Nightmares and Evil Dreams

 What causes nightmares and how can you stop them?

~~ Watch the Video ~~

Worship

I will Not Fear

https://youtu.be/KFa0vfGhsFc

Outline:

• Introduction
• Traits of Wholeness
• Review
• What Are Nightmares?
• Causes of Nightmares
• Night Terrors
• Sleep paralysis
• Sexual Demonic Dreams
• Do Demons Cause Nightmares?
• Frightening Dreams From God
• Summary
• Solutions for Nightmares
• Scriptures for Nightmares

Scriptures:

• Proverbs 3:24
• Job 33:14-18
• Matthew 2:21-22
• Genesis 15:12-14
• Job 33:14-18
• Romans 8:26-27
• Isaiah 38:1-5
• Psalms 91:5-13
• Psalms 4:8
• Jeremiah 31:26
• 1 John 4:4
• 2 Timothy 1:7
• Psalms 27:2

Introduction

Proverbs 3:24

When you lie down, you will not be afraid; When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

Who has ever had a nightmare?

Can satan/demons cause nightmares?

• Many Christians believe Christians can be possessed by demons, so demons can definitely influence your dreams
• Most Christians believe Christians can’t be possessed, but still believe Satan can influence dreams

Does God cause nightmares?

Nightmares From God

Job 33:14-18

14 “Indeed God speaks once, Or twice, yet no one notices it. 15 “In a dream, a vision of the night, When deep sleep falls on people, While they slumber in their beds, 16 Then He opens the ears of people, And horrifies them with warnings, 17 So that He may turn a person away from bad conduct, And keep a man from pride; 18 He keeps his soul back from the pit, And his life from perishing by the spear.

There is no such thing as evil/demonic dreams - Prophet Lovy

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxBLMhln3fp-FTidoI0vYge6TjSHht3q_5

No one ever prayed against or rebuked  dreams in scripture

There are no Bible verses or examples of Satan or demons influencing dreams

All Nightmares Aren’t Supernatural

Some Christians believe all nightmares are satanic/demonic

• Other Christians believe all dreams (including nightmares) are from God

I believe that not all dreams are supernatural

Example: scary movie dreams

We will talk about both natural and supernatural reasons for nightmares

Traits of Wholeness

We are in our series called Seeking Wholeness

How can we be:

• Spiritually healthy
• Emotionally healthy
• Mentally healthy

Free from oppression of

• Our past
• Ourself
• Bad thinking
• Strongholds
• The enemy

We’re talking about

• dealing with life’s current stresses
• being healed from experiences/wounds of the past

We’re not just promised eternal life

• We’re supposed to have: joy, peace, patience, and self control here on earth

Traits of Wholeness

• Authenticity
• Honesty
• Kindness
• Not seeking external approval / validation
• Living by values and principles
• Setting Boundaries
• Taking ownership of your responsibilities
• Living with purpose and passion
• Optimism
• Confidence
• Healthy relationships with others
• Not losing control of your emotions
• Free from addictions
• Addressing Conflict with truth and love
• Vulnerability
• Not critical or Judgemental
• Not jealous of others
• Forgive those who have wronged you in the past
• Know that you’re worthy of receiving love
• Not afraid to fail
• Able to manage irrational fear, worry, and anxiety
• Selfless encounters with others
• Not manipulating others trying to control their actions/reactions
• You care about how others feel
• Patient
• Don’t give into peer/social pressure
• Can communicate directly
• Don’t take responsibility for other people's emotions
• Take responsibility for your own emotions
• Slow to anger
• Ability to maturely express your wants, needs and desires
• Being led by the Spirit

Review

Everyone has several dreams each night

• Each one typically lasts for between 5 to 20 minutes.
• Even for people who claim that they don’t dream
• They just don’t remember

What Are Dreams?

Dreams are stories and images that our minds create while we sleep.

Dreams occur in your unconscious (nonconscious) mind

dreams

1. Can be Messages from God
2. Your unconscious (nonconscious) mind trying to tell you something
3. Window into what is on your mind
4. Foretelling the future
5. How we learn/store new information
6. Help us sort out your thoughts
7. Solve problems
8. Threat simulation
9. Emotional consolidation
10. Spiritual Warfare ??

