Two Dreams and the Power of Praying Scripture Meditatively

How God helped me deal with debilitating fear and anxiety in a recent health crisis

Photo by Fa Barboza on Unsplash

The following is an adaptation of my story Two Dreams and the Power of Praying God’s Word Meditatively, published 11/3/2023 in New Creation on Medium.

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I have faced many health challenges throughout my lifetime, but nothing quite like what I encountered in 2021.

When I’m in a battle, the first place I run to is God and His word in prayer.

But how? What did my process look like?

That's what this post is about. I want to share how I combined reading and meditating on Bible verses (Scripture) with prayer in a specific way.

Some call it praying the word; I call it praying Scripture meditatively. Whatever you call it, through the years, it has become my favorite way to pray.

It’s my default, my lifeline. It’s how I receive His help, strength, wisdom, and peace.

Are you going through something where you need

• God’s supernatural power released on your behalf?

• His peace to blanket your heart and mind despite circumstances?

What I’m going to share with you is not theory. It’s practical, immediately applicable, and produces tangible, life-changing results.

But it only works if and when you do it!

I did. Not just once or twice, either. I lived there. I had to. Relentless circumstances dictated it.

Here’s my story:

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A little of my health history

I began experiencing intermittent insomnia in the late ‘80s.

If you’ve ever dealt with chronic insomnia, you know how debilitating it can be. One or two days of losing sleep is one thing; weeks, months, and years of it are another.

When I can’t get at least 4-5 hours of sleep, not only is my energy zapped, but my blood pressure spikes, and my sympathetic nervous system (SNS) can get stuck in fight or flight mode. When that happens, I become hyper-allergic to everything I eat and drink, which leads to lots of nose-blowing!

And as you are about to learn, THAT became a REAL problem!

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Two 911 calls and an ambulance ride

In mid-December 2020, after doing fairly well the entire year, my sleep issues suddenly worsened one night, and I had to call 911. My blood pressure was spiking, and taking my BP med (Lisinopril), which had expired, by the way, wasn’t having much effect.

Soon after the nice EMTs arrived and checked me out, my blood pressure returned to a safe level. So, no further action was warranted.

Such was not the case two weeks later when again, after little sleep (for going on two days, this time), I had to call 911. Even AFTER maxing out what I could safely take of the Lisinopril, my blood pressure was still high, I was trembling uncontrollably, and I knew, in that state, there was no way I’d be able to sleep.

So, I took my first ambulance ride. (Those things sure need better shock absorbers!)

Thankfully, again, they didn’t find anything wrong, and around 3:00 AM, my body relaxed, the trembling stopped, and I felt normal again. We were home and in bed by 4:30.

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Hydroxyzine — help or hurt?

Through the years, I have had little success taking prescription or natural sleep aids. But after two 911 calls, I knew I had to do something.

So, I met with my nurse practitioner, who suggested I try Hydroxyzine — an antihistamine that doubles as a sedative and is used to treat anxiety and tension. I was also hopeful that, with it being an antihistamine, it would stop my sinus issues at night. That would be a welcome bonus!

My first hint that trouble was ahead happened two weeks after beginning to take the drug. A small spot on the lower left part of my right nostril began to bleed slightly after blowing my nose. But it stopped after I held a tissue on it for a minute or two. So, no big deal, right?

Two weeks later (mid-February), I had my first full-on nosebleed in over 50 years (right side only). Again, I was not alarmed because it stopped within a few minutes. Even so, I began to ponder if perhaps taking the Hydroxyzine was behind the bleeding episodes.

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Two dreams

Then something quite unusual happened. On Feb 20th and 21st, I had two dreams.

In the first dream, I was on a motorcycle riding up a hill. As I topped it, suddenly, the road was gone, and all I could see was water where a bridge should have been. Rather than panic, however, I thought, “Oh, well…” and leaned into it.

When my bike hit the water, rather than crash and sink, my back tire landed on something solid below the water’s surface. I then continued on my way, unharmed, as if nothing unusual had happened.¹

The next night, I dreamed the same dream  —  only, this time, the motorcycle theatrics were followed by a second dream scene.

While walking along a street, a man in a dark red pickup truck (apparently, I dream in color!) backed out of his driveway in front of me. I could have easily gotten out of his way, but instead, I just stood there as he came within inches of me.

Calmly, I gripped his rear tailgate, and as he drove forward, I held on and went with him. I have no idea where my feet were. (Dreams are weird!)

After a while, he stopped and asked why I was holding his tailgate. I just shrugged, and that was the end of the dream.

