How to See spiritual visions

[SavedByGrace3]

This topic originates first from experience. Many years ago I began to notice something happening while I was in prayer. While praying upon my bed, usually in the small hours of the morning, I would see “images” floating up within myself. These images would most often be abstract shapes, objects, and even creatures. They would float up out of a mist and become very distinct and sharply defined. The images would only last a moment and quickly disappear.

It is surprising when you think about it.
What makes you think that your spirit is blind?
A "vision" is nothing more than seeing into the spirit. Sometimes the Spirit may present you with visual information that we call a "vision".

There are different ways to receive information in the spirit, just as there are different ways to receive information in the natural.

Your spirit can hear, see, smell, touch, and taste, just like your body can. Your spirit does not perceive natural things, nor does your body perceive spiritual things. When we say "spiritual things", we usually think of "spiritual truth". But the spiritual realm is just as real as the natural realm. If you have a spirit (and you do) you can perceive things that are there!

Your spirit is not blind, deaf, or dumb!

Look at the results of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit:

Acts 2
17 And it shall be in the last days, saith God, I will pour forth of My Spirit upon all flesh: And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, And your young men shall see visions, And your old men shall dream dreams:
18 Yea and on My servants and on My handmaidens in those days Will I pour forth of My Spirit; and they shall prophesy.​

The context of the verse is that the experiences will be universal. In the OT God spoke and revealed things to His prophets (Heb 1:1). Today He is revealing dreams visions and prophecy to all who will receive. Just as we all will speak in tongues (Mark 16:17), all may prophesy (1 Corinthians 14:31), and all can have dreams and visions.

Look at the experience of King Nebuchadnezzar:

Daniel 2
28 but there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and he hath made 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:
29 as for thee, O king, thy thoughts came [into thy mind] upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter; and he that revealeth secrets hath made known to thee what shall come to pass.​

See that the King received information in a two ways:

• Thy dream
• The visions of thy head upon thy bed​

Daniel expanded upon the methods in verse 29 and said that this information was received via "thoughts came [into thy mind] upon thy bed". It is obvious that the King was sleeping when dreaming. But he was awake while the "thoughts came [into thy mind]".

Again, the manner is revealed:

Danial 4:5
I saw a dream which made me afraid; and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me.​

• A dream
• The thoughts upon my bed
• The visions of my head​

Daniel also manifested the experience in similar manner:

Danial 7:1
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream and told the sum of the matters​

.

• A dream
• Visions of his head​

Here we see a heathen King and a prophet of God both receiving information from God in the same manner. The King was not a prophet, yet he was having dreams, visions, and supernatural thoughts. Today we live under a better covenant with better promises.

I wish I could say that I, through years of prayer and study, developed the ability to look into the spirit of Christ in me and see the images that are there. I began to have dreams and visions at the age of 17, shortly after I was saved and Baptized with the Holy Spirit.
Down though the years I have had many such dreams and so have learned how to look into the spirit of Christ in me, where to look, and what to look for.

Several years ago, I had a dream where Jesus spoke to me. At the end of the dream, the Lord said something to me that I did not immediately understand. He smiled and said; "I am going to teach you how to fly...”. I immediately began to fly through the air over houses and neighborhoods. As I awoke, I thought to myself that Jesus was going to do to me what He did to Philip in the book of Acts.

Acts 8:39
And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.​

Many believe that Philip flew away here.

"I am going to teach you how to fly...”.

I puzzled at what the Lord meant by this statement for a long time. One night, as I was praying and meditating, I suddenly found myself in the spirit. I was flying again, and was looking down at a landscape of beautiful countryside! Something inside me said that this was a view of the and as it will look during the millennium! Let me repeat that I did not go anywhere bodily. I was still lying on my bed. But as I looked into my spirit, I saw the scene that is described here. As I watched, and focused more on what I was seeing, the less aware I was of the room around me. I actually opened my eyes one time to see if I was still there! The room was still there of course, but I was aware that inside me, in my spirit, this event was still taking place. The event continued for several minutes. Since that experience, this "flying in my spirit" has happened many times. All of these viewings revealing future events, either in the millennium, or the last days.

I learned to look into the spirit of Christ in me. It eventually dawned on me that I could have learned to look into the spirit all along. These flying experiences just "primed the pump". The topic of this lesson is how to see into your spirit.

