Bad Dreams

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Hello,
I have been having bad dreams lately that always seem to involve a choice/temptation to sin in them. I wake up from them and realise that I had or had not made a bad choice in them. My question is , can the devil attack us in our dreams to try to break us down or to discourage us or is it more of a moral deficiency? Last night , I had one and woke up at 3:00 in the mourning. I said the Lords prayer and a prayer to St. Rapheal, then had better dreams afterwards. Thanks, Tim
 
Yeah, it’s pretty bad when you have to wake up from a dream and need to ask for forgiveness for something which you really feel you have no control over…

…but then again, I’ve always heard that such dreams are the result of acting/thinking immorally during one’s waking hours. If such is true, and the psycho-analysts are right, then our dreams can express our deepest desires from a subconscious level.

I say a prayer every night before falling asleep, and I’ve asked God for good dreams, but I’ll still dream about sinful things. In many ways, I think it is Satan attacking us in our dreams, giving us something to remember, making us feel sinful, so that we’ll be sure to sin the next day!

Of course, I’m no saint, and my dreams are likely what I deserve. :o
 
3 AM? :eek:

Yes I think you could well be under attack. Don’t panic though, make sure you keep up your prayer life-- pray the rosary every day, receive the sacraments, be especially thorough in confession and ask Saint Michael for help like this: -

Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host -
by the Divine Power of God -
cast into hell, satan and all the evil spirits,
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.

Amen.

See how it goes, if it gets worse, go see a priest!
 
FightingFat said:
Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host -
by the Divine Power of God -
cast into hell, satan and all the evil spirits,
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.
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This is interesting. I actually prayed the St. Michael prayer last night (which is inscribed in my Bible) before retiring to bed, and I still had a dream I’m not too proud of. :o

Alot of this, I think, is due to the fact that I cannot receive the sacrament of reconciliation yet (because I’m in RCIA) and so my sins continue to haunt me…
 
Father Gabriele Amorth in his excellent (though quite scary) book says that a good thorough confession is more beneficial than an exorcism!
 
Thanks,
I have had problems in the past with spiritual attacks, but after I started to where a scapular and MM, they have stopped. Also I have a devotion to Jesus through Mary as per St. deMontfort. But I have been neglecting my prayers lately. The dreams always threaten my weakness’s. I go to monthly confession and just went 1 1/2 weeks ago. I’m pretty isolated and feel safe as far as my waking hours go now. Thanks for the response and advice, Tim
 
It could just be guilt feelings, but yes it is possible you are being attacked. The prayer to St. Michael before bed is good. Going to sleep saying your rosary is good. Have you thought about saying compline before bed?
 
Dirk_Skene said:
It could just be guilt feelings, but yes it is possible you are being attacked. The prayer to St. Michael before bed is good. Going to sleep saying your rosary is good. Have you thought about saying compline before bed?
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No, I hav’nt heard of it, but I looked it up and found one on Universalis and printed it. Thanks, Tim
 
Epistemes said:
Yeah,…but then again, I’ve always heard that such dreams are the result of acting/thinking immorally during one’s waking hours. If such is true, and the psycho-analysts are right, then our dreams can express our deepest desires from a subconscious level.

I
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I know of no psychologist or moral theologian that believes dreams result from sinful actions while waking, or are in themselves sinful if the dream images include immoral things. I cannot imagine where you heard this.

I think it is far more likely than your dreams are giving clues to struggles that are ongoing in your waking life. It may or may not be true that dreams reveal subconscious desires, not all psychologists agree on that, but even if they do, those dreams are not sinful in themselves. Only actions taken while fully conscious, aware and consenting are sinful. Bear in mind that images in dreams are often rather easily identified symbols for something else, and no, not all dream images relate to sex, that is a myth.
 
Epistemes said:
Alot of this, I think, is due to the fact that I cannot receive the sacrament of reconciliation yet (because I’m in RCIA) and so my sins continue to haunt me…
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I believe that you are under attack. Why would Satan want to make it easy for you to heal your relationship with God? While you are not in a state of grace due to mortal sin, he has a foothold in your life. Ask for prayers from your RCIA ministry team or classmates if you don’t know anyone else to ask. Check out info on spiritual warfare. I’ve included a link to a site that has info on how to say the rosary and chaplet of divine mercy
catholicwarfare.com/

I was attacked spiritually during RCIA. It got pretty scary. I begged to be allowed to go to Reconciliation earlier rather than waiting until Lent! I could feel the presence of evil in my room a few times when I woke up in a cold sweat at night. I was tempted and taunted for months. I’ve been a RCIA sponsor many times since then and I’ve heard similar stories from other people who were candidates or catechumens.

I got holy water and blessed my home and myself. I started going to scheduled weekly adoration before the Blessed Sacrament which became the most peaceful hour of the week despite a 40 minute drive through rush hour to get there. I had attacks a number of times on my way to my holy hour such as crazy unlikely things going wrong with my vehicle, a freak localized thunderstorm during our dry season, etc but I always got there. I finally rebuked the devil and told him straight out that the more he attacked me the more prayers I would send to Heaven and he could not defeat me and all of the angels and saints who prayed with me. Suddenly, no more trouble getting to my holy hour.

I started to pray the rosary nightly after gettting into bed and the attacks finally ceased at night. I used a tape and a booklet to follow along until I memorized the mysteries. I actually fell asleep once saying a Hail Mary and awakened the next day with sun on my face finishing the prayer while still holding the same bead! I had been an insomniac for more than 10 years and never slept through the whole night! I could feel the Blessed Mother’s comfort from then right through Easter Vigil and beyond.

I will pray for you and all of those making the journey to full communion with the church this year! It was the best thing that ever happened to me and I know that you can make it also! God bless you!
 
Just a side question (don’t know if I should start anotherb thread)… Since my daughter has been born I’ve had numerous nightmares of her dying horrible deaths or of her being assaulted or kidnapped by strangers. What do y’all think? An over active dream or something else? When I was a teen I’d also have some seriously scary dreams along the same lines about myself.
 
gmarie21 said:
Just a side question (don’t know if I should start anotherb thread)… Since my daughter has been born I’ve had numerous nightmares of her dying horrible deaths or of her being assaulted or kidnapped by strangers. What do y’all think? An over active dream or something else? When I was a teen I’d also have some seriously scary dreams along the same lines about myself.
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Maybe your reaction to it is what is important. The dream I had last night, my wife was attacked and I had the chance to get revenge, instead of killing the two attackers , I called the cops. It was disturbing to think what I could have done in the dream. It felt like it was a real temptation when I awoke. Tim
 
Btw, I almost forgot, I wasn’t even finished with my prayer when my 5 y.o. son woke up crying and climbed into bed with us. Tim
 
If you’ve got a new little daughter, I suspect you’re having bad dreams because you feel responsible for her. If I had to take care of a little baby and keep her safe for the rest of her childhood, I guarantee I’d wake up sweating a few times!

So I’d say this is all part of the ‘joys’ of being a parent. Be sure to mention it when your daughter turns 18, along with the length of labor pains… 🙂
 
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