How can you tell if a certain dream came from God?

[Lybrah]

Recently I have had two dreams where a friend I lost touch with has announced to me that she is no longer my friend, and she is mean to me. I wake up feeling sad. Could this dream be from God? Would God give you a dream to make you feel sad?

 

[John Davidson]

No, it's not from God. It's just a random dream. It means nothing.

I dreamt that dogs were biting me.....do you think that meant anything?

 

[tturt]

Everything Yahweh does has a purpose. Encourage you to get your answer from Him. Sometimes dreams have a spiritual meaning instead of a natural one.

 

[FutureAndAHope]

God is always in the business of restoring broken friendships. The devil probably sent you the dream to try to start the process of breaking the friendship. He will probably attempt to break the friendship from the other persons side as well. I would say just stick beside your friend even if you perceive or see a change in any way for the worst. But don't stress over it, just pray that everything works out good between you both. All that said good friendships are hard to break, if it means a lot to you I am sure it will survive.

 

[John Davidson]

The devil probably sent you the dream to try to start the process of breaking the friendship.

I don't believe that Satan has the power to give us dreams.

He is not in control of our minds.

 

[FutureAndAHope]

I don't believe that Satan has the power to give us dreams.

He is not in control of our minds.

Have you never had a bad thought? Believe me satan has power over every persons mind, it is how we respond to it that counts. He can give dreams, It is dangerous thinking to tell a believer satan can't influence a dream you are given.

 

[John Davidson]

Have you never had a bad thought? Believe me satan has power over every persons mind, it is how we respond to it that counts. He can give dreams, It is dangerous thinking to tell a believer satan can't influence a dream you are given.

Satan has no internal influence over my mind. He can only work externally in the life of a believer. Christians cannot be possessed by Satan or demons. Satan has no power over my dreams.

 

[seashale76]

You asked, 'How can you tell if a dream came from God?' You can't. In Orthodox Christianity, it is never a sin to ignore our dreams and visions, no matter how Godly we may think them to be. They do not necessarily have any mysterious meaning or significance to be interpreted. It is actually spiritually dangerous to give these types of things too much attention. Always turn to God and give Him the glory. Always be mindful that you are a sinner in need of repentance. When you think that you've been given special dreams and visions, you've already fallen into deception. (And I've been there. You just can't trust these things. Pray when it happens.)

Here are some prayers and quotations regarding this topic:

The wicked one, on the watch, carried me off as booty as I lazily slept. He led my mind into error; he plundered my spirit and snatched away The wealth of Thy grace, this arch robber. So raise me up, as I am fallen, and summon me, Saviour,
Thou who dost will that all men be saved. ~Kontakia of St. Romanos, A Prayer.

O Lord our God, in Whom we believe and Whose Name we invoke above every name, grant us preparing for sleep relaxation of soul and body, and keep us from all dreams and dark pleasures. Stop the rushing of passions, and quench the burning of bodily tensions. Grant us to live chastely in word and act, that we may live a life of heroic virtue and not fall away from Thy promised blessings. For Thou art blessed for ever. Amen. ~Prayer- Jordanville Prayer book

Even if an angel should indeed appear to you, do not receive him but humiliate yourself, saying, 'I am not worthy to see an angel, for I am a sinner.' ~Apophthegmata Patrum

We should zealously cultivate watchfulness, my brethren; and when, our mind purified in Christ Jesus, we are exalted by the vision it confers, we should review our sins and our former life, so that shattered and humbled at the thought of them we may never lose the help of Jesus Christ our God in the invisible battle. ~St. Hesychius the Presbyter

Even a pious person is not immune to spiritual sickness if he does not have a wise guide -- either a living person or a spiritual writer. This sickness is called _prelest_, or spiritual delusion, imagining oneself to be near to God and to the realm of the divine and supernatural. Even zealous ascetics in monasteries are sometimes subject to this delusion, but of course, laymen who are zealous in external struggles (podvigi) undergo it much more frequently. Surpassing their acquaintances in struggles of prayer and fasting, they imagine that they are seers of divine visions, or at least of dreams inspired by grace. In every event of their lives, they see special intentional directions from God or their guardian angel. And then they start imagining that they are God's elect, and often try to foretell the future. The Holy Fathers armed themselves against nothing so fiercely as against this sickness -- prelest. ~Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky

"The demons have also the following trick. They cry out the names of those whom they know to have none of the merits of holiness and to possess none of the fruits of the Spirit. They pretend to be burnt up by the merits of such people and to take flight from the bodies of the possessed.
"Deuteronomy has this to say about such persons: 'If a prophet should arise among you or a man claiming visionary dreams, and if he foretells a sign and a portent, and if what he says should actually happen, and if he should say to you, "Let us go and follow strange gods who are unknown to you and let us serve them," do not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. For the Lord your God is putting you to the test, bringing out into the open whether or not you love Him with all your heart and with all your should (Deuteronomy 13: 1 - 3).
"And in the gospel he says this: 'Fake Christs and fake prophets will rise up and they will perform great signs and wonders so that if possible even the chosen will be led into error' (Matthew 24:24)." ~REF:St. John Cassian, "Conferences," - (Trans Colm Luibheid, New York: Paulist Press, 1985), pp. 174 - 176

 

[FutureAndAHope]

Satan has no internal influence over my mind. He can only work externally in the life of a believer. Christians cannot be possessed by Satan or demons. Satan has no power over my dreams.

Again this is a very dangerous way of thinking. Pastors I trust tell me demons can speak into your mind. And it has been my experience as a believer who can hear from God, very clearly at times, that I also can hear from demons. Now they can't hurt me, make me sick, or mess with me, but they can certainly speak. However I rarely hear from them as I have asked God to clear my mind as much as possible from them.

I have had demons talk bad about people, trying to get me to have unforgiveness, for many people they constantly remind the believer of their faults, or pretend to be God. The worry I have about your doctrine is that people will think every voice/dream they hear has to be God. This is very unwise.

As for dreams, firstly let me state, I don't use porn, neither do I ever focus on the bodies of other women. I keep myself pure. Yet I have had dreams from Satan about adultery that were sexual in nature. Often times I may see an attractive person, and Satan will try to play their image over and over in my mind. Yet I force it out, and it leaves. Other times he will pretend to be God, and tell me it is ok to use porn or commit some other sin, these feelings and voices are very strong.

Yet my mind 95% of the time is clear, and I love life.

 

[Mudinyeri]

Full disclosure: I don't put much stock in dreams.

Most nights, I don't remember my dreams. When I do remember my dreams, they usually quite violent. I have a violent past. I don't read anything more into it than that.

If you think you might be losing touch with a friend, reach out to them - dreams or no dreams.

Life can be simple if you let it.

 

[Razare]

Recently I have had two dreams where a friend I lost touch with has announced to me that she is no longer my friend, and she is mean to me. I wake up feeling sad. Could this dream be from God? Would God give you a dream to make you feel sad?

Dreams like that, it's hard to say, I think. I only ever knew a dream was from God with certainty because I could find those elements of the dream out of God's word. Then I could be certain.

A practical message dream like this? It only fits with God's word if you can directly identify the concept with something like 1 Corinthians 13 love or some other concept. Like you are failing to operate according to the word in an area of your life, and you see from scripture where you are wrong and how to change.

Unless you have some meat from the word to apply to the situation pertinent in the dream, then you have nothing to go on and might as well ignore the dream.

A dream which can't be tied to God's word, is useless.

 

[Razare]

I don't believe that Satan has the power to give us dreams.

He is not in control of our minds.

Hahaha. Well, it might be true for you. We certainly do not have to yield our minds to satan, and so if your thoughts were forever perfect, pure, and true, then certainly he has no place in your mind.

I like the way you think!

But no, if we give the devil a place in our minds or heart, (and dreams are from our hearts and souls often), then the devil can give us dreams.

do not give the devil a foothold. - Ephesians 4:27

This means a person can yield their mind to the devil, along with other verses, like Philippians 4 which directs us to think on pure and lovely things. Should we fail to do that, we are focused on evil things and giving place to the devil.