Let me say a couple things right out. If you do not have the spiritual gift of "Word of Wisdom" or a special gifting of God, you are not going to see future events as I do. Nor are you going to be "flying" as I do. But there are things in your spirit that you can see. Your spirit is not blind. It interacts in the spirit realm, and you can learn how to be aware.

If you are going to look into your spirit, it is obvious that you are going to have to quiet your outward man.

Psalms 4:4 (KJS)
Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.​

Psalms 46:10 (KJS)
Be still, and know that I [am] God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.​

Psalms 63:6
When I remember thee upon my bed, [And] meditate on thee in the night-watches.​

Look at the Hebrew word for meditate:

Lexicon Hebrew 1897
01897 hagah {daw-gaw'}
a primitive root [compare 01901]; TWOT - 467; v
AV - meditate 6, mourn 4, speak 4, imagine 2, study 2, mutter 2,
utter 2, roaring 1, sore 1, talk 1; 25
1) to moan, growl, utter, muse, mutter, meditate, devise, plot, speak
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to roar, growl, groan
1a2) to utter, speak
1a3) to meditate, devise, muse, imagine
1b) (Poal) to utter
1c) (Hiphil) to mutter​

The words that stick out and are important are:
Imagine
mutter
utter

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Part 2

In the area of the soul/mind, we have the ability demonstrated by the "ink blot" test. This is a procedure where a meaningless blot of ink or a shaded image is presented to a person. The person looks at the image, and tells what is seen in the shapes. There is no right or wrong answer to what is in the image. The responses by the individual are interpreted to reveal what is happening in their mind. This is not what we are looking for in the observation of spiritual visions. We all have walked down a dark street at night, and seen shapes and figures in the shadows. Our mind is a wonderful device which has the ability to "fill in the blanks" and supply the details. This happens all the time, and is not what we are looking for.

The viewing of spiritual visions occurs during deep meditation, or while one is in the spirit. They do not appear as meaningless images for which the mind will supply the details. The images come as full color scenes and images which are not related to what you have ever seen before. These are not the product of memories, or the constructs of a vivid imagination. Sometimes the images are three dimensional, and sometimes they appear animated as if they were on a screen. The images are in such precise detail that they appear real. In my own experience, they have lasted anywhere from "instantaneous" to a duration of several minutes. If you have never experienced this before, then the closest thing I can compare it to is the images which sometime appear in the moments immediately prior to falling asleep. They are not so much like dreams, in that most of the time you are subject to your dreams and you usually are not in control of your consciousness or will while dreaming. While viewing spiritual visions, you are fully conscious, and are exercising critical thought all the while. The difference is that you are the subject of your dreams, while you are merely a viewer in spiritual dreams.

We are not talking here about "open visions", where the Spirit of God shows you things in any of a number of visionary experiences. These also can occur, while in the spirit, while in dreams, or when one is not even expecting it. These open visions can occur while you are fully awake with your eyes open. You may view angels, demons, or even the Lord while in open vision. Again, this is not what we are talking about. We are specifically speaking of spiritual visions, where you can see the things of the spirit of Christ in you. Open visions only occur at the will of the Holy Spirit, and are usually the manifestation of one of the spiritual gifts outlined in 1 Corinthians 12. i.e. word of wisdom, word of knowledge, or discerning of Spirits.

If we were to compare this to the vocal gifts of tongues and prophesy, we could say that a spiritual vision is much like prophesy, in that you have understanding and have more control. A dream is much like tongues, in that you rarely have understanding and no control at all. We could say that dreams and spiritual visions are much like visual tongues and prophesy.

When Paul said, "when I pray in unknown tongue, my spirit prays...”, he was saying that the tongues were coming from his own reborn spirit, the spirit of Christ in him. He could have just as easily and correctly said, "when I prophesy, my spirit prophesies". We can also say, "when I dream a spiritual dream, my spirit dreams", and finally, "when I see spiritual visions, I see them in my spirit".

As with all the "spiritualities", one needs to take care to try the spirits to see if they are of God. At every instance of a spiritual experience, you should immediately bare witness that Jesus is Lord and is come in the Flesh. I cannot stress this enough. If Paul and the first century Christians had to do this, then you must also.

