What people see
- Awake, but unable to move or speak
- A weight on your chest, or someone sitting on you
- Seeing or sensing a figure in the room
- Trying to shout "Jesus" and no sound comes
- It happens just as you fall asleep or wake up
Possible meanings
Not every dream is a message (Ecclesiastes 5:3). Ask yourself which of these fits, and test it.
Job describes fear and trembling in the visions of the night (Job 4:13–14). A night like this does not mean God is against you; He is the One who sustains you through the night (Psalm 3:5), and it can be a call to draw near to Him.
- Has my prayer life been dry lately?
- When it passed, did I sense God's help?
Sleep paralysis happens when the mind wakes before the body does. The body is still in the part of sleep where it lies still, and the mind can see dream images in the room. It is more likely with tiredness, sleeping on your back, stress, night shifts and some medicines.
- Have I been short of sleep, or sleeping at odd hours?
- Do I sleep on my back, or have I started a new medicine?
Many believers experience this as spiritual oppression, and you may pray against it with confidence. Even if you can't speak, you can call on Jesus in your heart and He hears you (Romans 8:15). God has not given you a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7).
- Did it ease when I called on Jesus?
- Is there anything I should renounce or stop?
From pastoral experience
This experience frightens people more than almost any other dream, so let me say clearly: you will come out of it. It passes, usually in seconds or minutes. It happens more when we are exhausted, stressed, sleeping on our back, or keeping irregular hours. So look after your sleep: rest well, keep a regular bedtime, and pray before you sleep.
Don't let it make you afraid of your own bed. Keep the light low if it helps, play worship softly, and call on the name of Jesus even silently. He hears the cry of the heart.
The experience is a relay from witchcraft to demons leaving in your space and thats is why the attack can happen even in the afternoon because it was relayed, those spirit also act as monitoring spirits because they relay information about you to the night witches.
The prophetic angle
Psalm 91 speaks of the terror by night (Psalm 91:5), so God knows these nights exist, and He promises that we need not be afraid of them. Whether the cause is the body or something spiritual, the response of faith is the same: call on Jesus, and rest in His covering.
Some are woken in this way at the same hour again and again. If so, consider whether the Lord is calling you to prayer at that hour. Many intercessors were first woken by fear before they learned to rise and pray. Isaiah 26:3 promises perfect peace to the mind stayed on God. Before you sleep, commit your night to Him, and declare Proverbs 3:24 over yourself: your sleep shall be sweet.
Against witchcraft and marine powers
Many believers call this being pressed, and in my ministry I deal with it as an attack: a spirit of the night pressing down on the body to frighten, to drain or to establish a covenant. Marine spirits and witchcraft often work at this hour together.
Your defence is a clean life and a praying spirit. Lust, masturbation, pornography and alcohol in the day become ladders for these spirits at night. Abstain, and pray before you sleep. Even when you cannot speak, call on Jesus in your heart; He hears. And remember: the spirit may come through any agent, but we stand against the spirit, not people.
Pray it aloud
- Father, I thank You that I shall not be afraid for the terror by night (Psalm 91:5).
- Every power pressing me down in my sleep, be thrown off by the fire of the Holy Ghost, in the name of Jesus.
- Every night caller, spirit spouse or marine power visiting my bedroom, I command you out and I close the door by the blood of Jesus.
- I renounce every habit of lust, pornography or masturbation that has given these spirits a ladder into my nights.
- I declare that when I lie down I shall not be afraid, and my sleep shall be sweet (Proverbs 3:24).
Written by Pastor Joseph from his own ministry. Test it too (1 Thessalonians 5:21), and talk to him about your own dream.
Why it may mean something different for you
- When it happens
- If it comes just as you fall asleep or wake, it is very often sleep paralysis. It is frightening, but it is not harmful, and it passes in seconds or minutes.
- How often it comes
- If it happens often, or you fall asleep suddenly during the day, see a doctor: sleep problems can be treated.
- What you saw
- The figure is very often part of the half-dream. Don't name anyone as the one who pressed you.
- Your sleep
- Regular sleep times, less screen time before bed and sleeping on your side help many people.
Scripture
I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me.
PSALM 3:5 · KJV
I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.
PSALM 4:8 · KJV
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
2 TIMOTHY 1:7 · KJV
When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.
PROVERBS 3:24 · KJV
What to do
- If it happens, don't fight your body. Focus on moving one finger or toe, and call on Jesus in your heart.
- When it passes, sit up, turn on a light and pray Psalm 4:8.
- Keep regular sleep times, and try sleeping on your side.
- Write down when it happened and what you had been doing that day.
- If it happens often, see a doctor, and tell Pastor.
When to seek help
Prayer and treatment go together. Please also see a doctor, counsellor or treatment programme.
Get help →This is discernment to be tested (1 Thessalonians 5:21), not a verdict.
