Sleep paralysis and feeling attacked at night

Waking unable to move, with pressure on your chest and a terrifying sense of a presence, is a real and well-documented experience - and two things are true at once. First, sleep paralysis is a known physical phenomenon: the body's normal sleep immobilization briefly overlapping with waking, often producing fear and vivid hallucinated presences, worsened by exhaustion and stress - so better sleep, lower stress, and a doctor's input genuinely help, and experiencing it does not mean you are spiritually defective or marked.

Second, Scripture is equally frank that believers face real spiritual opposition and real night-time fear - and it hands you promises made for the dark: 'Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night' (Psalm 91:5), 'I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety' (Psalm 4:8). Whatever the source on a given night, the response is the same and it works: call on the name of Jesus - aloud or, when you cannot speak, in your mind - 'Submit yourselves therefore to God.

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you' (James 4:7). Pray before sleep, fill your mind with Scripture rather than dark media before bed (Philippians 4:8), and if episodes are frequent, see a doctor too - using both prayer and medicine is wisdom, not weak faith.