While scrolling Facebook, I came across a post about a spa offering snake massages. Wait a minute. WHAT?!?!? Yeah. I may have done a double take while trying not to throw up. Here’s the link, in case you want to see the article: There Is a Spa that Offers Snake Massages and People Love Them

That article is what my childhood nightmares were made of.

I had three recurring nightmares as a kid. In two of them, I was laying in bed on my back with either a pile of snakes or a pile of spiders in the center of my stomach, as if my stomach was a bowl holding them there. (Can you say terrified screaming?) In the third, I was being chased down the street to my home in Canisteo, NY by an alligator. I would reach the wrap-around porch, and the front door would be locked. I would try every window and door in a counter-clockwise circle around the house with that thing on my heels. The window to the left of the front door would be the one that was always unlocked. I’d open it and dive through just before the alligator got me. (Maybe it was a crocodile…) So, as you can imagine, seeing this article reminded me of the snake nightmare.

Have your kids ever experienced night terrors?

I’ll never forget the night when Ezra woke up and started screaming bloody murder. He was probably between two and three. His bed was under a window in our apartment in the town of Roxbury, NY. The headboard sat against the window, with his toddler bed sticking out into the middle of the floor. When I ran into his room, I found him standing facing the window and staring blankly outside while screaming at the top of his lungs.

You may not believe in the supernatural (or maybe you do), but whatever he was staring at couldn’t be seen with natural eyes and was very real.

Knowing what he was observing was demonic, I grabbed him and held onto him while my husband practically threw the bed across the room. He quickly rearranged, putting the dresser by the window and moving the bed away from all the windows in the room. And then we prayed. And anointed my son’s room with oil and more prayer.

He never had night terrors again.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).

Do your children suffer from nightmares or night terrors? Try these tips:

1. Consider what your child is watching or listening to or playing before he or she falls asleep.

Are you watching anything that could be considered scary? Horror movies? Scooby Doo? The news? Criminal Minds? Stranger Things? You may be wondering what parent would allow their kids to watch some of these things, but I often find myself surprised at what parents let their kids watch. Granted, there comes an age when we tend to back off from monitoring every. single. thing. our kids watch or play, but we should keep some kind of guard on it. Even if it means asking them on occasion.

There came a point in time when I had to request my stepson no longer bring Pokemon or Dragonball Z into the house, because Ezra kept having nightmares every time he did. My husband and I agreed to put up a boundary and have him leave those cards and toys at his mom’s. The nightmares stopped at that point.

Find out what your child viewed or heard before he fell asleep that night. It could provide you with insight into what’s causing the bad dreams.

2. Play praise and worship music in your house overnight.

Put a CD or MP3 player in your child’s room and play worship music or the Word of God softly through the night. Having these in the atmosphere keeps the enemy of their sleep at bay.

3. Pray.

When you put your child to bed or when he or she wakes from a bad dream, pray with them. Reassure them that God is always with them, and all they need to do to get rid of the scary dreams is call on Jesus’ name.

4. Anoint the room and your home with anointing oil.

When Ezra woke up that terror-filled night, we prayed through his room and anointed it with oil. If you don’t have anointing oil handy, olive oil works as well. Declaring your domain covered by the blood of Jesus keeps the enemy of your spirit out.

For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you (Exodus 12:13).

5. Place Scripture cards above the headboard of your child’s bed.

This is twofold: It gives your child something to read out loud or memorize or refer to before they go to sleep while it gives them something to turn to should they wake from a nightmare. It’s something they can declare to any presence that may be in their room.

Here are a few Scriptures to use:

The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, And in the night His song shall be with me— A prayer to the God of my life (Psalm 42:8).

I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety (Psalm 4:8).

When you lie down, you will not be afraid;
Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.
Do not be afraid of sudden terror,
Nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes;
For the Lord will be your confidence,
And will keep your foot from being caught (Proverbs 3:24-26).

One More Nightmare

I was spending the night somewhere and had a nightmare. The scene was pitch black darkness surrounding me. I couldn’t even see shadows. And I was running from something that was terrorizing me. It turned out to be a black dog, similar to a doberman pinscher. It was angry and snarling as it chased me. I couldn’t see where I was going, and I just kept running. The dog was quickly gaining on me, and just as it was about to snag my Achilles tendon, a rather large hand came from above and plucked me high out of its reach. And my dream ended.

The next day, as I was reading in my Bible, I came across Proverbs 3:24-26.
When you lie down, you will not be afraid;
Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.
Do not be afraid of sudden terror,
Nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes;
For the Lord will be your confidence,
And will keep your foot from being caught.

As you can imagine, this verse has significance for me when it comes to battling night terrors. It’s a vivid reminder that God keeps us from the terrors that chase us in our dreams.

Using Scripture to deter nightmares and night terrors works.

Looking back at my childhood nightmare about the alligator and fast forwarding to the nightmare I had in my 20s about the dog, it dawns on me that terror has chased me for a long time. But God … He is my confidence and keeps my foot from being caught.

I pray your kids don’t suffer from nightmares or night terrors. If they do, I pray my tips help.

What tips do you have for preventing or managing nightmares? Do you have a recurring nightmare from childhood? Or currently? Please feel free to share in the comments below.