How God Uses Dreams

In the Bible, God used dreams to:

• Warn of negative future/current events
• Reveal His will and give direction
• Reveal Mysteries
• To Change Your Character/Behavior
• Correction
• Warning
• To accomplish His plan

God uses dreams to communicate with unbelievers too

Lessons From Dreams in the Bible

Joseph’s Dreams of Sheafs and Stars Bowing Down

(Genesis 37: 5 - 11)

1. Don’t reveal the dream prematurely

The Cupbearer’s and Baker’s Dreams

(Genesis 40:5-8)

1. All Interpretations Come From God
2. Each dream has its own interpretation

• Don’t use symbol dictionary

Pharaoh's dream

(Genesis 41:17-27)

• God Gives the Dream to the Person Who Can Do Something About it
• Joseph had the prophetic gift of dream interpretation
• God didn’t give the dream to Joseph
• Dreams are often given to you in allegory or in symbolism

Recurring Dreams

You have recurring dreams when it’s important

1. Your unconscious mind is trying to tell you something
2. God is trying to get the message to you

Steps to Dream Interpretation

Write Down the Details

• Your Initial Interpretation
• How Did You Feel?
• Recall Any Reference
• What were your thoughts?
• Pay attention to symbols, colors, numbers, and objects

Pray to God For an Interpretation

• Is this dream giving me information or instruction?
• Understand there is timing involved

What Are Nightmares?

Nightmares are defined as dreams that produce a strong negative emotional response, such as fear or horror.

Nightmares may be:

• Frightening
• Sexual
• Violent

50% of dreams are Negative

• Even for emotionally healthy people

The most common emotions in dreams are

• Anxiety
• Fear
• Sadness
• Anger
• Embarrassment
• Insecurity

The most common emotion felt in dreams is anxiety

Common Nightmares

Common Nightmares:

• Being followed or chased by malevolent people
• Falling
• Our partner cheating on us
• Fighting
• Death of a loved one
• being humiliated in front of others
• Being caught in an inescapable disaster
• Otherworldly beings (demons, aliens, vampires, etc.)
• Dark places
• Creepy things
• Being Attacked
• frozen/immobilized
• Arriving late
• Appearing naked

Who Has Nightmares?

Studies to suggest that some people are more prone to have nightmare

• Children
• Mental illness
• Unhealthy social live
• Excessive stress
• Trauma victims

Causes of Nightmares

• All nightmares are not supernatural
• All nightmares are not demonic

Nightmares can be caused by

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Medication
• Eating right before going to bed
• Traumatic experiences

When your non-conscious mind tries to route out our toxic issues it results in

• Dreams
• Nightmares
• Night terrors

Why We Forget Our Dreams

We suppressed thoughts that are

• Too painful
• We are not ready to face

We forget our dreams because the processing has completed

Dreams Can be a Sign of Anxiety or Stress

These dreams can often be connected to feelings of anxiety or stress

Threat Rehearsal

Some researchers feel that nightmares can help the body prepare for “threat rehearsals.” In other words, the brain runs us through some worst case scenarios, so when we encounter them, we’ll know how to act.

“Most nightmares we experience prepare us for situations which will never take place. They test our fight or flight responses and help us to work through anxieties that inhibit our day to day activities.”

Misperceptions

Some of your perceptions are based on narratives that are not true

• Your perceptions always need to be questions

You have toxic perceptions that aren’t true

—these cause nightmares

Example: walking on the wrong side of the sidewalk

• They think I should get out of their way because…

Children and Nightmares

We should pay attention to nightmares of children

Dreams are messengers…don’t invalidate them

If they’re bedwetting there is some type of embedded trauma going on

You Dream About What You Focus On

Nightmares From Scary Movies

What if I told you I had a dream that someone was chasing me and trying to kill me… What do you think could be happening?

• Is it demonic?

What if I told you that I had just finished binge watching a scary movie series?

