Do you wake up and wonder, what was that all about?

Dreams are more than just leftover stress or the effects of a late-night snack. They can hold tremendous revelation, so let’s talk about the 3 reasons it’s important to pay attention to your dreams.

Reason #1: God is speaking to you. 

Job 33:14-18 tells us: “For God does speak—now one way, now another—though no one perceives it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they slumber in their beds, He may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings to turn them from wrongdoing and keep them from pride, to preserve them from the pit, their lives from perishing by the sword.”

God longs to communicate with you, and a big way He does that is when you are completely at rest and undistracted–in your dreams.

There are several ways God will speak to us in dreams. 

• Warning dreams. God will often give you a dream to warn you. He did it with Joseph, the father of Jesus in Matthew 2:13: “After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. ‘Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,’ the angel said. ‘Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.’”
• Directional dreams. These dreams tell you where to go and what to do. I had one such dream when God wanted me to close my fitness business.
• Prophetic dreams. Dreams sent from God can be telling of the future. These are rare.
• Cleansing dreams, where God is purging you of impurities.

These are just a few types of dreams that God will send. For more detailed teaching on dream types, stay tuned.

God’s purpose in your dreams is simple: that you may be free to live life abundantly and follow God with your whole heart. So pay attention, God could be trying to get your attention through your dreams.

Reason #2: The enemy is attacking. 

1 Peter 5:8 reminds us that we are to be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. His aim is to kill, steal and destroy anything of value in your life. Dreams from Satan are always dark in color and mood.

Satan does his best to tempt us with wicked thoughts; and what better time to do that than when we are asleep and vulnerable?

Be careful with the thoughts and sins that you take with you to bed. They can and will be used against you. This can be big ticket sins, like lust and addiction, or you could simply create a portal by what you’re watching or listening to.

As always, Jesus provided a way of escape from our enemy. You can close doors to demonic dreams through repentance. If you are filled with the Holy Spirit you have authority over the enemy.

Just remember that Satan needs to go to God for permission so remember that God is the one in control. If He allowed it, it’s for your good if you will embrace it as such.

Reason #3: You have unresolved soul issues

Your soul consists of your mind, your will, and your emotions and it’s easy to have unresolved issues within these three areas. Past childhood pain, coupled with dashed hopes of today, sprinkled with an inability to discern between what’s normal life struggles and what needs to be dealt with is a recipe for unresolved emotional and mental issues. This can sometimes be the explanation of why people throw themselves into their work, their children, or other activities and addictions. It’s an effort to disguise or dart from the issue. 

But God does not call us to live in ignorance. Proverbs 22:3 reminds us, “The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.”

Sometimes the dreams you’re having are as a result of the issues in your life that you are trying to ignore or deem unimportant. Again, I believe that God’s hand is here because He wants to walk with you through any issue you may be facing. Remember that God desires for you to bring everything to Him in prayer (Phil 4:6) 

So now that you’ve recognized the importance of paying attention to your dreams, what do you do with them?

Let’s talk about dos and don’ts of dreams.

• DON’T buy a dream dictionary (even if it’s Christian). While dream symbols are important, they do not dictate the meaning of the dream; they support it. Many make the mistake of looking up the meaning of a symbol and define the dream according to that symbol. This will lead you down a wrong path.
• DON’T take every dream literally.

• DON’T give in to fear. Even “bad” dreams can be turned around if surrendered to God

• DO write it down. Dreams are fleeting. If you value hearing from God, you’ll capture your dreams in the morning.
• DO pray and ask for revelation. While there are gifted dream interpreters, remember the words of Joseph in Genesis 40:8: “Do not interpretations belong to God?”

Join us next week as we talk about how to interpret your dreams biblically

5 Day Mountain Moving Faith Devotional