Even though God speaks to us as is stated in the following scripture a lot of people don't perceive or understand that it is God speaking to them. Others are so busy that they don't take time to be still and hear what God has to say to them. "For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumbering upon the bed; Then He openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction." (Job 33:14-16)
"And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream and my spirit was troubled to know the dream." (Dan. 2:3) King Nebuchadnezzar could not remember his dream and asked for someone to tell him what he dreamt and then the Chaldeans spoke to the king saying "tell thy servants the dream and we will shew the interpretation." (Dan. 2:4) How could they tell him what he dreamt? Only through God could this be done and they were not men of God, however, Daniel was and when he found out why the king ordered that all the wise men be slain "Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation." (Dan. 2:16) After Daniel and his companions prayed "Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision." (Dan. 2:19) Note that God waited for them to ask. God not only gave Daniel the same vision that the king had but the interpretation.
The following dream was so important as God used it to warn and direct the actions of the Paraoh and to save his country and others from famine. Without the proper interpretation of the Pharaoh's dream many would have died and changed the course of history.
"And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river: and, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fat fleshed and well favored; and they fed in a meadow: And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and lean fleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness: And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine: And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill favoured, as at the beginning. So I awoke, And I saw in my dream, and , behold, seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good: And, behold, seven ears withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them: And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears; and I told this unto the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me. And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharoah is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good kine are seven years: and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one. And the seven thin and ill favored kine that came up after them are seven years: and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine. This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God is about to do He sheweth unto Pharaoh. Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt: And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt: and the famine shall consume the land; And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following: for it shall be very grievous. And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice: it is because the thing is established by God and God will shortly bring it to pass." (Gen. 41:17-32) In this dream God revealed what was to come and gave it twice so as to impress the importance. He not only told him what was to come but also what to do about it. This dream and Joseph"s gift of interpretation changed the lives of many and the destiny of Nations.
When Mary became pregnant with Jesus Joseph probably had questions about her fidelity. What should he do? Many times God will give us answers to pressing problems as we sleep. This dream is such a perfect example of that.
"But while he thought on these things, behold the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins." (Matt 1:20-21) You will notice in this dream that God answered Joseph's question and told him what to do. (Do not be afraid to marry Mary.) He also told him some very important information: The baby was of the Holy Ghost, a boy, His name would be JESUS and He would be a Savior.
One of my favorite dreams was two years after I accepted God's call on my life. It was the night of Thanksgiving and even though I was asleep I believe it was more than a dream. I had worked all day mixing and pouring concrete by hand (approximately 22 bags) and gathering rock for a cement slab on which to put the staue of Jesus. My shoulder and neck hurt so much I could hardly finish but knew I had to fill the form, strike it off and trowel it to a nice finish that night before I could quit. I prayed for God's strength and endurance asking Him for help to complete it so that it would not be ruined. After finishing and cleaning up I took a hot shower and went to bed asking God to relieve the pain. As I slept I dreamt and I wrote this in my journal the next morning: "I felt your angel coming and Linda, said "there is an angel coming." It came from above and we were in the bedroom. I felt it come to me and put it's right wing under my neck and then start moving me. I could only feel the power of it moving me as it held me and lifted me. It was dark and all I could see was the wing wrapped around me on the right side of me. It was so white and I reached over with my left hand to touch it. The feathers were so soft and so white. Oh how beautiful it was!!! When it brought me down and laid me back on the bed. Linda asked me something that I don't remember and I told her I didn't know as I didn't see where he took me and all I could see was the part of it's wing. I asked her if she could see and she said yes and pointed to a branch with no leaves or anything on it and said he took you there on the branch." (Journal 18, pgs. 257-158) It was so real except my daughter, Linda, was not there and there is no branch in my bedroom, When I awoke there was not a trace of pain in my body and God had healed me as I slept. God is so good. Sometimes God wants to reward us for our love and faithfulness. I received the message that He was pleased that even though I was in pain and could hardly move I finished the job. What a great delight and reward the dream was in addition to the healing. Awesome, Awesome God!!!
At the time I had the following dream I did not understand the full impact it would have on my life and what it was really telling me and believe it was a vision in a dream. This was about five years before recognizing God's call and accepting it. Now several years later it is still as vivid as when I dreamt it. This is what I wrote: "I remember the dream where I was in church. I know this was a vision from You. As I am sitting there someone speaks out and says "How do you know it's God?" I got very upset and thought "That's blasphemy" As I looked at the cross You moved and started to come off the cross. As I watched you came off the cross and you picked it up and started to carry it. It bothered me that You had to carry it and no one was helping so I got out of my seat and picked up the end and said, "I'll help You" and thought as I was lifting it that "This isn't so heavy just carrying part of it." (Journal 1, pg 2) Even though I was asleep when I said "I'll help You." it has come to pass and I have devoted my life to God for the salvation of souls. As in actual life Jesus carries most of the weight.
Think about the scripture at the beginning of this section. God spoke to me once in the seventh and eighth grade. Later on He spoke to me again about doing missionary work. I didn't understand it or perceive it. He gave me the above dream and as I slept I agreed to help Him and He sealed the instruction. (How ture that scripture was in my case.)
