Do dreams mean anything?

[Francis Drake]

All my dreams are usually non-sensical and bizarre, and I don't dream very much at all. I'm sure if they were in fact from Him He would make that known to me. Others have a different experience ... maybe so ... I can't attest to them .... can only attest to my own experiences.

God Bless.

Lots of people say what you've said, but I believe if you want to, you can change that and become attuned to the Lord speaking to you through dreams.

About ten years ago, I was in a group who all said the same as you. I challenged them to get a note pad beside their bed at night, to surrender their sleep to God and ask for dreams.

The next week's meeting was an uproar as everyone suddenly found they had dreams.

Getting used to writing everything down gets our minds ready to receive from the lord. Much might be garbage, but there will be good fruit there also

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Lots of people say what you've said, but I believe if you want to, you can change that and become attuned to the Lord speaking to you through dreams.

About ten years ago, I was in a group who all said the same as you. I challenged them to get a note pad beside their bed at night, to surrender their sleep to God and ask for dreams.

The next week's meeting was an uproar as everyone suddenly found they had dreams.

Getting used to writing everything down gets our minds ready to receive from the lord. Much might be garbage, but there will be good fruit there also

It is also possible to pick up a spirit of divination as well.

 

[Francis Drake]

It is also possible to pick up a spirit of divination as well.

Goodness me Oscarr, do you ever cease being negative?
I thought you would know the Father well enough by now!
Luke11v11And which father among you, if the son will ask for a fish, and instead of a fish, will give to him a serpent? 12Or also if he will ask for an egg, will he give to him a scorpion?
By serpents and scorpions Jesus was talking about demons!

13Therefore if you, being evil, know to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father who is in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those asking Him!”
If I ask for a gift of the spirit, I do not get demons!

Why do you act so fear filled and discouraging all the time?

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Goodness me Oscarr, do you ever cease being negative?
I thought you would know the Father well enough by now!
Luke11v11And which father among you, if the son will ask for a fish, and instead of a fish, will give to him a serpent? 12Or also if he will ask for an egg, will he give to him a scorpion?
By serpents and scorpions Jesus was talking about demons!

13Therefore if you, being evil, know to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father who is in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those asking Him!”
If I ask for a gift of the spirit, I do not get demons!

Why do you act so fear filled and discouraging all the time?

Whether a person is working from the Holy Spirit or a spirit of divination is deadly serious because it will mean heaven or hell for that person.

 

[Francis Drake]

Whether a person is working from the Holy Spirit or a spirit of divination is deadly serious because it will mean heaven or hell for that person.

There you go again, fear mongering among the saints. Your warning certainly does not come from the Holy Spirit

Do you seriously believe that a believer who happens to speak from a wrong spirit will go to hell, if that's the case, I put my hands up for the many times in my life when my carnal nature opened me up to false spirits.

Your statement also means millions of pastors and teachers, and many of our fellow forum members, me and you, are likewise damned to hell.
Unless of course your self perfection has been successful.

If an unbeliever is speaking from a spirit of divination, then your threat makes no difference whatsoever as he's already on his way there.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

There you go again, fear mongering among the saints. Your warning certainly does not come from the Holy Spirit

Do you seriously believe that a believer who happens to speak from a wrong spirit will go to hell, if that's the case, I put my hands up for the many times in my life when my carnal nature opened me up to false spirits.

Your statement also means millions of pastors and teachers, and many of our fellow forum members, me and you, are likewise damned to hell.
Unless of course your self perfection has been successful.

If an unbeliever is speaking from a spirit of divination, then your threat makes no difference whatsoever as he's already on his way there.

Dream interpretation is not in the New Testament. It is Freudian, and he was an atheist. He wrote a book about it which includes all the symbolism that is detected in dreams.

in fact, in the Old Testament, a false prophet is described as a dreamer of dreams instead of one who receives the word of God.

 

[eleos1954]

Lots of people say what you've said, but I believe if you want to, you can change that and become attuned to the Lord speaking to you through dreams.

About ten years ago, I was in a group who all said the same as you. I challenged them to get a note pad beside their bed at night, to surrender their sleep to God and ask for dreams.

The next week's meeting was an uproar as everyone suddenly found they had dreams.

Getting used to writing everything down gets our minds ready to receive from the lord. Much might be garbage, but there will be good fruit there also

"you can change that and become attuned to the Lord speaking to you through dreams."

Maybe so ... but in my case ... He's going to have to hit me with a freight train ;o)

 

[JackRT]

I think the vast majority of dreams are just the result of the brain rebooting itself in sleep. I am 75 and I can only recall two dreams that were meaningful. The first actually was a series of identical dreams that abruptly ended when a personal problem in my life was resolved. The other was during my university days. For several weeks I struggled with a particular difficult problem in Physics. I knew there was a mistake in my solution but could not locate it. I dreamed the solution, got up at 3 AM, corrected my error and went back to sleep.

 

[Francis Drake]

"you can change that and become attuned to the Lord speaking to you through dreams."

Maybe so ... but in my case ... He's going to have to hit me with a freight train ;o)

Would you like me to arrange the freight train. It might help.

