Hearing the Voice of God – Dreams S1E1

And it shall be in the last days,’ says God, ‘that I will pour out my spirit upon all mankind; And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see [divinely prompted] visions, and your old men shall dream [divinely prompted] dreams; even on my bond-servants, both men and women, I will in those days pour out my spirit and they shall prophesy.

Acts 2:17 quoting from Joel 2:28

He said, “Listen to my words: “When there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, reveal myself to them in visions, I speak to them in dreams.

Numbers 12:6

For God does speak—now one way, now another— though no one perceives it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they slumber in their beds… 

Job 33:14-15

Examples

Daniel: Daniel 1:17

To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.

Joseph: Matthew 1:20-23, 2:13 and 19

1. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
2. When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
3. After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt…

Abimelech: Genesis 20:3

But God came to Abimelek in a dream one night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.”

HOW TO BE A GOOD STEWARD OF DREAMS

• Prepare to sleep good and deep sleep

Unless the Lord builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless the Lord guards the city,
The watchman keeps awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise early,
To retire late,
To eat the bread of anxious labors—
For He gives [blessings] to His beloved even in his sleep. Psalm 127:1-2

• Write Dreams Down

In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he was lying in bed. He wrote down the substance of his dream. Daniel said: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were…

Daniel 7:1-2a

• Remember Your Dreams

Then he remembered his dreams about them and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”

Genesis 42:9

• Understand the Purpose of Your Dreams

For God does speak—now one way, now another— though no one perceives it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they slumber in their beds, he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, to turn them from wrongdoing and keep them from pride, to preserve them from the pit, their lives from perishing by the sword.

Job 33:14-18

• Get Interpretation from God

“We both had dreams,” they answered, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”

Genesis 40:8

Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and the same dream. The seven lean, ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind: They are seven years of famine.

Genesis 41:25-27

• Obey the Instructions in the Dream

By Joseph obeying to take in Mary, he fulfilled the prophesies about Jesus been born by a virgin.

If Joseph did not obey to go to Egypt, he would have put baby Jesus in danger of Herod’s massacre of the babies in Israel.

By Pharaoh allowing Joseph to save grain for seven years, he saved the nations of the time from starving to hunger. This also helped in getting Israel to Egypt towards God’s promise to Abraham.

• False-Dream Proofing Yourself

(i) There Are False Prophets

Indeed, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” declares the LORD. “They tell them and lead my people astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send or appoint them. They do not benefit these people in the least,” declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 23:32

If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Deuteronomy 13:1-3

(ii) Utilize the Sure Word of Prophesy

 2 Peter 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.

John 1:1 In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. He was [continually existing] in the beginning [co-eternally] with God. All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him not even one thing was made that has come into being. In Him was life [and the power to bestow life], and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines on in the darkness, and the darkness did not understand it or overpower it or appropriate it or absorb it [and is unreceptive to it].

(iii) Guard Your Heart

Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.

Proverbs 4:23

And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you].

Romans 12:2

How are you going to think pure thoughts? By thinking positive thoughts – the mighty Word of God.

For the word of God is living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective]. It is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as the division of the soul and spirit [the completeness of a person], and of both joints and marrow [the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12

Get it in your heart. It has power to cleanse and keep you.    

From your thought life and through your thought life God wants to minister to you. A God-controlled thought life will

• Govern your speech
• Guard your sight
• Guide your steps 

1. Watch what you say.

Avoid using perverse, crooked speech. Avoid vain (idle) words or language that reveals a heart set on disobedience. Don’t defiantly speak against what is right. Remember, what the heart is full of is what will flow out of the heart.

It’s much too easy for us to negate what we say by pretending it’s a joke or telling the other person we didn’t mean it. Even when we’re trying to live a godly life, it’s sometimes much too easy for lies to slip from our lips. We may even justify them by saying they’re just “little lies” but can lies be little?

I don’t think so. I believe the weight of every lie is the same regardless of our intent.

2. Focus on what is before you

“I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:36-37 ESV).

Don’t seek out trouble. I don’t know about you but I have met people who always seem to be in the midst of some disaster or mischief. There are people who seem to thrive on stirring up trouble but that kind of behavior is destructive.

It distracts the persons involved from focusing on what God had intended them to. Each of us has been given a task and we need to do it to the best of our abilities. But unless we focus on Christ who is our example, we’ll get drawn away by things that were never any of our business in the first place.

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

(Hebrews 12:1-2 NKJV)

3. Think about where your feet are going

Have you ever been headed somewhere but got distracted by your thoughts or something that’s happening around you only to end up in a different place than you intended? If we don’t think about where we’re going, we may end up going in the wrong direction.

It’s one thing to be going straight ahead, it’s quite another to be going straight ahead in the wrong direction!

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14 NIV).

4. Stay away from evil.

Don’t stray from the path that leads to Christ. If you find yourself going down the wrong path, stop. Turn back. Find the path that leads to Jesus and go that way.

The way of the world will always seem easier than the path required by God. The enemy tells us we can do whatever we want to do, but God expects us to be disciplined. He expects to be the ruler of our lives which may mean that sometimes we don’t get to do what we want to do. God encourages you to guard your heart.

The advice to stay away from evil may seem like a big thing, but it’s as simple as obedience. God is still speaking. He communicates with us through His Word and through prayer. As we tune into His heart, we’ll understand His desire for us and will learn to do the things He requires of us.

If you wander off the road to the right or the left, you will hear his voice behind you saying, “Here is the road. Follow it” (Isaiah 30:21 GNT).

As believers, we are urged to diligence. We must guard our thoughts because they influence our desires. We must guard our desires because they affect our appetite. The things we crave, we work hard for and if we crave the wrong things, it will eventually be reflected in our lives.

How do you guard your heart above all else? You guard your heart by focusing on the things of God and blocking out the things that seek to distract you from your purpose.