Have you ever awakened from a dream in the middle of the night and felt extremely afraid because you were having a nightmare? Like me, you have probably had that unnerving experience and it is definitely no fun to say the least! The only thing worse is when one of your children screams out in the night and you jump out of bed to race and find out what is wrong. The child usually tells you of a terrible scary dream they are having.
In either case, most of the time we convince ourselves that the dream was just a bad dream or maybe the pizza we ate. My wife and I used to think the same way until we became more aware of the spiritual battle all Christians are engaged in. (See Ephesians 6:10-18) God changed our paradigm and we began to wonder if many of the nightmares might be spiritual in nature.
This led us to begin to pray over each of our children and ourselves each night before we went to bed. As we did, the frequency of the nightmares for all of us decreased dramatically. We have continued that practice for the past 20 years and we have all slept much better. I am not saying we have never had any nightmares in the last 20 years. We have. Just a lot less than before. And when we do have one, we pray the same way as when we go to bed.
As I have discipled and counseled parents and pastors through the years, I have often taught them the necessity of praying spiritual warfare prayers over themselves and their children each night.
Here is what I teach them. God has already given us victory over our enemy because of Jesus Christ's death, burial, resurrection, ascension and seating at our Father's right hand. As a result of us being in Christ, we can tell satan to leave us alone. James 4:7 says, "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."
Here is the typical prayer my wife and I pray each night over our family. And it is important that you pray this out loud since our enemy cannot read our minds. "In the name and through the blood of our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I bind and rebuke you satan from (each family member's name including me) and I command you to go where the Lord Jesus Christ sends you, away from my family and my home. Heavenly Father, please send your angels to protect us since You say that there are ministering spirits created to serve Your children (Hebrews 1:14). Thank You for Your love and care. In Jesus Name, Amen." I usually ask the Holy Spirit to come and dispense peace and comfort.
I encourage you to begin to pray this right before you go to bed whether you are single, married or have children and watch the God who loves you work! Sweet dreams!
Until next time, remember He loves us!
Live Free in Christ,
Mark Maulding, Founder & President
GraceLifeInternational.com
All Content Copyright © 2012 Mark Maulding