 

[Francis Drake]

Dream interpretation is not in the New Testament. It is Freudian, and he was an atheist. He wrote a book about it which includes all the symbolism that is detected in dreams.

I am shocked you stoop to such a foolish straw man argument to pursue this ungodly nonsense Oscarr!
In calling dream interpretation Freudian, you are insulting the Lord.
Thousands of years before anyone heard of the Godless Freud, dreams were being interpreted, and then recorded in the bible for you to read.

Was Joseph reading Freud when he interpreted Pharaoh's dream?
This is what Joseph told Pharaoh. -Genesis41v16“I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”
Do you think our God is a different God to the one Joseph looked to for interpretation?

Did Daniel get his interpretation for Nebuchadnezzar from Freud?​

This is what Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar.-
Daniel2v28But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these.

Do you think that the God of the OT has somehow changed, and has forgotten how to reveal secrets as he did to Joseph or Daniel?
Calling such a gift Freudian shows just how far away you are from Spirit led inspiration.

Long before a counterfeit can be made, there has to be an original, that's why we don't see seven dollar notes!

in fact, in the Old Testament, a false prophet is described as a dreamer of dreams instead of one who receives the word of God.

Another straw man argument Oscarr. You are really scraping the barrel to defend the indefensible. You don't seem to realise that there's just as much condemnation of false teachers as there is false prophets.
As an elder believer, it is your responsibility Oscarr to encourage the saints, not to scare them into huddling underneath your skirt!

For your information, I repudiate the dream interpretation seen on the internet. I accept that it's mostly rooted in Freudian drivel. But there is another type of dream interpretation that is rooted in the Holy Spirit which can be seen throughout the scriptures.

You need to see dream interpretation in the same light as the parables of Jesus.-
Mark4v3And He says to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables?

Dreams are invariably given in parable form, and as with parables, they need interpretation.

 

[eleos1954]

Would you like me to arrange the freight train. It might help.

well thanks for the offer .... but I'll let the Lord provide the freight train if it is His will to do so. ;o)

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

I think the vast majority of dreams are just the result of the brain rebooting itself in sleep. I am 75 and I can only recall two dreams that were meaningful. The first actually was a series of identical dreams that abruptly ended when a personal problem in my life was resolved. The other was during my university days. For several weeks I struggled with a particular difficult problem in Physics. I knew there was a mistake in my solution but could not locate it. I dreamed the solution, got up at 3 AM, corrected my error and went back to sleep.

last night I had a series of vivid dreams as if I was really there. I had a dream within a dream where I was comparing a dream with what I thought was reality. Then I met this very beautiful girl and we were in love. We were part of a group of some kind and when it was finished I had to find my way back to my own classroom, but I went through a wrong door and ended up searching around the building at different levels, going through different corridors to find it. When I got there I admitted that it was my stupid mistake, and then someone found room for me on a sofa.

The dream was so vivid that I felt I was in a parallel universe. It seemed very normal to me while I was dreaming and when I woke up, I wondered, "What was that all about?"

I told the Lord, "I am not even going to try and interpret that one, because it has all come out of my very fertile imagination". I can understand how people can write good science fantasy novels if they have dreams like that.

But i don't take any spiritual significance from it, nor do I think it is any kind of message from God. I just see it as a fun time while I was sleeping. I wish I could remember the face of the beautiful young woman whom I held hands with in the dream!

Sometimes we have deja vu moments in life, and I wonder if we have dreamed something similar, and then when an event happens in real life we get the impression that we know what is going to happen because we think we have been in this place before. I don't put any spiritual significant on that either. It is just one of those quirks of the subconscious and conscious mind.

I woke up with a giggle because I thought, "Boy, I wonder how our friend Francis Drake would interpret that one!!" Hahahahaha!

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

well thanks for the offer .... but I'll let the Lord provide the freight train if it is His will to do so. ;o)

Freight train, freight train, run so fast
Freight train, freight train, run so fast
Please don't tell what train I'm on
They won't know what route I'm going

When I'm dead and in my grave
No more good times here I crave
Place the stones at my head and feet
And tell them all I've gone to sleep

When I die, oh bury me deep
Down at the end of old Chestnut Street
So I can hear old Number Nine
As she comes rolling by

 

[Francis Drake]

last night I had a series of vivid dreams as if I was really there. I had a dream within a dream where I was comparing a dream with what I thought was reality. Then I met this very beautiful girl and we were in love. We were part of a group of some kind and when it was finished I had to find my way back to my own classroom, but I went through a wrong door and ended up searching around the building at different levels, going through different corridors to find it. When I got there I admitted that it was my stupid mistake, and then someone found room for me on a sofa.

The dream was so vivid that I felt I was in a parallel universe. It seemed very normal to me while I was dreaming and when I woke up, I wondered, "What was that all about?"

I told the Lord, "I am not even going to try and interpret that one, because it has all come out of my very fertile imagination". I can understand how people can write good science fantasy novels if they have dreams like that.

But i don't take any spiritual significance from it, nor do I think it is any kind of message from God. I just see it as a fun time while I was sleeping. I wish I could remember the face of the beautiful young woman whom I held hands with in the dream!

