Nightmares

The only thing I can tell you is that when I am having a "bad" dream, I say a little prayer..."Protect my heart, my soul, and my mind in Christ Jesus"...That seems to do it for me!

As for your brother I would suggest alot of prayer directed at him and his troubles...! There are others here more qualified than I, who might give you more advice...

God Bless
Tyler

 

This could be spiritual, but it could also be physical! Here are some ideas that you might consider:

1. The seasons are changing now and the barometric pressure is playing popcorn. Are you sleeping too hot? When I am hot I can guarantee myself nightmares!

2. Have you been sick? This can also cause bad dreams.

3. Once the bad dreams started, you were losing sleep, obviously. This will make things worse, for pure exhaustion is hard for a body to 'wind down' from and this can increase the tendency toward nightmares. If you are not against it, have a couple of ounces of wine with dinner. That will help your muscles relax.

4. Have you had any changes in medications recently? This can also be a trigger.

5. Have you had a check-up recently? You might want to ask for a blood sugar test to check for hypoglycemia or diabetes, either of which can play havoc with your sleep.

_______

that's the physical.

Here are some other suggestions:

Read Psalms before you go to bed. Read a few of them and think about them.

Put on a CD of quiet praise music and fall asleep to it. CD's turn off noiselessly, unlike cassettes!

Do NOT have a big dinner or eat much before you go to bed.

Don't listen to or watch the news before going to bed!

Write someone you love a short note before going to bed. Really helps keep up correspondence (keep it short!) and helps you think about people you love.

In other words, redirect yourself. The Bible tells us to think on things that are good and lovely and of good report and such -- so make a point of doing that, especially before bedtime. Fall asleep thanking God for everything you can think of! He doesn't mind you falling asleep while you are loving and thanking Him!

We all, no matter Christians or not, have times or episodes of nightmares. The brain all by itself can do funny things with some of its connections! So yes, this does happen to Christians. Don't panic. Talk to God about it, and deal with it in some common sense ways -- and eat right! This, too, shall pass.

 

Be careful what you watch on TV too. I find when I watch something suspenseful before I go to bed, I may have nightmares.

 

I've had nightmares all my life, not so much here recently. Except two nights this week, an old woman chased me with a chefs knife. I remember most all of my vivid nightmares I've ever had. They don't mean so much anymore. I almost never allow them to bother me, I refuse to alow nightmares cause me fear. If it has bothered me I pray asking God to give me peace in place of fear, then I go back to sleep knowing He will answer my request.
I once was on some medication that caused nightmares, when I could slep that is.
Too much day time worry or stress can casue nightmares.
Taking problems to bed with you is sure to cause nightmares for those prone to them.
Pray beofre going to bed and see what happens.

 

Helen has given you great advice, in addition,
I would suggest:

One thing that I have learned that I sleep better if I have at least two pillows to raise my head. I can breathe better. We also have night lights. I pray before I go to sleep and I also praise and thank my Lord and Savior.

Now, if when you awake from a nightmare, refuse to remember it. Do not dwell upon it. Immediately think of something pleasant. This really works. Believe it or not, I have been dreaming and in the dream said, "I refuse to have this dream". That also works.

As to the incident that seemed real, there may be an explanation and maybe not, but our eyes and ears can really play tricks on us, especially at night. Further, be sure that you are drinking enough water and you are not dehydrated. Dehydration can cause all kinds of problems.

All this may seem simple and unrealistic to you, but isn't it worth a try to get a good night sleep?

With God's help, you can take control of the situation.

 

Scarlett, you are so correct.

The older a person gets the more problems they have at night, but you are too young for that.

Just to endorse what Scarlett said, I have had a similar experience and it wasn't even a frightful one.

I took art classes from a teacher if I mentioned her name, most of the women would know her because she is now a famous television personality. She is an early riser and uses her time very well. Now I am more a night person than a morning person.

Well this teacher said, "I want you all to wake up at 3 am each morning and practice painting. I'm not sure of her exact words, but she repeated this each day for two weeks. Now for months after that I would wake at 3 AM. Now I did NOT get up and paint, but to this day and it has been 12 years now when I wake at 3 AM, I think of her and painting.

People have great influences over us.

You are a student and there may be a class that you are taking or even a person in your life that may be making suggestions that you do not even realize.

You are a Christian. You have Jesus Christ on your side. You have the Holy Spirit within you.
You are safe.

 

Lot's of good suggestions, so here is mine.

First - Have the physical checked and maybe see if you have had a change in diet or routine lately that has gone unnoticed. The physical will cause a great many problems if it is not correct. Also the diet as well as any routine changes will cause problems. If a physical problem is found, then that could be the body's way of "speaking up" to get the needed attention.

Second - If the physical is ok, then look at the spiritual. ALWAYS begin with prayer, that is the hotline to our defenses. Then follow with scriptural reading, NOTE: stay away from passages that speak of the sinners fate. Focus on Psalms and other uplifting passages. After that, end with prayer. Remember that the prayer needs to reflect the fact that you need the covering of the Holy Spirit and protection of the Saviour to overcome these dreams. Also, you need spiritual protection from these dreams. If what you say is the whole of the matter, then I would suspect a spiritual attack. These still happen in our day. It sounds like maybe someone is trying to cause you spiritual harm and is taking measures to attempt such a thing.

