Hearing God’s Whisper - Dreams

RECAP

Last week we explored the often subtle and gentle ways in which God communicates with humanity.We talk about instances in the Bible where God chose a whisper over dramatic displays, highlighting the importance of recognizing and inviting God into our lives. God's whisper is an invitation for a personal and intimate relationship. We also contrasted that with the potential distractions that may hinder our ability to hear God's voice. Distractions, whether physiological, psychological, or spiritual, we explored as barriers to recognizing God's presence. We also discussed the practice of listening in silence, creating intentional moments to hear the gentle whisper of God in the midst of life's challenges.

INTRO

This week we’ll talk about something that, in the future, may cause you to avoid me in the hallway in the future. However, this is one of the primary ways that God communicates in His Word and there are many stories in our modern day of God continuing to speak in this way. Much like this one…

Dream about having a girl

Dreams

Every major figure of the early Christian Church through the time of St. Augustine cites dreams as an important way in which God spoke to mankind, and many of the Fathers of the Church wrote psychological treatises on dreams... The church, as it became increasingly institutionalized, devalued and denied the reality of the individual soul and its dreams in favor of collectivized creeds, rituals and traditions (even though this] went against the views of the Bible and early Christianity.

- John Sanford

Dreams are used so frequently in the Bible, in fact, that the lack of dreams and visions is often attributed as a sign of judgement.

Lamentations 2:9 ESV

9 Her gates have sunk into the ground; he has ruined and broken her bars; her king and princes are among the nations; the law is no more, and her prophets find no vision from the Lord.

Micah 3:6–7 ESV

6 Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be black over them; 7 the seers shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to shame; they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God.

Again, often times in the scriptures a lack of God using dreams and visions to speak to humans is a sign of judgement!

As stated earlier, God very often spoke to people all throughout the Scriptures through dreams.

Jacob (Gen 28.12, Gen. 31.10,24) - Stairway to Heaven - Return to Laban - Laban also had a dream

Joseph (Gen. 37, Gen. 40-41)- Dream about brothers - Led a whole nation through policies inspired by dreams

Gideon (Judg.7) - Victory over the Midianites

King Solomon (1 Kings 3) - Asked for wisdom

Isaiah ( Isa. 6) - Called to be a prophet

Daniel (Kinda the whole book)

Joel (2:28-29) - The primary sign of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit would be dreams in visions

Joseph, Marys Husband (Matt 1.18-2.19) - Various visions

Saul, Later Paul (Acts 9) - Pauls salvation and commission

Cornelius and Peter (Acts 10) - Complimenting dreams

Revelation (Revelation) - Obviously

I hope we’re getting the point here. All through the story of scripture God uses dreams as a method to communicate unique insights.

Sean the Tiler

1 Corinthians 7:26 ESV

26 I think that in view of the present distress it is good for a person to remain as he is.

Again i hope we can all see that God can use unusual circumstances to speak into our hearts what he needs us to hear.

Practical Guide for Dreamers

If your like me then the vast majority of your dreams don’t come anywhere close to the category of divine communication. Mostly weird or horrible.

Mancys dream

So lets go over some help tips when potentially hear God in a dream.

Asking for dreams

Dreams in the Bible are referenced as gifts, therefore no one should feel entitled to a dream. Some people may have more dreams then others, but that is most likely due to how different people are wired. There is no biblical evidence that says some people have the gift of dreaming and others don’t.

However, it is perfectly allowed to ask God for Him to speak to you in all the ways available. It would be perfectly acceptable to ask God for dreams right before you sleep, especially in times when your in need of direction and guidance.

Research shows that you are more likely to dream in moments of perplexity or stress. Research also shows that you retain your dreams better in moments of personal crisis or transition.

In the previous study we did on the Lords Prayer we talked about examining the day right before you go to bed. This would be a perfect time to conclude with. “Lord speak to me while I sleep.”

Honoring Dreams

Daniel 7:1 (ESV)

…… Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter.

This one is quite simple. When God gifts the best thing you can do is honor it. Right? And just like in our previous study on prophecy, we should be keeping a catalogue of times where we’ve felt the Lord’s voice in our dreams.

As you seek the Lord’s voice in your dreams, I would encourage you to have a notepad or a note on your phone that as you feel that a particular dream may have been significant then write it down. Write down specific details about the dream.

Research shows that journaling about your dreams gives you greater awareness in the midst of future dreams.

Being good stewards of the gifts that God gives you. Most dreams the morning after seem bizarre and pointless. But if your faithful to write them down and revisit them then you may be surprised what the Lord has for you today.

Interpreting The Dreams

Daniel 8:15 (ESV)

15 When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it. And behold, there stood before me one having the appearance of a man.

Lastly, in order to interpret the dream we can return to a faithful and familiar method previously taught about in our prophecy lesson.

The ABC’s of interpretation

Does it affirm and encourage?

Is it biblical?

Is it Christlike?

This is always a good exercise to run when you may have a divine dream on your hands. However, given the nature of dreams I recommend also telling a trusted and mature believer about the dream. Often times these voices will be good safe guards to whether or not we’re on the right track or maybe had too many nachos to close to bed time.

Brad Jersak in the cave

“There is hardly ever a complete silence in our soul. God is whispering to us well-nigh incessantly. Whenever the sounds of the world die out in the soul, or sink low, then we hear these whisperings of God.

-Frederick William Faber