• It’s natural

So we know that what you give your attention to impacts what you dream

These are not supernatural dreams

If you focus on demons you are more likely to have nightmares

Your perception changes based on what you focus on

You will only hear the word you’re reading

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRws4QHh/

• Example of how your mind is susceptible to influence

Imagine how susceptible you’d be without logic and reason

Trauma

Nightmares are common in people who have had a traumatic experience

• They are usually recurring with the same series of events or the same theme

Dreams are challenging us to sort out our thought life

• Trauma
• Things that are threatening our balance

Things you experienced that you never processed

Your non-conscious mind is telling you that you need to address

• Even though you are suppressing it

• Telling you that there is something affecting the way you are functioning: mentally and physically

PTSD

Recurring dreams are common for people with PTSD

• These dreams often focus on the events through which they suffered
• 71% of people with PTSD suffer from regular nightmares
• This may be the way that the brain tries to solve problems in REM
• Solving emotional problems

Antidepressants Cause Vivid Dreams

• Antidepressants suppress REM sleep
• Because of that you have REM rebound that causes intense dreams
• This isn’t causing anything that is permanent damage
• it may not happen with a different medication

Night Terrors

What Are Night Terrors?

Night terrors = sleep terrors

During night terrors you wake up from a deep sleep

• You are disoriented
• Screaming
• Sweating
• Heart racing

Night terrors are when it’s so embedded in your physical body that your body goes into fight or flight

• You are manifesting these physical representations

Not Nightmares

During the first part of sleep cycle you get deep sleep

• during the ladder portion you get more lighter REM sleep

Night terrors happen in deep (non-REM) sleep

• Night terrors usually occur within 2 to 3 hours of going to sleep
• You often don’t remember but you wake up disturbed
• Common for people who have had PTSD or extreme levels of trauma

Not From A Dream

Some people dream here, but dreams are less vivid and story like

It is more like

• Thinking
• Remembering things
• going through things

This is an involuntary nervous system reaction

•  It is not a reaction to a bad dream

You stay in the state longer if someone tries to wake you up or talk to you

Dangerous because you could Thrash around

Common In Children

Night terrors are common in children

Remember children don’t usually remember the incident

Night Terrors - Dr. Caroline leaf

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxOQM-AlVXNkiHtiHbmgW3YR9ouFLI98XJ

• Memories are stored in: mind, body,

Causes of Night Terrors

In adults

Sleep terrors sometimes can be triggered by underlying conditions that interfere with sleep:

• Sleep-disordered breathing
•  sleep apnea
• Restless legs syndrome
• Some medications
• Mood disorders, such as depression and anxiety
• Stress
• pain
• Alcohol
• Sleep deprivation
• Sleep schedule disruptions, travel or sleep interruptions
• Fever

Sleep terrors are more common if family members have a history of sleep terrors or sleepwalking.

In children, sleep terrors are more common in females.

Night terrors are not caused by bad dreams - Dr Tracy Marks

https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkx4r2s8BYip0wtYss6VcDL_UQ-kqwK_7FZ

• Night terrors are not triggered by having an upsetting dream

In Children

In children…

• Perhaps brain immaturity

Preventing Night Terrors

How to avoid night terrors – Dr. Tracey Marks

https://youtube.com/shorts/earmpgfqc8Y?feature=share

Steps To Prevent Night Terrors

• Go to bed at a regular time each night
• Limit food or drinks before going to bed
• Don’t drink one hour before going to bed.  
• Empty your bladder just before going to sleep.

If you have them regularly and at the same time

• Wake up 30 minutes before it usually happens to break up the pattern

• Alarm
• Someone else wake you

Night terrors are not supernatural

• Demons
• God

You may be right in assuming that some cases of night terrors can be traced to demonic activity. But we suspect such instances are extremely rare. Most episodes of this nature are caused by a disordered arousal from deep sleep (non-REM sleep). Night terrors affect two to four percent of children (more commonly boys) during the toddler to preschool years. They tend to run in families, and the first episode generally occurs sometime between the ages of two and four years.

It’s always a good idea to pray for a child who suffers from night terrors. But it’s equally important for parents to recognize that the problem is relatively common and easy to understand. The best way to handle it is to remain calm and patiently soothe the child until the disturbance passes. In our view, it’s unnecessarily alarmist to jump to the conclusion that demons are involved is.

