Are Dreams from God?

Have you ever wondered if your dreams are from God?

I recently had a friend share a dream with me that she felt was from God. Then naturally she questioned it and wondered if it were her own psyche (soul) and desires (flesh) that conjured up this dream because it happened to be in alignment with her deepest desire.

As I draw in closer to God and study His Word and understand His majesty and sovereignty, I am a firm believer that dreams and visions are in fact a powerful communication method between God and us. Sometimes dreams are literal, sometimes they are symbolic and we know this when we study the scriptures.

Every time dreams are mentioned in scripture, they’re always a message from God. Not one time are we given an example of a dream that is NOT from God. So then, why do we question our dreams or feel like they’re completely unrelated to God communicating with us?

I believe dreams and visions are an amazingly wonderful and powerful way for God to communicate with us because we’re in a place of rest, we’re “outside our minds” meaning we’re not alert and analyzing and trying to conceptualize and understand everything so this creates an openness and calmness for Him to speak to us. We’re also not fully attune to our soul- our psyche, our feelings and emotions when we’re in a place of rest. When we’re asleep, we’re in a semi-disconnected state from our physical and emotional awareness and it’s a place of peace and surrender…what better time for God to communicate with us?!

Things to consider when trying to decipher what God is trying to say through dreams and visions:

Does it align with His Word?
Does it align with His CHARACTER?
Does it give you a deep, unexplainable, incomprehensible sense of KNOWING?
Does it give you an overwhelming sense of peace and clarity?
Does it give you a prompting to do, say, act in a way that would glorify God?

Then, yes…I believe your dream is a direct message from God to you! Praise the Lord!

We too often overlook this powerful way God communicates with us because we doubt it and question if it’s our own fleshly desire. In reality, this is one of God’s most profound ways of SHOWING us what our eyes can’t yet see. Don’t dismiss or discredit your dreams and visions if they bring you a deep sense of peace, joy and confidence. It’s God’s way of SHOWING you what’s up!

Are dreams prophetic?

Now, we can also see in scripture that God often gives a dream/vision as a prophetic view into the future but it may not come to pass immediately.

Look at Joseph, for example. He was given a dream that his family would bow down to him in respect. (Genesis 37). Well they sold him into slavery and for many years Joseph had to deal with crazy opposition, false accusation, imprisonment, etc. It wasn’t until many, MANY years later did this dream become a reality. (Genesis 50:15-21)

What about nightmares?

So you may ask, “Well what about nightmares?” Are those evil or an attack from Satan?

Well first off, are we given any stories in scripture about satanic dreams? Does the Bible ever allude to dreams being infiltrated from the deceiver, the father of lies? No. At least I haven't found one yet. I feel like this should be a solid conclusion that the devil has no power or authority to mess with us through dreams.

Let’s take a look at King Nebuchadnezzar’s terrifying nightmares in Daniel 2 and Daniel 4. These nightmares were used as symbolic prophetic warnings about what was to come if he did not change his heart. They were still sent from God as a means to get his attention and change his heart and behavior.

To read more about dreams mentioned in the bible, check out this awesome resource: “How Did God Use Dreams and Visions in the Bible?”