You have searched out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways. --psalm 139 v3
--This applies to traveling in body as well as in mind. It is often in long travels that we think about many things, and before we go to sleep that we ponder deeply.
Unclean thoughts and fear
--Often we do not recognize that our thoughts are not ours, but belong to unclean (gross, nasty) spirits that tempt us by lust, fear, or loathing. We must recognize this and invite the Holy Spirit by asking Him to dwell in us, and correct us. When we are afraid, or tempted, say "Holy Spirit I trust in you" and dwell on His peace--this helped my sibling overcome panic attacks.
Bad dreams
--Our mind is always in danger even in dreams. The power of prayer is necessary and effective even in the subconscious. Often in horrible nightmares, I remembered to pray for help, and felt the presence of G-d take away my fear. It seems that the more I needed help, the easier it was for me to pray. Of course I have not had as many nightmares since I was a child, but that's not necessarily a good thing. Evil was more clear antagonistic but I felt God's presence and peace very strongly as well.
I awake and still am with you. (v 18b)
On waking up
--Practice prayer often, before you sleep and after you wake and recite scripture. My favorite is "Bless the Lord O my Soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name." If you say this often enough, it becomes second nature. I generally hate waking up early because I feel like the world is ending, but when I say this it gives me strength. Also I say this after waking up from a particularly nasty or unclean dream.
On dream analysis
--I think it is important to analyze curious dreams, especially ones that seem to reveal something, usually a feeling or opinion, that we could not put in words when we were awake. "Sleeping on a problem" often clears the confusion of the day, and apparently a number of Mathematicians or Scientists made discoveries through their dreams. This happens often to me that symbols replace actual events, or people, and I usually chuckle when I see a feeling or idea materialize in my subconscious that I suppressed.
--Of course a caution comes with this as well: Often dreams feel more important than they really are, and any "feeling" that is particularly captivating or more interesting than holiness is false. Not every spirit is particularly evil, or even unclean, but if it is not from God, it is NEVER necessary or beneficial. I unfortunately have learned this the hard way, trying to chase "feelings" from my dreams or to keep on dreaming, only to discover that drug-like induced effects are NOT worth your time.
(Now understand that I do believe some of these feelings could be possibly good, but if they are God's, then we must let Him show us these things in His own time, never possessing us nor should these feelings be in our possession.)
If I say surely the darkness shall cover me
and the light about me be night
even the darkness is not dark to you
the night is as bright as the day
for the darkness is as light with you. --(v 11-12)
On imagination and carnality
To be able to be free from impure thoughts can only be obtained through giving your heart and mind to Christ. Our choice to imagine or create stories or movies in our heads is very susceptible to our fleshly desires as well as the spiritual. In fact, they are totally connected. A few years ago I attended the stations of the cross on Good Friday at our local Catholic Church and I was struck by St. Alfonso Liguori's words: "I love you Jesus, my love, I love you more than myself... Give me enough strength to overcome all human respect and all my evil passions which have led me to despise your friendship...Never allow me to offend you again." If you ask Jesus for help, He will give you enough strength to overcome. I am amazed how much the Holy Trinity has helped me in the past 3 years through the way, the truth, and the life. Obedience, Love, and the Knowledge of God work together. Be open to God about your troubles and temptations.
to overcome sin
--I memorized Psalms--focus on something more sacred than yourself.
--I Bible-flip regularly--I found it best to think about something I felt uncomfortable about, needed help in, or a even picked a "topic" in my mind before flipping. The rule I keep is that I always write down the verse in my book, underline the verse in my Bible with pencil, and Stopped flipping(this is a difficult rule to keep). If the verse was hard to take, understand that truth is trinitarian--it need not always be what you need, sometimes you get a little history--but search the context or lack of context for some truth and meaning.
--keep a diary to write prayers, thoughts, temptations, and angst. I couldn't believe how much easier it was to overcome problems by acknowledging that they were there.
Remember: The Holy Spirit is our friend and helper, Jesus was a teenager and is very acquainted with our struggles and temptations, we and all creation belong to God the father who has thousands of beautiful thoughts waiting to be discovered...
As it is written:
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast the sum of them!
If I would count them, they would outnumber the sand. (v18)