  –Focus on the Family

Sleep paralysis

REM Atonia

Have you ever woken up and can’t move your body or speak?

That’s sleep paralysis or REM atonia

Cause of Sleep Paralysis

A naturally occurring phenomenon

While we dream our body becomes paralyzed so that we don’t harm ourselves

you wake up before your body has gained its functioning back

Sleep paralysis occurs when you partially awaken during REM sleep

Sleep Paralysis Facts

• usually only last a few minutes,
• but it may seem like it lasted the whole night
• It usually affects people under the age of 25
• 1/3 of the population may experience it during their lives

Supernatural Experiences

Some people Experience dream like hallucinations on the semi awake mind

• Alien abduction
• Ghosts
• Vampires
• Demonic activity

3 main reported sensations

1. Feeling or seeing a dark malevolent presence in the room
2. seeing an evil being sitting on top of your chest preventing you from breathing
3. A form of levitation

1. Being raised by a ghost
2. Bing lift it into a spaceship

A dark or evil figure enters your room

You wake up at 3 AM

• You can’t move
• You can’t breathe
• you see a dark figure sitting in your room

Evil Spirit?

Some say the enemy take this opportunity to frighten you

• The enemy puts a lie into your head by showing you a demonic figure in the corner

Demons Scare You During Sleep Paralysis

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CtwUd38Azpn/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Sexual Demonic Dreams

A Demon Had Sex With Her

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxHXOmU8MZp3XkY0JCqiD-IA5qi9CGSDx2

Oxford Study

The cross-cultural recurrence of this theme strongly suggests that the “sleeping body/waking mind” dynamics of sleep paralysis play a generative role in cases of demonic seduction in dreaming.

In many cultures around the world people have come to believe that specific demons are responsible for causing sleep paralysis—the incubus and succubus of early European folklore, for instance. The “Old Hag” belief of the early settlers of Newfoundland is another example.

Dreams of seductive demons can happen to anyone, but they are more likely to occur to socially and economically marginalized people, especially young women, and to sexually constrained people like ascetic monks.

Beliefs about demonic seduction in dreams have a basis in real psychological experience and real biological concerns about potential threats to procreation. These dreams are not simply the products of irrational ignorance, misplaced fear, or religious conditioning, but are instead expressions of innately creative powers of the imagination in sleep, powers shared by all members of our species.

–Oxford study

Are Sexual Dreams a Sin?

Dreams and their “details are beyond the volitional control of the dreamer” (Craig Heller, Secrets of Sleep Science, 78).You are not choosing your dreams, nor are you morally culpable for things that you visualize while sleeping.

no

Do Demons Cause Nightmares?

This is a historical experience

Nightmare (Oxford Dictionary)

1 A terrifying or extremely upsetting dream (1), or figuratively an event or experience resembling such a dream.

2 An evil spirit believed to torment and suffocate sleepers.

 [From night + Old English maere an evil spirit or incubus]

The word “nightmare” is based on the belief that evil spirits attack us while dreaming

People in many different religious traditions throughout history have regarded dreams as a potential source of interaction with evil spirits and seductive demons. This is truly a cross-cultural phenomenon, and possibly a universal feature of human communities.

–Oxford study

Many cultures believe nightmares and spiritual attacks can happen in dreams

• Witches
• Demons
• Jinn

Occult Activity

It seems that most Christian demonic dreams happen to people who have/are involved in:

• The occult
• Charismatic Christian movements that focus on demons

You can have demonic dreams if you have been involved in the occult

Many of the dreams that people claim are demonic sound like they could be from God

He saw a demon in his room after he gave up porn

https://youtube.com/shorts/1rGoes68YmU?feature=share

• Drew him closer to God

4 reasons nightmares are not from Satan.

https://youtu.be/eTunErDjGYQ

Demonology

“ if you ride you gonna fall“

• Motorcycle ride quote

It doesn’t matter how good you are riding a motorcycle… The fact that you ride one all the time means that you will eventually fall

If you are constantly focused on demons… You will eventually encounter them

“Natural” nightmares can be influenced by demons/satan

Some people think Satan or demons are infiltrating their minds during nightmares, but there is no passage in the Bible to directly substantiate this.