1 John 4
1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that [spirit] of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.​

A number of times, I have run into spirits that have not witnessed that "Jesus is Lord"! There have been times in dreams when this has happen. I have trained my subconscious mind to begin to plead the blood of Jesus at every hint of a spiritual experience while dreaming, and on a number of occasions, I have caught demons attempting to infiltrate! Usually you will experience a choking, suffocating, fear, or confused feeling. You may experience this while pleading the blood of Jesus or while trying to say the name of Jesus in you mind while dreaming. This is not you that is suffering! This is what the demon is experiencing as you commune the blood and name of Jesus to them! The demon will realize the big mistake it has made, and will always flee when the name of Jesus and blood of Jesus is brought forth and communed. Evil spirits hate these beliefs, and will get away from you as fast as possible!

As with all the "spiritualities", to be zealous for the manifestations will bring them forth. (But love for the needs of others is the perfect way to manifest them.) The mere act of reading this book and studying these verses will bring your mind and spirit to a place where you will be more receptive to these experiences. Being with people and reading the testimonies of people who know of these things will help. Regular prayer an meditation will help open the door to these manifestations. Rid your mind of all skepticism and doubt. See what the scriptures say you can have and can do.


Scriptures:

Numbers 12
6 And he said, Hear now my words: if there be a prophet among you, I Jehovah will make myself known unto him in a vision, I will speak with him in a dream.

Danial 2
19 Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

Job 4
13 In thoughts from the visions of the night, When deep sleep falleth on men,

Job 33
15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, When deep sleep falleth upon men, In slumberings upon the bed;

Proverbs 1
23 Turn you at my reproof: Behold, I will pour out my spirit upon you; I will make known my words unto you.​

 

[heidegger]

Somehow your posts look like Kundalini.
Have you read about other types of praying/meditation?
How long must you pray, I mean, how deep must you be in a prayer, before you can get these visions?

 

[Lycana]

Fascinating stuff! I would like to try it!

 

[heron]

Someone who writes and speaks on the flying phenomenon is Kathie Walters:

http://www.goodnews.netministries.org/kathiemain.html

The important thing to keep in mind when exploring this is that your focus is on God and supporting others, not on achieving higher planes and mysteries.

 

[TheMatman]

One two occasions in my life--and only in the last year--I have actually smelled things in my dreams. Does this mean anything?

 

[heron]

Wow. That's unusual. Was it knowledge that you could smell things, or the actual smell? (I hope that makes sense.) Was there a useful reason for the smell?

 

[TheMatman]

Wow. That's unusual. Was it knowledge that you could smell things, or the actual smell? (I hope that makes sense.) Was there a useful reason for the smell?

No... I seem to recall it was cigarrete smoke. I have no recollection of the dreams. But it was literally me smelling it in my dream.

 

[Witness Of His Love]

Someone who writes and speaks on the flying phenomenon is Kathie Walters:

http://www.goodnews.netministries.org/kathiemain.html

The important thing to keep in mind when exploring this is that your focus is on God and supporting others, not on achieving higher planes and mysteries.

Amen

 

[heron]

The cigarette smoke--I guess you could explain it by recognizing how real smells are recognized in the brain. We have receptors, as in vision, and we record what we smelled in our brains so we recognize it the next time. Maybe something triggered that stored memory. Maybe.

 

[FirstStrikeForce]

This topic originates first from experience. Many years ago I began to notice something happening while I was in prayer. While praying upon my bed, usually in the small hours of the morning, I would see “images” floating up within myself. These images would most often be abstract shapes, objects, and even creatures. They would float up out of a mist and become very distinct and sharply defined. The images would only last a moment and quickly disappear.

It is surprising when you think about it.
What makes you think that your spirit is blind?
A "vision" is nothing more than seeing into the spirit. Sometimes the Spirit may present you with visual information that we call a "vision".

There are different ways to receive information in the spirit, just as there are different ways to receive information in the natural.

Your spirit can hear, see, smell, touch, and taste, just like your body can. Your spirit does not perceive natural things, nor does your body perceive spiritual things. When we say "spiritual things", we usually think of "spiritual truth". But the spiritual realm is just as real as the natural realm. If you have a spirit (and you do) you can perceive things that are there!

Your spirit is not blind, deaf, or dumb!

