We have lost the art of dreaming. I suppose we are still fantasizing about our futures. Despite my age, I am still hoping for new things to come along. I want to write and be read. I want to speak and be heard. I want to manifest holiness and thereby introduce the power of the Holy Spirit to others. I want to be happy and I want the best for my children. Those are all human dreams. No interpretation needed.
Genesis 40:8
“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.”
There are dreams that come from God with a message. But mostly, dreaming and interpreting has been relegated to the New Age crowd and cast off the average person’s radar. Oh, we might engage in a little lighthearted reading of a dream book just like we occasionally read a daily horoscope. But we don’t take them seriously and we expect little from our brain’s nightly forages into that other dimension.
There is one primary test for an effective prophet–their prophecies come true. It is the same for a dream interpreter. Truly divine dreams will speak into a situation and will have more value when interpreted. I say more value because the dreamer will know the dream is unique, unlike any other nightly offering. That dream will be remembered the next day instead of fleeing as soon as the eyes and consciousness re-enter the present.
But the dreamer must take a second step to remember the dream and write it down. Write everything down as fast as possible. Add to the description as it unfolds again later in the day. Give the dream its due.
And finally, ask God for an interpretation or an interpreter.
No, dream interpreters do not put out a shingle, but God is still able to speak in a variety of ways, whether it’s dreams, dark speech (unexpected circumstances), strangers, friends, teachers, pastors, and in fact, any written or spoken word. Any of these may carry the interpretation of a Spirit gifted dream. But we must be open to the interpretation.
Before I became a follower of Christ, I had a Spirit-infused dream that frightened me. I was at a bridge whose expanse extended across a very wide river. The bridge was made of slats and did not seem very secure but I knew I had to cross it. As I started, I looked down into the waters and discovered they were not waters at all but teeming bodies, writhing and contorted and reaching out for me, some for help and others to drag me in. I wanted to run back but a man stood on the other side beckoning me to keep coming. A voice called and I turned to see another man back at the start of the bridge encouraging me back to the safety of the shore I knew. Then he laughed and I woke up.
In waking, I understood this dream and decided then to continue crossing that bridge. It was a turning point in my life.
Meditations from Zion 