Hearing God in Dreams

So far, we’ve looked at how God speaks through Jesus, through the Bible, through prayer and the imagination, through prophecy, and through a still, small voice. Today and tomorrow, we will be looking at one of the most common ways that God speaks to his people in the Bible: dreams.

‘The fact is that almost every major character in the Bible received highly significant dreams or visions from God. Some were symbolic, others were warnings, and many were a means of specific guidance. And this was not just an occasional phenomenon for the mystically inclined, but one of the main ways God chose to speak to his people.’

‘The primary mark of the outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh in these last days, according to Joel, cited by Peter, is not speaking in tongues, shaking or falling to the ground. It is an increase in dreams and visions. If you are filled with the Spirit, you should therefore expect God to speak to you in this way. And so, of course, when we step into the New Testament, dreams continue, and even increase. Read carefully and you’ll see that the familiar narrative of Jesus’ birth, which we celebrate at Christmas, is in fact the story of a remarkable series of dreams.’

In fact, the first two chapters of Matthew contain no less than four directive dreams from God!

‘Dreaming is not a gift you can conjure up or force. You should certainly ask for it, but because it’s a gift you have no automatic right to insist upon God speaking to you in this way. Some of my friends are prolific dreamers, but many are not. Personally, I’m far more familiar with visions by day than dreams by night, and that’s okay... I’m comforted by the observation that there’s no biblical record of King David, or indeed of Jesus, hearing from God in a dream. So please don’t feel pressured to dream! Hearing God in this way should always be considered an exciting possibility rather than an onerous necessity – a could not a should.

However, I would certainly encourage you to ask the Lord to speak to you through dreams before you go to sleep at night, especially when you are in particular need of his guidance.’

Lord, I am open to all ways you want to speak. Would you speak to me in my dreams tonight?

Amen.