–GotQuestions.org

The enemy influences what you give your attention to which influences what you dream about

The enemy influences you while you are awake

• You dream about what you were focusing on when you were awake

Demons can’t directly control a believer’s mind

Frightening Dreams From God

People frightened by dreams from God

• Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 6-12)
• The Egyptian Pharaoh  (Genesis 41)
• Pilate’s wife (Matthew 27:19)
• “I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him (Jesus)”

These were all dreams from God and foretold the future

God uses dreams to warn us

Matthew 2:21-22

21 So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee

God Can Use Nightmares to Warn Us of Future Events

Sometimes the warnings need to be frightening for us to actually pay attention

Abraham

Genesis 15:12-14

12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. 14 “But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions.

• There was nothing that Abraham could do about this
• God even said “know  for certain“

All dreams from God do not invoke peace

Terror

from the same as H366; fright; concrete, an idol (as a bugbear):—dread, fear, horror, idol, terrible, terror.

God’s Disturbing Dreams Reveal What’s Already Happening In Your Life

Your scary dreams may be Revelations about what’s going on

When a dream scares you it is telling you that this needs the utmost attention

• It is simply God bringing your attention to something

Job 33:14-18

14 “Indeed God speaks once, Or twice, yet no one notices it. 15 “In a dream, a vision of the night, When deep sleep falls on people, While they slumber in their beds, 16 Then He opens the ears of people, And horrifies them with warnings, 17 So that He may turn a person away from bad conduct, And keep a man from pride; 18 He keeps his soul back from the pit, And his life from perishing by the spear.

God can give you warnings in your dreams

Dreams are a revelation of what’s already happening in your life

• It is a window into what is happening spiritually
• Some people rebuke the dream instead of rebuking the influencing that are happening in your physical life
• That’s the only time you moved from the physical to the spiritual

Demonic Dreams Are God Revealing That You Are Being Attacked

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxRB02-6meAopWMSFv6uvs9Uc0Bps1-fcm

• You only see the attacks at night because you can’t see in the spirit… But the devil has already got you
• God is showing you in dreams so that you know how to pray
• Just because a dream is scary doesn’t mean it is from the devil
• The scarier the dream… The more God is trying to get your attention

Story of Lovy Casting Out Demon

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxykZONvIUT7-lMhJ8K3axB6u7hE4m_Zct

Caused by

• God
• Your unconscious mind = your spirit

You’ll never see anyone rebuking dreams in scripture

No one prayed against dreams

Summary

Sources of Nightmares

1. God
2. Nonconscious mind / your spirit
3. Biochemical / food
4. Demonic suggestion while awake

Causes

• You are giving too much attention to frightening things
• You have a wrong perception of an event (or the world)
• You need to realistically/objectively process a traumatic event
• God is warning you (future/current event)
• You need to address something in your life
• Biochemical
• Eating before bed
• Medication
• Alcohol
• Sleep pattern disruption
• Get regular sleep pattern

Solutions for Nightmares

No Screens an hour before bed

Renounce and Halt Any Occult Involvement

Stop all involvement with occult activity

• Psychics / palm reading
• Witchcraft
• Other religions
• New Age activity
• Secret Societies
• Ouija boards

Pray

Romans 8:26-27

26 Now in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; 27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

• Even when you don’t understand…the Spirit does
• Pray in tongues

Isaiah 38:1-5

1 In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said to him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Set your house in order, for you are going to die and not live.’” 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, 3 and said, “Please, LORD, just remember how I have walked before You wholeheartedly and in truth, and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept profusely. 4 Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah, saying, 5 “Go and say to Hezekiah, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of your father David says: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.

Even if you see something negative prophesied… Pray that God will work it for your good

Fasting

Don’t eat anything after 6:00pm

• Just drink water

Skip a day of eating if feasible

Exposure relaxation and rescripting therapy

• This is best done with the assistance of a trained therapist

Engage in some form of relaxing activity

• meditation
• Progressive muscle relaxation
• Guided relaxation
• Breathing

Choose a nightmare that you want to address

• Give it a title

Or a recurring theme

• Being trapped
• Being chased

Write out the script of the nightmare

As if you were going to make it a movie

Include as much detail as possible so that if someone was reading it they could actually picture it in their mind

• How did start/end
• Who else was there?
• Where where you
• Smell, sound, taste
• Thought you had during your dream
• Where are you
• Afraid
• Angry
• Sad

What was the worst point of the dream?

