Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, I come before You with a troubled heart. I have been plagued by nightmares and disturbing dreams, and I ask for Your deliverance and protection.
In Your holy name, Lord, drive out every evil spirit that would trouble or influence my dreams, and let no power of the enemy have any hold over my sleep. I belong to Jesus Christ, and He is Lord over my conscious and unconscious mind.
I renounce every open door that may have allowed the enemy access to my dreams:
• Any media I have consumed that opened a door to darkness
• Any unconfessed sin that gives the enemy a legal right
• Any unforgiveness in my heart
• Any fear that I have entertained
Lord, I ask You to:
• Heal my imagination and cleanse my memory
• Remove every image the enemy has planted in my mind
• Replace every nightmare with visions of Your peace and love
• Station Your angels around my bed to guard my sleep
• Fill my subconscious with Your truth and Your Word
I rest in the promise of the psalmist — that in peace I will lie down and sleep, for the Lord alone makes me dwell in safety.
Holy Spirit, take control of my dream life. Let me dream dreams from You — dreams of hope, of comfort, and of Your plans for my future.
Precious Blood of Jesus, cover my mind as I sleep. Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in You. Amen.
A Prayer Against Nightmares and Bad Dreams
For peaceful sleep under God’s protection — when the night brings fear, disturbing dreams, or a child who is afraid of the dark.
From the Church’s tradition: Scripture names the fear by its right name — “the terror of the night” (Psalm 91:5; Psalm 90 in the Douay-Rheims) — and the Church answers it every evening at Compline, the night prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours, asking God to guard our sleep and send His angels around our beds.
Nightmares and disturbing dreams are an old human trouble, and Scripture does not treat them lightly: it calls the fear that comes in the dark “the terror of the night,” and it promises that the one who shelters in God need not be afraid of it. Whether your nights are broken by recurring nightmares, by dreams that leave you shaken, or by a child who wakes up frightened, the answer the Church has always given is the same — to hand the hours of sleep, when we are most defenseless, deliberately to God.
The prayer below asks God for exactly that: peaceful sleep, a guarded imagination, and His angels stationed around the bed. It is prayed the Catholic way — as petition to God, never as a command to any spirit. You will also find narrated audio to pray along with as you fall asleep, a card to keep by the bed, and an honest word about when disturbed sleep is something to bring to a doctor as well as to God.
Listen — Prayer Against Nightmares, narrated
A Prayer Against Nightmares
A prayer to pray as you fall asleep — asking God to guard your dreams, heal your imagination, and station His angels around your bed.
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Praying against the terror of the night
The Bible is unembarrassed about the fears that come at night. Psalm 91 — the Church’s great psalm of protection — names “the terror of the night” directly and answers it with a promise: “thou shalt not be afraid of the terror of the night” (Psalm 91:5; Psalm 90 in the Douay-Rheims). The book of Proverbs makes the same promise to the one who keeps wisdom: “If thou sleep, thou shalt not fear: thou shalt rest, and thy sleep shall be sweet” (Proverbs 3:24). Sleep, in Scripture, is meant to be a place of trust, not of dread.
That is why the Church ends every day with Compline — night prayer — where she prays Psalm 4, lying down to sleep in peace because the Lord alone makes her dwell in safety. To pray against nightmares is to enter that same trust: we ask God to guard the hours when we cannot guard ourselves, to heal the imagination, to take away the images that disturb us, and to send the guardian angels He gives us to keep watch over our beds. Notice that we ask — we never address or command the darkness ourselves; that is the Church’s rule and our safety.
A word of honesty belongs here, too. Not every nightmare is a spiritual attack. Disturbed and recurring dreams are very often the mind’s response to stress, grief, trauma, illness, certain medications, or a sleep disorder — and these deserve real care, including a doctor’s help, without any shame. The Church discerns the two together, never against each other. Pray for peaceful sleep, keep good habits and good counsel, and if nightmares are frequent or distressing, speak to a doctor as well. God works through both.
When to pray it
- ✦At bedtime, as you settle into sleep — let it be the last thing on your mind.
- ✦After waking from a nightmare, to quiet your heart and return to rest.
- ✦Over a child who is afraid of the dark or wakes frightened — pray it aloud at their bedside.
- ✦In any season of broken or troubled sleep.
More prayers for the night
Peace and protection
Questions about A Prayer Against Nightmares
What is a Catholic prayer against nightmares?+
It is a prayer asking God for peaceful, protected sleep — that He would guard your dreams, heal your imagination, take away disturbing images, and send His angels to watch over your bed. This page gives one to pray as you fall asleep, along with narrated audio. Like all sound Catholic prayer against the dark, it is addressed to God and never commands any spirit, which is what makes it safe for anyone to pray.
Why do I keep having nightmares — is it spiritual?+
It can be, but often it is not primarily spiritual at all. Recurring nightmares are very commonly the mind’s response to stress, anxiety, grief, trauma, illness, or certain medications, and these deserve real care — including a doctor’s help — without shame. Sometimes disturbed sleep does have a spiritual dimension. The Church discerns the two together rather than against each other: pray for peaceful sleep, and if nightmares are frequent or distressing, talk to a doctor as well.
Can I pray this over my child?+
Yes — and praying aloud at a frightened child’s bedside is one of the most comforting things you can do. Ask God to guard their sleep, take away the frightening images, and station their guardian angel beside them; the Church teaches that God gives each person an angel to keep them “in all thy ways” (Psalm 91:11). A simple sign of the cross and a few words of this prayer can settle a child far more than reassurance alone.
What does the Bible say about fear at night?+
It meets it head-on. Psalm 91 promises the one who shelters in God, “thou shalt not be afraid of the terror of the night” (Psalm 91:5). Proverbs says, “If thou sleep, thou shalt not fear… thy sleep shall be sweet” (Proverbs 3:24). And the Church prays Psalm 4 every night at Compline, lying down to sleep in peace because the Lord alone makes us dwell in safety. Sleep, in Scripture, is meant to be a place of trust in God.
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