Good question, right? There seems to be a good bit of debate on this subject. If you have ever been unfortunate enough to experience this, and have zero belief in the supernatural, I guess you'd have to find a way to explain this phenomenon some how? Well, those of us who are spiritually sensitive may have an advantage. In this post we will look at what the medical community says, what the Bible says and what I say about this scary event, since it has happened to me several times over the course of my life. We'll also look at ways to make it stop while it's happening and stop it from happening again.
According to Web MD, "sleep researchers conclude that, in most cases, sleep paralysis is simply a sign that your body is not moving smoothly through the stages of sleep. Rarely is sleep paralysis linked to deep underlying psychiatric problems. Over the centuries, symptoms of sleep paralysis have been described in many ways and often attributed to an "evil" presence: unseen night demons in ancient times, the old hag in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and alien abductors. Almost every culture throughout history has had stories of shadowy evil creatures that terrify helpless humans at night. People have long sought explanations for this mysterious sleep-time paralysis and the accompanying feelings of terror." Other medical websites say that this phenomenon usually only happens as you are falling asleep or upon waking up and that the reason you can't move or speak is due to "atonia" which is the term given to the normal event in which your brain causes your muscles to relax and be still while you sleep. I found it interesting that most of them mention that people perceive or "hallucinate" that there is a demon or person in the room touching or choking them during this event. Some of the possible causes listed include, narcolepsy, sleep deprivation, bi polar disorder and treatments range from, getting a proper amount of sleep to medications. Maybe some people really do have this happen due to a medical issue? I can only speak from my experiences and knowledge that I have of the supernatural realm.
Now let's take a look at the Bible. From what I can tell, this specific event isn't mentioned. Although, there are plenty of scriptures all throughout the Bible that talk about demons and evil spirits. They wreak havoc on people's lives, mental, physical and spiritual health. There are several scriptures in which they manifest from a person and speak or cause that person or others around them physical harm. Yet they all share one thing in common. They are terrified of Jesus. Just His name causes them to shudder and flee! As in Mark 1:21-28 Matthew 8:28-33 and Luke 4:40-42. Ok, great. Now how does that help you, you ask? Not only do they obey Jesus, but if you are saved (meaning, you have confessed your sins, asked God for forgivness and have asked Jesus to come live in your heart) you have authority in the name of Jesus! Which means, if you simply utter His name, they have to leave. Some of my favorite verses that illustrate this are Luke 10:17-20 and Acts 16:18. In practical terms, this means that if you find yourself in the midst of an attack of "sleep paralysis", all you have to do is say the name of "Jesus". I know it's hard to talk at all when it happens because it feels like your mouth is frozen, but if you can break it lose just enough to say that name, it stops. Period. And I'm not the only one who believes that! You can find story after story from people all over the Internet who say that same exact thing! So, if this condition is caused by something in our brains and muscles, why does that work? Why have people from all different walks of life and all religions from history up through today, say that they can see an evil spirit, shadow people, or person standing over them? So every person this has ever happened to "hallucinates" the same thing? Hmmmm....
I'm not sure why my letter size randomly keeps changing in this post. I don't think I have this blogging thing completely figured out yet. Anyway.
I'm sure you can guess what my opinion is. This is something that has been happening to me for several years, since my early teens. As a very young child I can remember being woken up to the presence of something bad in the doorway of my bedroom. In my mind then, it was a witch and I thought that if pretended to be asleep, she would leave. The fear I felt is something I have never forgotten. This has happened to me as recently as a few weeks ago. Usually right at 3:00 am. Sound familar? This last time, I was asleep and I felt something touch me and instantly, I was frozen. I couldn't move and I couldn't speak. I mumbled the name "Jesus" as best as I could and it let go. I looked at the clock and it was 3:01 am. Another time when this happened, my youngest baby was a newborn. She was sleeping between my husband and I and I was facing her. I suddenly woke up to being touched on my back. I sensed the presence of a man in my room and initially thought it was an intruder. I had my eyes wide open and could see my baby throw out her arms in a startle reflex because I was shaking trying to kick my husband awake and say his name. After a terrifying second or two, I realized what was going on and was able to force the name "Jesus" from my frozen lips. It left me immediately. About 5 years ago, I had prayed with a friend and broke a spirit of fear off of her. I was somewhat new to deliverance and didn't remember to lay down the ground rules and not allow it to follow me home. Becuase of that, I literally had an encampment of demons in my bedroom. Since I see them as figures of vapor, or kind of like how the movie character Preditor looks when he turns on his cloaking device, I could watch them walk around my room all night everynight. I had to sleep with the lights on and a christian radio station playing contantly becuase it was the only way I could sleep at all. My oldest was a teenager at the time and was also to scared to sleep becuase they would jiggle her door knob and move little things in her room. So we slept together in the same bed. During those few weeks, I was frequently attacked in my sleep. Once they tried to roll me off my bed while I was helplessly frozen. My eyes were open and I watched myself nearing the edge of my bed and heading for the floor. That morning, I called a friend of mine who is more spiritually sensitive than I am and who does deliverance to help me "clean out" my room. The Lord gave her a word of knowlage that it and it's buddies were there becuase I had prayed it off of my friend. We figured out that it was attached to me and made them leave. It was still a while before I could fall asleep easily again.
There is a way to help prevent this from happening. I have noticed that I get attacked when I forget to say my prayer of protection or if I just rattle it off without my heart being in it. I learned the basis of this prayer from a prophetess named Reba Manfre. She was a big influance in my life when I was just learning about the spiritual gifts. This is how I say it, "Father God, in the name of your son Jesus and by the authority that I have in that name, I ask that you would surround me (and insert loved one's names here) concious and subconcious mind and my body, with your warring and gaudian angels, so that NO spirit except for YOUR Holy Spirit can touch us, come near us, or be in our rooms while we sleep and that we awake refreshed in you. In Jesus name I pray. Amen." Sometimes when I can feel one in my room at night, I will get up and anoint myself or my room with anointed oil and tell it to leave in Jesus name. I pray that this post helps someone. It is not my intention to scare anyone with "ghost stories", but to empower you to know that there is hope and help.
To those of us who are spiritually sensitive, weather you identify as being a christian, empath, or anything else, this topic is a no brainer. The supernatural realm is as real as you and me. Some people don't or can't admit that because it would open up a whole new can of worms of questions. Others can't admit it because then that would mean that if spirits are real, demons are real and yes, God is real.
"The Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1
Until next time my friends.
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