Today Holy Spirit lead me to teach on how to get a good nights sleep. This is very important because there are many out there that feel as though they can’t sleep at night for some reason or another.
Whether it’s the dog making noise, the cat being loud, or incessant thoughts that you can’t evade; each of us has a reason for not being able to sleep from time to time. We’ve talked about binding and loosing and speaking blessing over yourself, but did you know that there are biblical principles you can follow to get a good nights sleep? Honestly, I didn’t know some of this until I did the study. It’s ok to be honest with yourself and admit there may be something you don’t know. Angels in heaven are constantly seeing something new about God. So if we stop learning, even in Heaven, we need to check ourselves because we may have reached a place of arrogance we need to avoid. Here’s one thing I learned from today’s lesson. Did you know that by “preserving” sound wisdom and discernment you will be able to sleep sweetly? Where’s that in the Bible you may be asking? Great question.
First, let’s talk about what preserving sound judgment is. In Hebrew, the word preserve isn’t used. It says don’t lose sight (do not let depart from your eyes) of sound wisdom and discretion. The word for discretion means discretion, purpose, or devices. It typically has a negative connotation because it can also mean a scheme, evil device, or evil intent. What is being said is that in all your plans, in all your actions and ways use wisdom and be wise and never lose sight of operating in wisdom. The next verse says, they will be life to your soul, adornment to you your neck. Now what this says in Hebrew is and they will be life to your soul and grace to your neck. The neck represents identity. In ancient times, a person would be given a necklace or pendant of some kind to wear and it would identify their position or authority. You would see this in Genesis when Joseph is given authority and a necklace which was the breastplate of sorts that Egyptians wore in to signify their significance; when Malachi or Daniel are honored by the king they are given gold necklaces. On the other hand, necks can represent stubbornness, pride, stiff-necked, or defeat. By keeping your sight fixed on wisdom you are identifying with Christ and walking in his ways. If you feel like you are lacking wisdom in some way just do what James says in James 1:5, ask for wisdom and God will give it without finding fault. He won’t be like, well, you did this and this the other day so I can’t give you this. If you’re operating in wisdom then you have benefits. You walk in safety, and you won’t stumble. What I love about that part is the word for walk is telek in Hebrew. This means to walk, but at a deeper level, it means to behave yourself which is what prevents the enemy from ensnaring you into sin and trapping you. When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you rest, your sleep will be sweet. So what does all this show me? It shows me that sometimes, the reason a person can’t sleep is because they are taking some actions that may not be in wisdom. There are things that a person did or is doing that is hindering their sleep. A prime example of this is when people are overthinking at night. This, in and of itself, isn’t wise because worrying about things isn’t biblical, isn’t Godly, and isn’t wisdom. Jesus specifically says don’t worry about anything. I get it. It’s hard to shut off your mind and just sleep sometimes, but you need to force yourself to line up with the word just like you would if you were quitting doing something, resisting the devil against temptation or whatever. Stop letting the devil rob you of sleep. Take a moment to consider if there’s an area where you may be lacking in wisdom that is preventing you from sleeping. Are you stressing out over bills and finances? Trust God. Tell your soul to shut up and to trust God. Are you overthinking an event that happened today that upset you? Perhaps you were embarrassed somehow and you can’t stop thinking about it. Give it God and forgive them, forgive yourself and let it rest. Are your animals making too much noise? Stop hyper-focusing on them and just ignore it. I know that sounds dumb. We have three dogs, and some nights they are loudly chewing bones, whining, scratching, licking, shaking their collars or whatever. I just get up, tell them to stop and go to sleep. I’ll just ignore it. I realized at a young age that if I fall asleep with the noise going on, then I will sleep through it all night. Now if you have a cat meowing all night, the only advice I can give you is to get rid of them! Just kidding. But I treat them just like dogs. I leave my door open so they can come and go, and make sure they have food and water and I ignore them. There’s no point in stressing out over things. Just pray and bind anything that may be stirring up the cat or dog or trying to prevent you from sleeping. Ask God for wisdom in how to deal with each situation and watch things change rapidly.
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