How did you feel at that moment?

How did your body feel?

• Did you wake up in sweat?
• Did you have trouble breathing?

A point where are you saw something to meet you you felt powerless

Write your desired emotion

Write down how you would like to feel instead

If you felt powerless… Would you rather have felt in control

• Or had the answers at the time

Change the moment

Rewrite your script that you made in step three.  just before you get to the worst moment, change the story so that you end up feeling the way you said you wanted to feel and step five.  You don’t have to limit yourself to realistic scenarios.  anyone could be part of your story to help you rewrite the outcome.

Read your script out loud repeatedly

Read it multiple times throughout the day.  you are basically brainwashing yourself to make yourself believe that this is the way it happened.  

Record yourself reading the script… And listen to it.

Creating this visual in your mind helps turn it into a new memory

• It is a fake memory
• This memory can be pulled into your mind when you are dreaming

Practice the script just before going to bed

And then return to your relaxing activity and step one

—---------

If this doesn’t work try tweaking your new script

1. Maybe there’s a different part of the dream that is really the worst part
2. Write a different ending

Imagery Rehearsal Therapy

For the believer, the potential effectiveness of this treatment can go up when we remember who our God is and the power and love He demonstrates in our lives. If we can alter the script of our nightmares by including reminders of the presence of God we can tap into a greater truth that provides our brains with new content for dreams.

1. When you wake up from a nightmare write down or record quickly the scary details of the dream (you may leave a light and a pen and pad next to your bed). Acknowledge what has happened and what the intense or terrifying parts of the dream were. You do not need to try and process everything at that moment if it is too intense. If you want to wait to process the dream simply practice breathing and meditation to calm yourself down.
2. When you are ready, try to remember the narrative of your dream. Write out a script of what the nightmare was. You can add to the dream by writing a short story (try to keep this to a paragraph or two in length).
3. Then rewrite the narrative drawing on key similarities, but this time bring God into the picture. Allow Him, His truth, His power, and His love to reframe the script. Perhaps think of a Biblical story that could serve as a parallel to your situation which show God’s intervention, care, and presence.
4. Rehearse this script multiple times throughout the day. Allow this story to sink into your mind.
5. Don’t be discouraged if this exercise doesn’t prove immediately effective in eliminating nightmares. Try it again.

Scriptures for Nightmares

Psalms 91

Psalms 91:5-13

5 You will not be afraid of the terror by night, Or of the arrow that flies by day; 6 Of the plague that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that devastates at noon. 7 A thousand may fall at your side And ten thousand at your right hand, But it shall not approach you. 8 You will only look on with your eyes And see the retaliation against the wicked. 9 For you have made the LORD, my refuge, The Most High, your dwelling place. 10 No evil will happen to you, Nor will any plague come near your tent.

11For He will give His angels orders concerning you,

To protect you in all your ways.

12On their hands they will lift you up,

So that you do not strike your foot against a stone.

13You will walk upon the lion and cobra,

You will trample the young lion and the [d]serpent.

Psalms 4:8

 In peace I will both lie down and sleep, For You alone, LORD, have me dwell in safety.

Jeremiah 31:26

 At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep had been pleasant to me.

1 John 4:4

You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

2 Timothy 1:7

For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.

Psalms 27:2

When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell.

Instructor: Michael Leadon

References

Nightmares

GotQuestions.org

Sleep terrors (night terrors) - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic

"Night Terrors" and Satanic Strongholds - Focus on the Family

https://www.delreychurch.com/blog/post/demons-and-dreams-

WHY YOU HAVE NIGHTMARES! // REVEALED // DR. LOVY L. ELIAS

https://www.youtube.com/live/ASBP5FHA7Ys?feature=share

Oxford study on demonic dreams

https://academic.oup.com/book/11111/chapter/159541734

I had sex with a sleep paralysis demon

Summer fox

Incubus and succubus by demons of depravity

Mythology unleashed

Understanding dreams and their meanings

Vlad Savchuk

4 reasons nightmares are not from Satan – short

Lionheart church

Why do antidepressants cause vivid dreams?