Look at the results of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit:

Acts 2

17 And it shall be in the last days, saith God, I will pour forth of My Spirit upon all flesh: And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, And your young men shall see visions, And your old men shall dream dreams:
18 Yea and on My servants and on My handmaidens in those days Will I pour forth of My Spirit; and they shall prophesy.
​

The context of the verse is that the experiences will be universal. In the OT God spoke and revealed things to His prophets (Heb 1:1). Today He is revealing dreams visions and prophecy to all who will receive. Just as we all will speak in tongues (Mark 16:17), all may prophesy (1 Corinthians 14:31), and all can have dreams and visions.

Look at the experience of King Nebuchadnezzar:

Daniel 2

28 but there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and he hath made 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:
29 as for thee, O king, thy thoughts came [into thy mind] upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter; and he that revealeth secrets hath made known to thee what shall come to pass.
​

See that the King received information in a two ways:

• Thy dream

• The visions of thy head upon thy bed
​

Daniel expanded upon the methods in verse 29 and said that this information was received via "thoughts came [into thy mind] upon thy bed". It is obvious that the King was sleeping when dreaming. But he was awake while the "thoughts came [into thy mind]".

Again, the manner is revealed:

Danial 4:5

I saw a dream which made me afraid; and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me.
​

• A dream

• The thoughts upon my bed
• The visions of my head
​

Daniel also manifested the experience in similar manner:

Danial 7:1

In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream and told the sum of the matters
​

.

• A dream

• Visions of his head
​

Here we see a heathen King and a prophet of God both receiving information from God in the same manner. The King was not a prophet, yet he was having dreams, visions, and supernatural thoughts. Today we live under a better covenant with better promises.

I wish I could say that I, through years of prayer and study, developed the ability to look into the spirit of Christ in me and see the images that are there. I began to have dreams and visions at the age of 17, shortly after I was saved and Baptized with the Holy Spirit.
Down though the years I have had many such dreams and so have learned how to look into the spirit of Christ in me, where to look, and what to look for.

Several years ago, I had a dream where Jesus spoke to me. At the end of the dream, the Lord said something to me that I did not immediately understand. He smiled and said; "I am going to teach you how to fly...”. I immediately began to fly through the air over houses and neighborhoods. As I awoke, I thought to myself that Jesus was going to do to me what He did to Philip in the book of Acts.

Acts 8:39

And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.
​

Many believe that Philip flew away here.

"I am going to teach you how to fly...”.

I puzzled at what the Lord meant by this statement for a long time. One night, as I was praying and meditating, I suddenly found myself in the spirit. I was flying again, and was looking down at a landscape of beautiful countryside! Something inside me said that this was a view of the and as it will look during the millennium! Let me repeat that I did not go anywhere bodily. I was still lying on my bed. But as I looked into my spirit, I saw the scene that is described here. As I watched, and focused more on what I was seeing, the less aware I was of the room around me. I actually opened my eyes one time to see if I was still there! The room was still there of course, but I was aware that inside me, in my spirit, this event was still taking place. The event continued for several minutes. Since that experience, this "flying in my spirit" has happened many times. All of these viewings revealing future events, either in the millennium, or the last days.

I learned to look into the spirit of Christ in me. It eventually dawned on me that I could have learned to look into the spirit all along. These flying experiences just "primed the pump". The topic of this lesson is how to see into your spirit.

Let me say a couple things right out. If you do not have the spiritual gift of "Word of Wisdom" or a special gifting of God, you are not going to see future events as I do. Nor are you going to be "flying" as I do. But there are things in your spirit that you can see. Your spirit is not blind. It interacts in the spirit realm, and you can learn how to be aware.

If you are going to look into your spirit, it is obvious that you are going to have to quiet your outward man.

Psalms 4:4 (KJS)

Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.
​

Psalms 46:10 (KJS)

Be still, and know that I [am] God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
​

Psalms 63:6

When I remember thee upon my bed, [And] meditate on thee in the night-watches.
​

Look at the Hebrew word for meditate:

Lexicon Hebrew 1897

01897 hagah {daw-gaw'}
a primitive root [compare 01901]; TWOT - 467; v
AV - meditate 6, mourn 4, speak 4, imagine 2, study 2, mutter 2,
utter 2, roaring 1, sore 1, talk 1; 25
1) to moan, growl, utter, muse, mutter, meditate, devise, plot, speak
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to roar, growl, groan
1a2) to utter, speak
1a3) to meditate, devise, muse, imagine
1b) (Poal) to utter
1c) (Hiphil) to mutter
​

The words that stick out and are important are:
Imagine
mutter
utter

I have had dreams from God where I fly. For instance, in one I was being taunted by some people. And I just jumped up and flew.