The following is a series of 3 dreams the same night with one just running into the next or you might just consider it one dream with 3 different themes where God was teaching me something.
Dream #1 "Lord you showed these weeds, big and healthy that needed spraying but I was starting to be afraid to go in there because they were too big even though not as big as in the other areas where plants were growing and then I saw this huge snake with a yellow stripe down his back in the garden. It was huge. The snake was Satan, of course, and I love the yellow stripe on the back showing his true nature when he is around You. He was not dangerous just scary but would prevent me from getting rid of the weeds knowing it was there. Satan and the weeds would eventually destroy the garden if I didn't spray those weeds."
Dream #2 "I saw a bunch of weeds growing near the water and pulled out a couple. They had big leaves and were like seaweed and I was standing on cement which extended down into the water. The roots were shallow and they were easy to pull but got harder as they got out further. I looked over to the left and saw a pretty flower on one and decided to leave them for awhile until they finished blossoming as it was pretty."
Dream #3 "Also at the end I seen a pretty praying hands plant and said how good it looked as I was standing above, looking down on it and then it started to move and the dirt and stuff around it started moving as if something was alive and tearing it up all around it. When it finished just the plant was standing there and I was asking what caused that and all that could be found was something they thought might be a worm or something."
"The first dream shows how we let Satan take over and how the weeds (sin) take over our lives because we are afraid of what might be in there and we are afraid to go in and clean it out."
"The second dream shows how some weeds or sin are easy to get rid of but others are more deeply rooted and we don't want to get rid of some just yet as they are pleasant like the pretty flower."
"The third dream I love because it is You coming in and tearing everything out by the roots under the ground so there is nothing left except the lovely praying hands plant. The praying hands will accomplish this if we will just ask You to do it for us and surrender to You. You will root all the evil out of us so we can live for you with no distractions or fear." (Journal 9, pgs. 71, 72)
What a great lesson. God uses dreams for different purposes. They may be prophetic, warning, correction, teach lessons, give directives, solve problems, be healing, give a word of knowledge, etc. Some may be self-conditioned, brought on by fear or our emotions. God talks about dreams people brought about themselves. This list is not meant to be all inclusive but to give you an idea as to what to look for in a dream. Dream interpretation is too vast and complex of a subject to cover here. I would like to point out a few things here that you should be aware of which may help you. All dreams are not from God. Some are from Satan and some can be self imposed. It is important to pray that God will protect your mind as you sleep and be in control of your dreams. A dream if interpreted properly with God's help can have a profound impact upon your life. It is so important to God that a large portion of the Bible deals with dreams. Ask God to bring your dream to remembrance if you don't remember them when you wake up. Lay there for a few minutes with your eyes closed to see what God will reveal to you. Ask God for the interpretation. Recording your dreams first thing in the morning is also important so you don't forget them. I have been recording my dreams for years and am amazed at all God has revealed to me in my dreams. God will honor your request and interest in what He has to say to you. God is pleased when we seek Him and is apt to give you even more dreams as He has me. When I wake up God impresses upon me the dreams of importance and I write them down. Some times I know the meaning of the dream right away but most of the time the significance and intended purpose is revealed by the Holy Spirit as I write or afterward. Sometimes He will take me back to dreams from several years back and reveal more about that dream when I have greater understanding or it is important to a current situation. There are questions you can ask yourself. What was the theme, what were you doing, what you were feeling, who was there, what was the focus, were you a participant or watching, etc. I'm sure you get the idea. Remember God likes to use symbols or parables. Look for the spiritual meaning like in the last dream mentioned above which had three different themes. Talk to God and ask Him to guide you and educate you in dream interpretation. It is very important not to get discouraged if you don't get the interpretation right away. Keep pursuing and don't give up.
One of the greatest evangelist of today an author of several books shared a dream he had. His brother also had the same dream. His brother was crossing a deep gorge walking on a dangerous footbridge with no handrails. There was a fog in front of his brother and if he were to step into it he wouldn't be able to see. As he continued he fell and while falling he was yelling his brother's name. God told the evangelist he had to warn his brother who was not saved. His brother woke up sweating and in fear after his dream. He told God that he didn't even believe in God but if He was real and that dream was a warning to speak to him through his brother who did believe and served Him. After receiving a letter written by the evangelist his brother wrote back telling him the things that had happened and that he had the same dream and had given his life to Jesus. The power of God given dreams is awesome and to be revered.
In a recent study program we have been doing about dreams I have found that there is a great tendency to let first impressions be spoken out. Most often this leads to interpretation prejudiced in the soulish realm based on emotions, experiences, preconceived ideas, pride, etc. based on worldly meanings. This can make the dream meaningless to what God had intended. Even though God often speaks to us through impressions it is very importand to always look to God for the interpretation. Dreams can be for our own benefit or the benefit of others. It takes self discipline to always seek God and to ask Him for the message he is communicating and the meaning of the symbols.
It is important to remember that we all dream, dreams have purpose and that God wants to talk to you and very often will do it in dreams.
Quoted from the book: Hearing God Speak
Author: Margaret Jensen