Some children seem to be able to sleep anywhere and anytime!

“Yes, [the LORD] gives sleep to the one He loves.”

Psalm 127:2b

“…Keep sound wisdom and discretion,
[then] If you lie down, you will not be afraid;
when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.”

(Proverbs 3:21b,24)

“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”

Psalm 91:1

What a comforting thought! If we live in God’s Presence, we can rest under His shadow! God gives rest and restful sleep to His children.

Here are some Scriptural ways to stop nightmares. Reading this Psalm 91 can bring peace to one’s mind. You may read the whole psalm aloud before going to bed.

“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of Yahweh, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.’” Psalm 91:1-2

This psalm speaks of God’s protection over His people. You may want to memorize this whole psalm – only 16 verses long!

The fifth verse of this Psalm reads:

“You shall not be afraid of the terror by night” (Psalm 91:5)

That tells me that God can protect us from terrifying nightmares!

UNDERSTANDING DREAMS

God can and does speak to His people through dreams. But not every dream is from God.

Scientists think that everybody dreams, even if everyone doesn’t remember their dreams. Dreams are a way that our brains organize the events of the day. These are normal dreams. Even normal dreams can seem very weird.

But nightmares are scary dreams. Probably everyone has had a nightmare at some time or another. But if you have constant nightmares, here are some ways that may help to stop them.

PRAYER

Pray before you go to bed. Ask your heavenly Father to stop any nightmares. Ask Him to give You peace and rest. Then fill your mind with Godly thoughts by reading His Word.

PEACE WITH GOD

If you have not found the peace of knowing God’s great forgiveness, that is a beginning point for peace that will go along way in defeating nightmares. You can find life and peace with God through Jesus Christ, Yahshua the Messiah promised through the Scriptures and Prophets. When you believe in Jesus Christ as LORD and Savior, God gives you “a new heart and a new spirit” as promised in Ezekiel 36:26 and you are “born again” as in John 3. Seek the Truth and pray to the Creator-God to reveal the Truth to you. Read the Book of John especially.

SCRIPTURES

Read aloud Psalm 91 before you go to bed or other comforting Scriptures. A favorite of mine is John 14. It begins:

“Let not your hearts be troubled.”

All the Scriptures in this lesson are good to confess for peaceful rest. It’s good to even read them aloud. We receive by faith God’s promises as we believe His Word!

You may also be helped by listening to the Bible or good Christian music while drifting off to sleep.

“GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT”

If you think on bad things during the day, it may be a cause of nightmares. If you read scary books or watch scary shows about evil vampires and such, you open a door to your mind for scary thoughts to come in. Those scary thoughts may give you nightmares.

There is a computer expression, GIGO. It means “Garbage in, garbage out”.That’s true for computers… and your brain! If you put bad things into your mind all day, then bad things will come out in your speech, in your actions, and in your dreams as well.

THINK ON GOOD THINGS

But God tells us,

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.” Philippians 4:8

We should practice taking “captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ”.(2 Cor 10:5) Reject bad thoughts. If they pop in your head, don’t dwell on them. Instead, think Godly thoughts! Then you’ll have Godly dreams.

CLOSE THE DOORS

At night, we close the doors to our home, keeping creepy critters outside. We don’t want to wake up with some menace in bed with us! We also have screens on our windows to keep bugs from flying in and biting us. We protect ourselves from these pests, but are we careful to protect ourselves from spiritual pests who might be causing nightmares? What if an evil spirit is whispering in your head and causing nightmares?

We need to close the doors in our homes to bad spirits who can put bad thoughts in our heads that result in nightmares. We need to close some doors in our minds to bad thoughts that will bite!

Sometimes these “doors” through which evil enters are common things that the devil is using for his evil purposes. Television is not bad in itself, but evil jumps from the screen into your house from some horror shows! We should not be watching creepy shows about witches, sorcerers, vampires and wickedness. (See Deut 18:10-11.)

Evil can also fly into homes and hearts through evil music using ugly words that should never even be spoken. Jesus said His “words… are spirit and life”. (John 6:63) Well, the devil has bad words that are his evil spirit and death! So choose wisely to listen and watch good entertainment. Better yet, listen to music that exalts God.

Many things that the world thinks are “cool” are evil in God’s sight. The devil will use any “door” he can to get inside your head! Maybe you played a game with much evil content. Maybe there is a poster of a hideous creature hanging on your wall that is really a picture of a demon. Maybe you have a statue from a vacation that is really an idol of a false god. The devil can even use a toy! A dragon is a symbol used in the Bible only of Satan and evil. Maybe that creepy dragon toy is bringing on your nightmares.

You can ask God if there is anything that is a real problem, any open door to let evil enter in. The Holy Spirit will let you know in your heart if you need to remove something. If you get a bad feeling when you look at it, you may want to remove it. Removing these things can close the door through which evil was entering. After you remove the “unclean thing” (2 Cor 6:17), ask God to clean your room from any evil spirit. Then sing God’s praises and His Holy Spirit will fill your room!

BAD THINGS HAPPEN

Sometimes through no fault of our own, someone may have hurt us, physically or emotionally. This bad experience could cause nightmares. It can put fear in us. God doesn’t give us a spirit of fear. (2 Tim 1:7) But He can make that fear go away. Knowing His perfect love for us can make fear go away. (1 John 4:18) The more time we spend in God’s Presence, the more we will know how much He loves us. God’s love can make all fear go away. It is also important to FORGIVE anyone who has hurt you. If you find it hard to forgive, ask God to help you forgive. Jesus Christ forgave everyone who hurt Him, even those who nailed Him to the cross!

Bad things sometimes happen to good people, but God has given a promise to His people who love Him and are following Him. He has promised to make EVERYTHING work out for our good. (Romans 8:28) That doesn’t mean that everything that happens to us IS good. But it does mean that our great God will turn it around AND MAKE IT WORK OUT FOR OUR GOOD in the end. Even bad things! I have seen God do this time and time again in my own life! Pray and ask God to take away your fear. He loves you!

NOTE: If you keep having nightmares after following these suggestions, you can ask talk to a pastor or minister about them. Ask them to pray for you, too. You may even write me at grannyvee@grannyvee.com. See my website for children http://www.grannyvee.com

SHALOM

One of God’s names in the Bible is “Yahweh Shalom”, “the LORD is peace”! (Judges 6:2) We can call on Yahweh-Shalom to give us His peace. (Granny Vee wrote a song called “Yahweh-Shalom”.)

“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You: because he trusts in You. Trust in Yahweh forever; for in Yah, Yahweh, is everlasting strength.” Isaiah 26:3-4

Yes, if you keep God in your thoughts throughout the day, He will give you His shalom, His peace both during the day and throughout the night. No more nightmares! HalleluYAH!

IF you don’t know the God of Peace, Yahweh-Shalom, seek Him in the Book of John in the Bible!

SUGGESTED CHILDREN’S SONG: “Don’t Fret” sample and lyrics.

“GREEN FROG, GOLD HEART” a children’s story teaching THE GOLDEN RULE or see here.