Dr. Tracy Marx

Night terrors versus nightmares – how to tell the difference

Dr. Tracie Mark

Is There a Deeper Biblical Meaning to My Nightmares?

Biblestudytools.com

The Terrors of Night: God & Our Nightmares – Pastor Dave Online

How to deal with nightmares | Pastor Bobby Chandler  

Authentic church

The neuroscience of dreams and nightmares

Dr. Caroline Leaf

Extra

Prayer for nightmares, night terrors, insomnia, or torment in your sleep

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cou5lVYjb-X/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Kris Vallotton

Lamentations 3:37-37 (NASB20) Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, Unless the Lord has commanded it?

Jude 1:6-9

6 And angels who did not keep their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling place, these He has kept in eternal restraints under darkness for the judgment of the great day, 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these angels indulged in sexual perversion and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. 8 Yet in the same way these people also, dreaming, defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak abusively of angelic majesties. 9 But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him an abusive judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

Metaphorically, to be beguiled with sensual images and carried away to an impious course of conduct: Jude 1:8.

Eliphaz’s Dream

Job 4:12-19 (NASB20)

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There is no doubt that nightmares can be extremely disturbing, but is there any spiritual significance to nightmares? Dreams and visions are mentioned in the Bible, and God sometimes used the dream state to communicate with His prophets and others. God spoke to Abimelech in Genesis 20, warning him not to touch Abraham’s wife, Sarah. Other dreams include Jacob’s ladder (Genesis 28), Joseph’s dream that his brothers would serve him that led to his captivity in Egypt (Genesis 37), as well as his interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams (Genesis 40-41) that led to his being made the second most powerful man in Egypt. The Lord or His angel appeared to others in the Bible, including Solomon (1 Kings 3), Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2), Joseph (Matthew 2), and Pilate’s wife (Matthew 27). None of these dreams, however, with the possible exception of Pilate’s wife’s dream, can really be called a nightmare. So it would appear that God does not usually speak to people through nightmares.

Some people think Satan or demons are infiltrating their minds during nightmares, but there is no passage in the Bible to directly substantiate this. With the possible exception of a dream Eliphaz claimed to have, there are no biblical incidents of demonic forces communicating with people during dreams or nightmares. Most likely, nightmares are nothing more than the brain’s way of contending with our fears and concerns as it continues to function during sleep cycles. If a Christian experiences continual, frequent nightmares that are interrupting sleep and causing emotional disturbance on a regular basis, perhaps medical help is in order. But, as in all things, prayer is our most potent weapon against any kind of emotional or spiritual distress. Praying for fifteen or twenty minutes prior to sleep is the most effective way to calm the mind and heart and prepare for restful sleep. As in all things, God grants wisdom to those who seek it from Him (James 1:5), and He has also promised His peace to all who seek it. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6–7).

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People with borderline personality disorder

• Have trouble distinguishing what is real from what is a dream
• Have more disturbances during sleep

Sleep Walking

Sleepwalking occurs during non-REM sleep

• You don’t remember what you were doing in the morning
• Usually happens with children
• can be a side effect of sleeping medication

Nightmares in the Bible

Some people that had nightmares in the Bible include:

Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 6-12)

This Babylonian ruler had a dream about a statue, made of various materials, that gets crushed by a huge stone.

He later has a vision about a tree that gets felled. This turns out to prophesy how Nebuchadnezzar would be driven mad and would live like an animal in the wilderness (Daniel 5).

The Egyptian Pharaoh  (Genesis 41)

 received a disturbing nightmare about seven skinny cows gobbling up seven fat ones. This foretold of a seven-year famine that will take over Egypt after seven years of a bountiful harvest.

Pilate’s wife (Matthew 27:19)

Good Friday

Matthew 27:19^

19And while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him a message, saying, “See that you have nothing to do with that righteous Man; for [h]last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him.”