Many people suffer from tormenting nightmares. These can give the sufferer a fear of going to sleep or can significantly disturb the mind.
CAUSES
Nightmares happen when we are sick, in fever or sometimes simply because we have overheated in bed, or have over eaten before bed? Physiological causes can be remedied sometimes by simply keeping cooker, lowering body temperature or keeping the jar of pickled onions sealed.
Psychological causes can start series of nightmares such as reoccurrences of some terrifying or sad experience. The mind is trying in these instances to ‘file the memories’ or sort the memories, but the emotion that is recorded along with the remembered event can be enough to wake the sufferer in a sweat, reliving the experience over and over.
Watching something horrific, even on a DVD or movie, can sear the visual impressions and the resultant emotions into the mind. These can reappear later as nightmares. This is especially true with the impressionable minds of little children.
SPIRITUAL CAUSES
A person may have nightmares because they are being tormented by evil spirits. These are the most disturbing of all nightmares as they are often accompanied by cold chills in the room as you wake, or apparitions that appear half on the side of consciousness and half in the dream world.
REOCCURING NIGHTMARES
Do you dream of being chased by a fierce black dog? Or is there a reoccurring scene that replays in different scenarios such as being lost and not being able to find your way home through some dark and perilous path? These dreams are often the product of deep fears within. Perhaps the dog symbolizes a bully at work or the sense of being lost comes after a life partner has passed on into the next world.
AN END TO NIGHTMARES
First do the necessary physical checks, cooling the body, checking medication and their side effects or visiting the doctor. Simply talking out a dream can help you to understand what might be going on inside and to come to terms with the inner turmoil. However, as a last resort, Christian prayer may be the answer; especially if the cause is an evil spirit. These demons of darkness can be dispelled by someone who understands the authority of Jesus. Many could tell of years of terror being ended in one session of prayer.
PRAYING FOR CHILDREN ABOUT NIGHTMARES
If you want to pray to help children overcome nightmares, it never helps to mention anything about evil spirits or the dark side of the spirit world. This only serves to add to natural fear. But a parent has the right to claim back a child’s sense of safety. A prayer for peace and gentle dreams can set a child on a night of blissful sleep and will give them an early understanding of a loving God.
