Spiritual Warfare in Dreams: How to Overcome immoral Dreams
{Written June 12, 2019}
In the last year, I have had two “episodes,” you could call them, of spiritual warfare in my dreams.
More specifically, immoral/sexual dreams.
Going through these experiences has forced me to ask a lot of questions:
Is God punishing me with these dreams?
Can the enemy cause these dreams?
Are they a result of my living? Or my past?
And how can I stop them?
In this post we will explore all of this, but before we get into this, I would like to share a bit of my background with you.
My Past
I have had immoral dreams since early adolescence, but I would just ignore them, and considered them as a part of life. So, I didn’t put too much stock in them.
Then, as an adult who had given my life to Christ, I assumed that having these dreams meant that something was wrong with me and that I was defective in some way as a believer.
But during these times I never went to the Lord about this matter. I mean, it never even crossed my mind. In fact, I had no idea what spiritual warfare was or that believers even had spiritual weapons.
But then, after over a decade of living as a carnal and lukewarm Christian, I found myself entangled in pornography. And when I say, “found myself,” do not assume this happened quickly or overnight. This was a slow progression of falling further and further away from God by living a worldly and ineffective life.
In my carnal living, I watched television shows and movies that depicted adulterous relationships and fornication, but I would justify these because of a PG-13 rating.
I also participated in conversations about private matters; I used my mouth and ears to gossip, insult, tear down, and take offense…often.
So there I was, years later, ensnared in immorality. And it was during this time that I began to question my salvation.
I thought, “How could I be saved and be ensnared with pornography?”
However, I was saved, and it was during this time, after crying out to God for help, that I saw God move in a mighty way in my life. This is also where the Lord taught me about spiritual warfare, how to use my weapons, and how to guard my heart.
Guarding my heart meant I could no longer watch shows with any kind of sexual content, and I could no longer participate in conversations and activities that did not honor God.
And not only did I learn about doing good in these ways, but I also practiced them in my daily walk with Christ.
So, of course, after months and months of walking in victory over pornography and being obedient in guarding my heart, experiencing these immoral dreams shook me deeply.
But instead of ignoring them, as I had done in my youth and carnal living, I sought the Lord, through prayer and searching the Scriptures, to find answers.
What I Learned in the Battle: Episode 1
During the first episode, which lasted about two weeks, the first question that came to mind was, “Is this a punishment from God?”
However, the Lord quickly answered my question with a resounding…NO!
If you get nothing else from this blog post, get this: The Lord does not send immoral images and dreams as a punishment to His people.
If you are thinking this, know now that this is a lie from the enemy.
The Scriptures teach us:
James 1:13 – “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.”
I have also never found a solitary verse, that says the Lord punishes or disciplines His people in this way.
But what I have found is this: sexual immorality kills, steals, and destroy. Does this sound like anyone you may have heard of before?
The enemy.
The Bible teaches us that the devil seeks to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10).
So, to answer that question—one more time and for good measure—the Lord does not send immoral dreams and images as a punishment to His people.
Your next question may be the same as my next question in this situation: “Did God allow this?’
The answer to that question is a definite…YES.
As believers, the enemy cannot do anything to us that God does not allow.
Consider 1 Corinthians 10:13 which says, “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”
We read earlier that the Lord does not tempt anyone. Here, we learn that the Lord will not allow the enemy to test the believer beyond what they can endure.
But to answer this question more clearly, let me first remind you of some things you may have forgotten or simply do not know (as I previously did not know).
We have been saved by grace and are in the family of God, but we live our new life as believers in a hostile environment.
In fact, the Bible teaches us that we are in a war. It is not a physical war with physical weapons, but a spiritual war with spiritual weapons—also known as spiritual warfare.
Consider these verses:
Verses About Spiritual Warfare
Ephesians 6:12 – “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 – “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh,for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”
Verses About Why God Allows It
James 1:2-4 – “My brethren count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
1 Peter 5:10 – “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”
1 Peter 1:6-7 – “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ”
We learn from these passages (and many others) that we are in a spiritual war, and we are wrestling against spiritual forces of wickedness.
We also learn what these trials produce in us: strength, patience, and the perfecting of our faith, which brings glory and honor to our Father in Heaven.
The question now becomes, “Can this war also take place in our dreams?”
Why yes it can.
Here is an example from Scripture.
Job 4:7-8 – “Now a word was brought to me stealthily, and my ear received a whisper of it. ‘Amid disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men’”
This passage is describing a dream that Job’s friend Eliphaz experienced. In this dream, he was told false things about Job.
But the message he received in his dream about Job was not from God, because later, God spoke this to Eliphaz:
Job 42:7-8 – “It came about after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, ‘My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has.’”
Now, if Eliphaz’s dream, which he relayed to Job, were from the Lord, would the Lord’s anger have been kindled against him? Of course not.