Sometimes we have deja vu moments in life, and I wonder if we have dreamed something similar, and then when an event happens in real life we get the impression that we know what is going to happen because we think we have been in this place before. I don't put any spiritual significant on that either. It is just one of those quirks of the subconscious and conscious mind.

I woke up with a giggle because I thought, "Boy, I wonder how our friend Francis Drake would interpret that one!!" Hahahahaha!

Very entertaining Oscarr, sleep sweetly my friend.
But I notice you address none of the points I made in my post.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Very entertaining Oscarr, sleep sweetly my friend.
But I notice you address none of the points I made in my post.

We all have different gifts. If God has given you this way of communicating with you, then I don't want to be opposing God by denying it in you. That is not my intention.
I don't have that facility, but it doesn't mean that others don't.
My intention is to be very careful about dreams and interpretation, so people who have dreams take the extra trouble to ensure that what they are getting is from God and not from somewhere else.

The fun and interest of this forum is the opposing views that people put here. It would be very boring if everyone agreed. We can put 10 Christians into a room to discuss the prophetic, and we would ten different opinions about it and they each would say they were totally correct!

 

[Francis Drake]

We all have different gifts. If God has given you this way of communicating with you, then I don't want to be opposing God by denying it in you. That is not my intention.
I don't have that facility, but it doesn't mean that others don't.

But you nevertheless kept acting as if you had authority, particularly over the issue of dream interpretation when as you admit, you "don't have that facility."

My intention is to be very careful about dreams and interpretation, so people who have dreams take the extra trouble to ensure that what they are getting is from God and not from somewhere else.

I still cannot see why you pick on dreams, when they are no more a risk than any other gift, or the garbage that passes for teaching in many churches.

The fun and interest of this forum is the opposing views that people put here. It would be very boring if everyone agreed. We can put 10 Christians into a room to discuss the prophetic, and we would ten different opinions about it and they each would say they were totally correct!

I greatly appreciate your posts throughout the forum Oscarr, but on this occasion, you acted like a thoroughbred cessationist.
I suspect that that largely cessationist church of yours is rubbing off on you, and making you lose sight of some things.

Despite our differences, I would till rather lock horns with you than many others! I believe we are reasonably on the same wavelength, even if slightly out of tune on occasions!

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

But you nevertheless kept acting as if you had authority, particularly over the issue of dream interpretation when as you admit, you "don't have that facility."

I still cannot see why you pick on dreams, when they are no more a risk than any other gift, or the garbage that passes for teaching in many churches.

I greatly appreciate your posts throughout the forum Oscarr, but on this occasion, you acted like a thoroughbred cessationist.
I suspect that that largely cessationist church of yours is rubbing off on you, and making you lose sight of some things.

Despite our differences, I would till rather lock horns with you than many others! I believe we are reasonably on the same wavelength, even if slightly out of tune on occasions!

Ouch! I feel I'm being kicked instead of the ball!
I assure you that if I had a dream in which God clearly spoke to me and i knew it was consistent with His character and what I know of the threads of teaching in His Word and consistent with the gospel of Christ, then I would believe it without any problem at all.

The dreams which Daniel and Joseph interpreted had clear symbolism and images, such as the skinny cows consuming the fat ones and the golden statue. Also, the ones who had the dreams were not able to interpret them. They needed a godly man who knew God who could find out from God what the interpretation was.

But the dreams that Joseph had in the gospel account were of specific instructions given by God for a particular purpose. Joseph would have had many dreams as we all do, but these were quite different and Joseph knew beyond doubt that God had spoken to him, especially the one about getting out of Bethlehem immediately. It was while Herod's soldiers were actually on their way to kill the children, so that meant that Joseph had to act on the dream immediately and not wait for some prophet to come and interpret the dream for him. Therefore the dream was a clear as crystal, and he woke up immediately, packed up and were out of there with Mary and the child Jesus well before the soldiers arrived.

But there has to be some doubts about the fuzzy, mystical dreams that some receive and interpret as being of God. I think that if there is a reasonable doubt, take the longest barge pole available, poke it, and be prepared to run for it if it comes back at you to bite you on the proverbial.

 

[Lotuspetal_uk]

Please forgive me if I've repeated anything but in answering the OP:

Some dreams do mean something (Job 33:14-18) but we must make sure that we test whatever has been presented in the dream against scripture, to eliminate whether it is:

1. from our flesh (what I nickname the 'pizza cheese dreams') a lot of the times our bodies need to process the cares of this world and we can sometimes do that during sleep
2. from the demonic

I have found that personally for me one of the things that I check is, if something is vivid as I awake and it was something I handed to the Lord in prayer the night before, first and foremost I ask the Lord to help me to forget the dream if it is not from Him. About 90% of my dreams I forget on being more alert and having asked the Lord. That 10% is where I then spend time with the Lord and His Word.

In that significantly smaller percentage, it tends to move me to either pray for a circumstance/ people/ or for myself is an answer to prayer.

So I am not totally dismissive about dreams but at the same time I would caution believers about the risk of turning this aspect of our walk into some kind of idol and to test the dream should they remember it.