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Be brave and courageous

In reflecting on both dreams I knew were from God, two words came to mind: brave and bold. That made me think of Joshua 1:9, which reads:

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified nor dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9 NASB)

While reading the passage, the word that leaped off the page was courageous. When I looked it up, I found that the Hebrew word used in the text is אמץ (ʾāmaṣ), and in this instance, it means

• To be courageous — to be able to face and deal with danger or fear without flinching.²

The Louw-Nida Greek-English Lexicon adds to be bold.³

The message was clear: Something scary and seemingly life-threatening was about to happen, and instead of flinching, I needed to face it with courage and confidence, knowing that I would not be hurt. And once the event was over, I would proceed as if nothing had happened.

Alrighty then! Thanks for the heads up, Lord! (Said as if I hadn’t a care in the world and that whatever I was about to experience would be short-lived, I would easily get through it, and that would be that.)

Silly me!

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My 3rd 911 call and 2nd trip to the ER

Four days later, I had my first major nosebleed. David wasn’t home from work yet. So, with blood pouring out BOTH nostrils this time, I ran across to my neighbor, who called 911 for me.

When David drove up a little later, he was greeted by ambulance lights glaring, and several people surrounding me in front of our neighbor’s house. My nose was still bleeding, and my blood pressure was through the roof. So David took me to the ER.

By the time we arrived, the bleeding had stopped. But the trip was not wasted because, while there, the doc confirmed my suspicion: the Hydroxyzine was causing the nosebleeds.

How I would be able to sleep without it, I didn’t know. And, quite frankly, I didn’t care. I just wanted the nosebleeds to stop.

And SURELY, they would stop once I quit taking the drug. Right?

Umm…not quite.

Photo by Yassine Khalfalli on Unsplash

My 4th 911 call and 2nd ambulance ride

Life was good for the next three weeks. Then, suddenly, on March 20th, my nose began bleeding profusely. Again, David was at work. But hey, at least I managed to call 911 myself this time — no neighbor required.

I don’t want to gross you out, but at times, I found it hard to keep the blood from going down my throat. So when the medics offered to transport me back to the ER, into the ambulance I went! Gladly!

This time, I learned that at least one spot in my right nostril required cauterization. But would they do it? NO! You gotta see an ENT for that!

Unfortunately, the earliest appointment I could get was April 6th  —  17 days later. In case you’re not good at math, that’s 408 hours of uncertainty, not knowing if or when my nose would start bleeding again.

I have never in all my life dealt with the onslaught of fear like I did during those 17 days.

Suddenly, the dreams took on a whole new meaning. And so did one of my favorite Scriptures.

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From panic to peace through meditative prayer

Fear not [there is nothing to fear], for I am with you; do not look around you in terror and be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties, yes, I will help you; yes, I will hold you up and retain you with My [victorious] right hand of rightness and justice. (Isaiah 41:10 AMPC)

I love the Amplified Classic translation of the Bible, especially for this verse. Yes, it’s wordy — more than other Bible translations.

But I needed to pray and meditate on every word. And when I say pray, I mean out loud! Often, it was no more than a whisper. Yet, always vocalized — never just in my mind.

Whenever I saw even the slightest spot of blood on my tissue after blowing my nose, panic often gripped my heart and mind in a torturous vise. Logical reasoning — telling myself that my reaction was ridiculous — proved no match for the spirit of fear I was wrestling with.

This was a spiritual battle. So I ran to the throne of God’s grace (Hebrews 4:16) and wielded the sword of the Spirit — the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17).

I would grab my iPad, go to a room by myself, and repeat every word of Isaiah 41:10 over and over, personalizing the phrases like this:

I will not fear. There is nothing to fear, for You are with me, Lord. Thank You that You are with me RIGHT NOW! So, I will NOT look around in terror and be dismayed. Thank You, Lord, for strengthening me and hardening me to difficulties. I need Your help, Lord. Thank You for helping me. Thank You for holding me up and retaining me with Your victorious right hand of rightness and justice.

I would continue like this, including praying other Scriptures as they came to mind, until finally,  His peace would envelop me, and my soul would, once again, become calm.

Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with his mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me [ceased from fretting]. (Psalm 131:2 AMPC)

Conclusion

The ENT cauterized the spot on my nose on April 6th, and I only had a couple more minor nosebleeds after that.

While my sinuses have improved significantly since 2021, I still occasionally see fresh blood on my tissue, especially in the wintertime when the air is drier.

But it’s okay because I know what to do when fear tries to grip me: I pray His word meditatively and worship my Faithful, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, my Wonderful Counselor, and my Mighty God.

And in my opinion, there’s no better song to do that with than this one:

Shalom!

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Thanks for reading. If you’d like to leave me a comment, click below (or, if you’re reading this via email, simply reply). I always love and appreciate hearing from my readers.

Footnotes:

1. I grew up riding motorcycles, so this was not a completely bizarre scene.

2. Rick Brannan, ed., Lexham Research Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible, Lexham Research Lexicons (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2020). Logos Research Edition e-book.

3. Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 305. Logos Research Edition e-book.