We are all plagued by dreadful voices in the helpless hours. The supercilious ones that whisper, "Who do you think you are?" The scary ones that roar, "You stupid idiot! You're never gonna get _____" (enter your heart's desire). Or the worst, the calm, authoritarian voices that speak in snide, know-it-all tones: "See, I told you, you were never going to succeed. I told you, but you didn't listen."

OK, maybe not everyone is plagued by voices in the middle of the night. Maybe you have a sainted mother who sleeps the sleep of the just for eight full hours. Or maybe you have a drunk uncle who falls into a nightly stupor and doesn't move a muscle till 10 the next morning. But for the rest of us, 3 a.m. seems to be an invitation for the demon voices to gather inside our heads. Somewhere I think there must be a barker herding them into formation: "Come, right this way to the all-night worry party! Come on! Let's drive him crazy! Hey, let's see how long we can keep her up!"

Once they show up, what can you do? Well, you can try screaming "Stop!" for starters. It doesn't do a lick of good, but you can try. Or you can yell at yourself to go back to sleep, and then fluff your pillow and turn over. And turn over again. And again. And again. It seems the more you try to silence them, the louder and more insistent they become. There are drugs, of course. Lots of people swallow that route, and it works for a week or two, maybe a month or two, but the voices always win. Sooner or later they're back and the pills not only stop working, they become a part of the problem. No, the voices in the night aren't a medical problem, they're a spiritual one, and there's only one way to silence them: exorcism.

Exorcism is an ancient spiritual task that only a few are trained to handle. You could call a priest, shaman or spiritual leader, I suppose, but you might find they don't consider your voices quite on par with the great evils typically assigned to exorcism. But I do. I know these are real demons — personal demons — plaguing your life, torturing your mind and planting poison in your soul. You have to rid yourself of these spirits, or you'll never sustain the energy and confidence you need to create the life you want. They have to go.

When I discovered "exorcism by writing," I started by looking up the word in the dictionary. Exorcism has a pretty straightforward definition with three parts: First, conjure up the evil spirit; second, expel it; and finally, free the person. Freedom — mm, that sounds good. A good night's sleep, too.

To begin, settle into a comfy chair with your prayer journal. Start by reading some empowering sacred texts. If you have a prayer practice, take the time to pray or meditate or at least breathe deeply to relax. You want to go into this task fortified with the knowledge that God is with you and you have access to all the strength and guidance you need to gain dominion over your night demons.

When you are ready, conjure up those voices. Write a question like this in your prayer journal: "What voices do I hear at night that do not come from me or from God?" Call on the voices, give them free rein to speak, and record every nasty word they say. Don't take the time to be offended or try to rebuke them, just write all their accusations, all their taunts and all their doubts. Don't be afraid. Their words are ugly to hear and even uglier to see on paper, but once you capture their voices this way, they will have to declare themselves, and once they do that, you can move in for the kill.

Now, take a deep breath and ask the voices to identify themselves. Write: "Who is this talking to me? Who is this critic? Who poisons my sleep?" Some interesting names may pop onto the page. When I did this for the first time, I was surprised to discover that I had let my ex-husband move into my brain rent-free, joined by my father at his worst, and a previous boss I hadn't seen for years, but whose put-downs still dwelled in my memory and came out to play at night.

Don't assume that your first idea about who your voices are is correct. If you stop this process too soon, you can miss the deep, rich truth about your voices. And there is a deep, rich truth. There is a gift inside those voices. My gift was buried under three layers of asking. When I asked, "Who are you?" the first time, I realized immediately that they were all male voices. If I'd stopped there, I just would have been another one of those lovely people who hate the opposite sex — and God knows the world doesn't need any more of them. So I asked a deeper question, "OK, so you're all male voices, but who exactly are you?" That's when I realized the voices were my ex-husband, father and previous employer. If I'd stopped there, I just would have become another one of those lovely women who never stop complaining about the rotten men in their lives — and Lord knows the world doesn't need any more of them. So I asked again, a third time, and as I wrote, I realized that those voices weren't really my ex or my father or my crazy boss; those characters were just vehicles for my deepest personal doubts, fears and worries.

Aha! Doubt, fear and worry. Those were my real enemies. Those were the spirits I needed to expel. So stay with this prayer-writing experience until you are quite clear that you know the true source of your 3 a.m. voices.

Once you've conjured up the voices and dug deep enough to discover who they really are, you're ready to expel them. That sounds scary (especially if you've seen "The Exorcist"), but it's not that scary or complicated. The key words are "Be gone!" Do the same thing in your prayer journal. Call on God to banish them. Here's my exorcism prayer from my prayer journal: "Be gone, Doubt, Fear and Worry! You don't belong here. I silence your tired male voices. I rebuke your limiting vision. I deny your power."

Now you do it. Silence your internal demons. Banish them. Cast them out. Any way you like. Any way you can. Put a heavy cap on their grave by replacing their negative words with powerful self-blessings like: "I am wise. I am blessed. I am the beloved child of the all-loving, all-giving Creator. I am ready, willing, and able to live the life I'm here to live."

Close with a prayer of gratefulness. Thank Spirit for helping you identify and banish your deepest fears.

For the next few months, when you go to bed, fortify yourself with God's love and strength as you drift off to sleep. I find that whispering, "I sleep in the peace and strength of God, knowing everything is according to divine will" fends off my voices of doubt. It cuts them off as they are just turning the corner and trying to sneak in. If your voices come back, banish them again, and replace them with your self-blessings. Stay with it. It may take a while to reclaim the territory of your mind, but with Spirit's blessings and grace you will.

Sweet dreams.

(Next week: Setting up a praying-with-a-pen spiritual practice.)

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Janet Conner, S.E. (Spiritual Explorer), is the author of the Spiritual Geography series and is currently writing a book on the power of writing to activate the voice of God. The Spiritual Geography books are available through Amazon or Spiritual Geography. Reach Janet at {email janetconner@tampabay.rr.com}janetconner@tampabay.rr.com{/email}.© copyright 2007 by Janet Conner