English 
Chinese 
Dutch 
Arabic 
Spanish 
Portuguese 
Russian 
French 
Italian 
German 
Japanese 
Continue reading with a subscription
Get unlimited access to all our premium content and exclusive features.
Enjoy unlimited access, cancel anytime.
Summary
- Bible verses for the night include Psalm 91:5–6 (“Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night”), Psalm 4:8, Proverbs 3:24 and James 4:7.
- Ephesians 6:11–17 names the armor of God that most spiritual warfare prayers draw on: truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation and the word of God.
- Traditional prayers come from the Orthodox Vespers of Pentecost, which asks for a night “untroubled of dreams,” the 1928 Book of Common Prayer and the prayer of Saint Ioannikios.
- Short prayers cover the armor of God, bad dreams, a sense of evil in the room, a home, a frightened child, a loved one, fear of a curse and the morning after.
- The NHS describes sleep paralysis, with its sense that “someone is in your room,” as scary but harmless, and advises a doctor when it is frequent.
- Christians differ on binding spirits (Matthew 18:18; Jude 1:9) and generational curses (Exodus 20:5; Ezekiel 18:20).
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (1611), text of Project Gutenberg eBook no. 10 (Exodus 20:5; Psalm 3:5; 4:8; 91:5–6, 11; 121:4; Proverbs 3:24; Ezekiel 18:20; Matthew 18:18; Luke 10:19; Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 6:11–17; Philippians 4:7; James 4:7; 1 John 4:4; Jude 1:9). https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10
- Hapgood, Isabel Florence, trans. Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic (Greco-Russian) Church. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin, 1906. The Office of Grand Compline, prayer of St. Ioannikios, p. 162; Pentecost, Vespers, pp. 251–252. https://archive.org/details/cu31924029363128
- The Book of Common Prayer (Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A.), Standard Book of 1928. Family Prayer, “Prayer for God’s Protection through the Night following,” p. 591. PDF facsimile: https://www.artisticdailyprayers.org/uploads/3/0/1/6/30164961/bcp1928std.pdf
- NHS. “Sleep paralysis.” Page last reviewed 9 September 2026. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/sleep-paralysis/
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997. Paragraph 1673. https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_two/section_two/chapter_four/article_1.html