There are stories of various monks actually flying.

What it means, spiritually, is being lifted up by God and carried by His grace above the powers of the world. Granted, such meaning is inherent.

I have a gift of wisdom, though I consider that separate from other gifts.

The Scripture says that we should always pray, and always meditate on the word of the Lord.

God leads us to such points after a very long period of time. The older Christian books speak much of such things: such as the Philokalia, works of various saints and such.

The main thing in such things is to listen to Christ about dispelling worry and desires of this world so we can concentrate on spiritual things.

Every night the Lord specially leads me in understanding things which I puzzle over, and every single night He asks me, "What do I need". To which I always respond, "Justice"... it is true, sometimes I say first, "I don't know", and then I always come to the same conclusion.

I find that the Lord especially gives me visions and dreams before He has something important for me to do. The greater things are always more rare then the lesser things.

And always more precious.

 

[heron]

"There are stories of various monks actually flying."
I wonder if that's where the flying nun idea came from! Sorry to trivialize.

 

[FirstStrikeForce]

"There are stories of various monks actually flying."
I wonder if that's where the flying nun idea came from! Sorry to trivialize.

Well, yeah, that is where that came from.

I say they are "stories", that is what they are: true or not, I never had enough information to go on. Some things, historically, I feel I do, some things, I do not.

 

[heron]

...and some credible stories get squelched the minute they go public because they are so outlandish. Then they are filed as quackery.

 

[FirstStrikeForce]

...and some credible stories get squelched the minute they go public because they are so outlandish. Then they are filed as quackery.

Incredible things by definition are difficult to believe.

Not everybody wants to wonder. We know the meaning of the word.

Oddly, as I do read a great deal on current events and such, I do find these things here and there: a tsunami survivor quoted as having a dream beforehand of such an event. A soldier having had a warning dream and recounting how it saved his life in an autobiography. Highly improbable events that are nevertheless historical and therefore forced to be recorded. This is a common occurence.

In fact, many events which are historical are highly improbable. Many events in our daily lives are highly improbable. Where does the line blur between miracle and sheer probability?

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" they say, well, we know truth is as well. We know that those who believe the lie can not see the truth even when it happens in front of their own face.

Yet they shall be called to account for all of this on Judgement Day and forever thereafter. We all are given the ability from birth to divide rightly between good and evil, truth and lie -- past maturity, this ability is in place.

 

[heron]

"Incredible things by definition are difficult to believe." Ha, caught me there.

I agree, and see everyday distortions of recorded "truth" in slanted statistics, research with too few variables, and newscasters quoting data without all the conditions stated. We choose to believe certain sources.

 

[FirstStrikeForce]

"Incredible things by definition are difficult to believe." Ha, caught me there.

I agree, and see everyday distortions of recorded "truth" in slanted statistics, research with too few variables, and newscasters quoting data without all the conditions stated. We choose to believe certain sources.

It is an often overlooked truth. I have seen others have incredible visions they thought were common, and know for myself that it is often difficult to explain to others things I myself view as ordinary.

As for distortions, yes, though as a younger man I believed a great many things based on the sources I had... it was not until I was older that I was able to better understand the world and discover that I need more sources. Often something that seems credible until we hear another point of view. I am speaking here specifically of the version of events the world gives us about itself.

 

[heron]

"Discover that I need more sources."
So true! And another lifetime to read them all!

 

[bertie]

I St. Francis of assissi was one of those monks for some reason..I.thought...I too get a flying feeling at times during worship and when certain other people in the congregation are near me it can get very intense..has any one else noticed this proximity thing.?

 

[FirstStrikeForce]

I St. Francis of assissi was one of those monks for some reason..I.thought...I too get a flying feeling at times during worship and when certain other people in the congregation are near me it can get very intense..has any one else noticed this proximity thing.?

I do not recall Francis having that. He had visions and manifestations of the crucifixtion of Christ... and various other visions and dreams and miracles.

I have not noticed such a proximity thing myself, though that is very interesting and worth you wondering about and testing.