are like weeds which strangle the good things God plants in us. Don’t let those things strangle you in the night. Get rid of them by casting your cares on the Lord in your waking moments, rejoicing in what you can do, and leaving the rest in God’s hands.
You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day (Psalm 91:5).
Fears should not occupy us in the night, whether they are restless fears while we are sleepless in bed, or fears found in our dreamland. The prescription for overcoming fears in the night? Come under the sheltering wings of God. Rest in Him and trust in Him! See Psalm 91:1 and Matt 23:37.
Declarations of Peace
In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety (Psalm 4:8).
This verse makes a declaration we can repeat for ourselves. “In peace I will lie down and sleep.” As we meditate on the safety and security we find in Christ during our waking hours we will enjoy that confidence in our sleep. We can boldly declare with this psalmist, LORD, You are the source of my security and safety. Because of this I will lie down and sleep in peace!
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid (John 14:27).
Jesus wants us to have zero-tolerance for troubles in our hearts. They must be evicted, power-washed from our hearts with the peace of Christ! Embrace your Messiah’s peace and you will stop dark dreams in the night before they start. They can be stopped before they ever erupt.
WHAT ABOUT THE ONES WHICH GET THROUGH?
We can prevent most dark dreams from ever happening but there are some troubling, harassing dreams we may still experience. There are two basic reasons.
Warning Dreams from God
First, God may give warnings which must be heard. They disrupt our patterns and disturb us to action. Responding to warning dreams is not complicated.
Abimelek immediately returned Sarah when he was shown in a dream she was Abraham’s wife (Gen 20:3).
Pharaoh immediately devised a plan with Joseph’s help to prepare for famine (Gen 41).
The Magi immediately took another route home because a dream warned them about Herod.
Spiritual Warfare
Secondly, dreams may also come because there are real demonic powers which want to kill, steal and destroy. We are told to be vigilant and aware, to submit to God and resist the Devil, knowing we have the victory through the blood of our mighty Lamb, and God will crush Satan under our feet.
A demonic dream can become a wonderful opportunity to fight, take more promised land, and gain more plunder than we had before.
OVERCOME DARK DREAMS WITH BRILLIANT LIGHT!
I suppose the simplest answer to, “How do I deal with dark dreams?” is “Turn on the lights!” Have you ever seen bugs scurry away when the lights come on in a dark room? We can scour away darkness with God’s glorious, brilliant, rainbow light. This light is the inheritance of the Children of light, the blood-bought ones.
God’s brilliant glory is staggering to darkness! We can ask the Father of lights to shine over and through every dark dream! Darkness and every shadow is thoroughly tamed by light (James 1:17). Aim the light in the following verses at your dark moments!
“His eyes were like a flame of fire” (Rev 1:14b)
Think of your darkest dream and then Jesus walking into it!
“And his face was like the sun shining in full strength” (Rev 1:16b).
I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the radiant and bright Morning Star”(Rev 22:16).
The appearance of the brilliant light all around was like that of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day. This was the appearance of the form of the Lord’s glory. When I saw it, I fell facedown (Ezek 1:28).
Put on the Armor of Light
Let’s armor up with His light in order to crush darkness!
The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light (Rom 13:12).
The Power of Holy Laughter
We can mercilessly strafe our dark dreams with holy laughter. God looks down on His enemies and laughs! (Psalm 2:4). We are seated with Christ in heavenly places (Eph 2:6). We are done being afraid of darkness! We laugh with our Lord Jesus Christ and look down on dark things!
Change Your Perspective
A nightmare or moment of demonic harassment may take up our full screen of viewing. Pull back the camera and see what is all around the dream. God is above, under and all around it.
There is nothing hidden from the eyes of the Lord, even your dream life.
He is in the theater with you viewing your dream, to comfort and help. He is there to minister to you just as He is in your wakeful hours. By His provident grace you will overcome the enemy’s attacks and become a champion contending, wearing the armor of light!
A PRAYER
Dear Father of Lights,
We bow before you for we will find no good apart from You! Apart from You we can do nothing, but by the grace of Your Son, our Lord, we can overcome valiantly, just as our Lord won the battle with the cutting edge a cross.
We come under the shadow of Your wings so night terrors do not alarm. We obey Your command to come aside and rest at the proper time.
We humbly appeal to Your promises of rest for our souls. May Your light shine in darkness! Help us to live healthy and spiritually pure during the day that we may find Your glorious light and the revelation of your radiant face in our night visions.
Be glorified our wonderful Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer as You shine Your Face upon us in the passages of night, and the adventures of the day!
The Light Always Wins!
Remember dear Friend, God is brilliant! He knows not just the alarming moments of your dream, but where the story is going, and its happily-ever-after ending. This is our confidence both in the darkness of a dream and in the dark moments of our wakeful lives!
Use these truths to stop dark dreams before they ever happen by living a well governed, Spirit filled life during the day. And deal with the few which get though, using instant obedience, and defiant courage and humor, calling on the One with blazing eyes, before which ever dark dream must bend the knee!
This is Steve Johnson with RevelationConnections.Vision
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Frequently Asked Question
Absolutely! Children are especially susceptible to nightmares and can benefit greatly from these biblical principles. Teach them to pray before sleep, help them memorize comforting Scripture verses, and encourage them to imagine Jesus walking into their scary dreams with His brilliant light. Establish healthy bedtime routines that include proper rest times, avoiding scary media before bed, and creating a peaceful sleeping environment. When they do experience nightmares, pray with them, remind them of God’s protection, and help them reframe the experience through God’s perspective of victory and light over darkness.
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