What kind of community do you live in? Is there any kind of drug or cult activity? If so, then your witness may be being noticed and wanted to be done away with. I also reccomend that after you have a complete physical and if all is ok, speak with your pastor and get his spiritual advice.

Those are my thoughts, I hope that it helps. Let us know.

 

God lets things happen and we will never know why untill we ask Him when we get to heaven. Sometimes he lets things happen to teach us something and sometimes he just wants to know how ur going to react. Satan could have been playing a nasty trick on you. Satan and his little demons are just as real as human beings. Think about Job and what he went through. He didnt know why God was letting all that happen, but knew in the end it would work out for God's glory. Remember... God WILL NOT let anything happen to you that he knows that you can't handle.

 

I suffered from night terrors for years. It is very real. It it the point between wake and sleep, you are neither awake or asleep. I saw an hour report on it on 20/20 once, I had no idea what was happening to me till then. Apparenlty in night terrors most people think someone they don't know has come in and touched them or something similar, they frequesnly scream in their sleep.
I had this for years, almost every night.
After I saw saved I had one episode. And nothing since then.
I know mine were demonic, there were other things going on then, too make me believe that now, had no idea at the time.

 

The only "freaky" nightmares I ever have is when I dream I'm in college again(I finished college 20 years ago!!)----but its the same dream over and over and over

I'm in English class---its the last day of class and

(1) I haven't attended class one time

(2) I haven't even started on my term paper

(3) Noone but myself is even concerned---In the dream---I'm like "flippin' out"---but everybody else thinks its some silly joke!!! Come to think about it---it was opposite in real life----everybody else in class was "flippin' out" except me---and I was the only one in class that thought class was some sort of silly joke!!!

 

I believe Satan flees from the presence of God. So if we are right with the Lord(or at least trying, God knows our hearts) and are in the Word(reading, memorizing, thinking about it) then Satan(or his demons) aren't going to hang around.

It's very popular here lately to assign a supernatural cause to unusual dreams and nightmares and while this is possible if we are filling our minds with what we ought not, most of the time our dreams are just dreams.

Filling your mind with the Word just before bed will go very far toward changing your dreams. I know from my own experience if I fall asleep reading a murder mystery or watching something odd on the sci-fi channel, I'm going to dream about it. Happens over and over with me. the contrast is that if I'm reading something nicer like a romance or a Bible study, that's what I'll be dreaming. Highly stressful days seems to make my dreams more intense, no matter what I've been reading/watching.

LOL blackbird, I've had that particular dream more times than I can count! One version has me showing up for what I thought was the first day of class only to find out that they were taking the midterm/final. I hate that dream!

 

Job was a man living right with God and look what happened with satan there. Satan loves to attack God's people. Now I don't think everything that goes wrong is of satan, but I also don't thinkhe can be automatically ruled out.
Also, it is easy to say about someone else when bad happens it is becasue they weren't living right with God, when in reality we have no idea. Bad things in our lives, or night mares, is never a proof of someone not living right with God. Otherwise we trust something othe then scripture. Which also seems to be popular these days.

 

But I had another dream---not a bad one---nothing nightmare-ish!!!

I dreamed that I was preaching on a particular given Sunday night-----I usually start preaching at around 7:20pm and conclude around 8pm!! But in the dream---I preached until after 9pm!!

When I told my church what my dream was---a lot of um said "Now!! THAT(preaching until 9pm) was a nightmare for us!!"

 

Dreams are electrical interactions in the brain
that occur during the night. During the REM (rapid eye movement)
dream state your mind is sorting through the things you
experienced or thought about during the day. This is in
large a random matter. But the brain picks what will go
into permanent memory and what will not.

You forget you dreams if you are not awakened while dreaming.
If you awake and if you think about your dream, you will remember
parts of it (It may even be put into permanent memory the
next night). ('Permanent' memory fades over time, it needs
to be rethought frequently to last many years).

Here is how to master your dreams: Don't think of them when
you awake up. (This is hard to do, some dreams are very vivid.)

I knew this when my first wife died. I woke up one morning
and remembered that I'd killed my wife and started
World War III (nuclear war, destruction of all
life on earth, etc.). I rebuked further thought about the
rest of the dream - i didn't need it. I have no idea today
what the rest of the dream was about.

The Bible speaks of dreams and interpretation of dreams.
But you won't find one preacher/teacher in 100 that claim
they know what this means. Why fight such odds? Get out of the dream
interpretation business. (Dream interpretations is NOT listed
in the Bible as one of the gifts of the Spirit.) Dreams
are not important, don't remember them.

 

That would support the idea of a spiritual attack of Satan and his minions. The spiritual world is real and Satan is looking for ways to attack us. Again, what kind of community do you live in, who have you been speaking to about Christ. While Satan CANNOT possess us he can attack us. He also cannot harm us without the permission of God, but he can attack our faith and our spirit. I still suggest a complete evaluation of the physical and spiritual to make sure that nothing is out of the ordinary.

May God protect your heart and mind.