This dream was a deception from the enemy.
This passage lets us know that the enemy can come against us by way of our dreams. And in this passage the enemy is attempting to disguise himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), as if he is giving information from the Almighty God.
(Click here to read a commentary from the Blue Letter Bible about Eliphaz’s dream – Job 4:12-16) https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/brown_john/Job/Job_04-05.cfm)
(Click here to read an in-depth commentary on Eliphaz’s dream). Job 4: Eliphaz’s Dream – The Outlaw Bible Student
Summary of Lessons During Episode 1
From my first episode of these horrible dreams, I learned:
- God does not punish us with immoral dreams.
- We have a spiritual enemy. We are in a spiritual war and have spiritual weapons.
- God allows these trials and attacks in order to strengthen us, test our faith, and prove our weapons.
- The enemy can bring attacks in our dreams.
Weapons Proved and Strengthened During Episode 1
During this episode, I not only learned valuable lessons, but I also proved some of my spiritual weapons as well.
(I use the word proved because David uses this word when he chooses a weapon to fight Goliath. He said to Saul of the armor he was given, “I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them,” seen in 1 Samuel 17:39. Meaning we cannot fight with weapons we have not tested and proved.)
Weapon Proved: Seeking God works.
During this time, I really learned how to seek God. I prayed every night for His help and for Him to clearly show me the lesson in this. I prayed for His deliverance from these dreams as well. I prayed when I woke from a bad dream and again first thing every morning. It became so much that I hated going to sleep. I even remember telling the Lord just how much I hated these dreams, because in them I did not feel tempted, only disgusting and dirty and defective. But I persisted in prayer because these dreams made me feel like God was not with me, but I knew this to be untrue from His Word (my favorite verse is Isaiah 41:10). And so, I held onto this promise in Scripture, praying every time this issue came to mind, and God answered me. I learned so many lessons from this attack; however, the most valuable lesson is that He hears me. In this, I proved that if you seek God, you will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13) and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:16).
Weapon Strengthened: Using the Sword, which is the Word of God.
Each night when I woke up from these dreams, I spoke the Scriptures. I had previously learned this from my battle with pornography. During my battle with pornography, the Lord showed me in Scripture how Jesus sent the enemy fleeing in Mathew 4. So I did the same every time I had a bad dream. I would speak the written Word of God and also pray these verses until I felt the enemy flee.
Episode 2:
During my second episode with these dreams (about 4 or 5 months after the first episode and lasting about 10 days), I asked myself, “Are these dreams a result of how I am living or of my past?”
When I said, “How I am living,” I wanted to know if I was giving the enemy a legal right to act in my life by way of some unrepentant sin.
This is a good question to ask, because it’s always wise to check your gates. Meaning to check what you are letting into your spirit and what you are exposing yourself to—because you cannot evict an enemy that you are sleeping with (James Aladiran).
Consider this verse: “Submit to the Lord, resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). I knew that I could not send the devil fleeing if I had not submitted to the Lord in some area of my life.
So, I began doing just that. I started checking my gates. I could not find any clear or big sins, so I started examining those things we view as small or insignificant. I asked forgiveness for things that, today, I am not even sure are sins or not.
I really wanted to know why these dreams had returned; I had honestly thought that the last episode was the end to it.
Then the Lord clearly spoke to my heart: It was NOT my gates; it was an attack.
The Lord then brought this Scripture to my remembrance, pertaining to the time Jesus was tempted by the devil: “When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time” (Luke 4:13 NASB).
And there it was: the enemy would return at an opportune time.
Now, let’s really think about that.
The enemy left Jesus… but would return at an opportune time.
What could these times be? Let’s look at the circumstances surrounding his appearance in Jesus’ life: Jesus had just fasted for 40 days (read Luke 4). He had no food and water for 40 days. That’s a supernatural spiritual victory right there. And this is when the enemy shows up?
Yep.
He shows up at times of spiritual victory and at times when we are getting closer to the Father.
The devil also shows up at times when we may be physically exhausted or restricting our physical body in some way. Jesus had a physical body. He had just come off a 40-day fast and here the devil was offering Him some bread!
Now if that don’t tell you something, I don’t know what will.
And here I was living a celibate, consecrated life, in victory over pornography—and this is when the enemy decides to show up with these immoral dreams.
You see?
Attacks are tailored to the way we are living. The way we are living now and how we have lived in our past.
Summary of Lessons Learned During Episode 2
During my second episode with these dreams, I learned:
- You should check your gates. This is something I still do, and I recommend that everyone do the same. Pray and ask the Lord to reveal any areas you have left open to the enemy. Do this regularly, not only in spiritual attacks.
- The enemy attacks us at opportune times, like when we are getting closer to God, after a spiritual victory, or times we may be physically exhausted or restricting ourselves physically.
- The enemy attacks us in ways that are specific to our current way of living and our past ways of living as well.
