I think we all, from time to time, have dreams that aren’t too pure—myself included.  And it’s especially troublesome for Christians, because we are called to live pure lives (Matt 5:28; Eph. 5:3-4).  But the important thing is that we can do something about it; there are things that can be done to clean up impure dreams.

As you may know, dreams are mainly a product of what we think about during our awake hours. And this world we live in doesn’t help at all.  It seems as if our world is doing all it can to cause us to lust.  Books are written and movies are made with the very theme of lust and violence—because that’s what sells and what will bring a profit.  The best-selling books are probably the romance novels—and some are worse than others.  Young women are especially susceptible to these (or maybe I should say all women).  They may seem to be a harmless form of entertainment, but they are probably the most destructive, because they so easily bring the reader into a fantasy world; and then, eventually, fantasies become dreams.

Many people will say that there is really nothing we can do about lustful dreams—that we can’t control them, so we should not feel guilty over them.  But that’s not at all true.  The fact that you feel guilty is a good indication that your conscience is still in working order and it is telling you that something is amiss inside you and that you should do something about it.  And you can do something about it.  Here are…

Four Ways to Clean Up Your Dreams

1. Discontinue watching movies, TV shows, or reading anything that has lustful content.  This is the most important step, because what we feed our brain will be what we think about and what we eventually dream about.

2. Meditate on scripture, especially right before bedtime. Make a practice of this and you will find that your dreams will be sweet and clean!  Oh, also, meditate especially on verses that promote purity and having right thoughts toward God.  And it will help tremendously to memorize those verses so you have them with you always.  Psalm 119: 11 says, “Your word have I hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.”

3.  Before bedtime put on your spiritual armor, and have a battle plan ready.  Review what you will do and what verses you will quote in your dreams if you find yourself in sinful situations. And Count on God to be with you and help you.

4.  Pray at bed time that God would be near you and protect you from wrong dreams, that He will strengthen you, even in your dreams, to reject any lustful, sinful encounters.  And be encouraged that God will indeed help you in your dreams to fight against the enemy.