Weapons Proved and Strengthen During Episode 2
During this time, I also asked the Lord, “How do I overcome these dreams?”
I knew I should speak the Word and pray. I knew I should seek His face about the matter.
But there are three other weapons the Lord either strengthened or proved in me during this time.
Weapon Proved: Group prayer.
As I said before, I knew I should pray, so I did. Then one night right, my mom came to my room, and asked if she could pray over me (she does this often, never praying aloud, so I have no idea what she is praying about😊). After she had finished, the Lord brought to my mind something I had heard Chip Ingram say in his Spiritual Warfare series. Pastor Chip said that when we have done all to stand firm against the enemy but he continues to persist, we should pray with other believers.
So I asked my mother to pray with me about my deliverance from these dreams. We prayed together, and that night when I went to sleep, the dreams did not return. They were gone, almost like they never existed. Words cannot describe the joy and peace I felt at this time. I experienced and proved the following verse:
Mathew 18:19-20 – “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”
My mother and I not only asked for my deliverance but agreed that God heard us and agreed He would deliver me, and He did.
Weapon Proved: Checking your feelings and your thinking.
During this time, I remember hearing a pastor say that feelings are a result of our thinking and that we must check our thoughts and make sure we are believing truths and not lies.
I realized that I felt dirty, and like God would not help me.
But I knew how I felt was a lie because God’s Word teaches us that we have been washed clean with the blood of Jesus (1 John 1:7) and that the Father will surely help us (Isaiah 41:10).
I learned in this that a feeling can be a lie. And if we know that it’s a lie, we must replace and combat those lies with the Truth of God’s Word.
So every time I felt these negative emotions, I would speak the opposite from the Word of God.
I would say something like, “That’s a lie. The Lord says He will surely help me in Isaiah 41:10. The enemy’s lies have no power over me.”
After doing this a few times, I would honestly feel those lying feelings fall away and the enemy would flee from my emotions.
By the end of this trial, I had proven that feeling are not facts and can be based on lies, but the Word of God is supreme and absolute Truth!
Weapon Proved: Praise.
During this time, the Lord also brought the following verse to my remembrance:
Psalm 22:3 – “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabits the praises of Israel.”
I remember thinking, “The Lord inhabits praise.”
This was a game changer for me because I knew where the Lord is, the enemy must bow and flee.
So I began praising God.
Then, whenever I had a bad dream or felt overwhelmed, I gave what the Bible calls “the sacrifice of thanksgiving” (Psalm 49:14).
I would pull out my phone and listen to my worship music whether I was in bed or in the car, and I would praise God.
And I have got to tell you, I have never experienced the enemy fleeing faster.
I have heard Tony Evans say that the enemy is allergic to praise, and I have tested and proved this weapon.
We must remember that the enemy’s sin was pride and that he wants to be worshipped like God, so he cannot stick around too long when you refuse to bow to him in overwhelm or fear and instead choose to praise the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords!
Steps to Overcome Immoral Dreams
1st – Remember that you are in a war. This is a spiritual attack, so do not sit there and curl up in the fetal position. Put on your armor and fight. The Lord gives us a sword against the enemy: the Word of God. Speak the Word of God as Jesus did in Mathew 4.
2nd – Check your armor. Check your feelings and thinking so you can wield your sword wisely. Remember that what you feel is what the enemy is trying to accomplish in your life, so start speaking verses that pertain to those. Do you feel fearful, discouraged, lust, or like God is not with you? Whatever the feeling, find relevant verses; then, begin speaking them and declaring them over your life.
3rd – Pray. Here is an example of a prayer I would pray.
“Lord, I know You are with me as You have said in your Holy Word (Isaiah 41:10). Father, deliver me from these feelings in my mind, heart, and flesh. Father, contend with those that contend with me and fight those that fight against me (Psalm 35:1). You said You would help me and so I know that You will (Isaiah 41:10). In fact, You have already given me the victory. May I stand strong in the strength of Your might against the enemy’s schemes in this (Ephesian 6:10). Thank you for being with me and thank you for your deliverance. In Jesus name, Amen.”
4th – Praise!
Remember that the Lord inhabits His praise, and that the enemy cannot inhabit the same space as our Creator—so after you have checked your armor, used your Sword and prayed, choose a worship song that speaks of the Lord, His Character, His deliverance in Christ Jesus… and worship!
Send the enemy fleeing!
I leave you with this prayer from David. (Psalm 35:1-6):
“Contend, Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me.
Take up shield and armor; arise and come to my aid.
Brandish spear and javelin against those who pursue me. Say to me, “I am your salvation.” May those who seek my life be disgraced and put to shame; may those who plot my ruin be turned back in dismay.
May they be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the Lord driving them away;
may their path be dark and slippery, with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.”
I pray your peace and deliverance!
