4 Important Principles for Stewarding Your Prophetic Dreams
If you have ever awakened from a full night's sleep feeling tired because it felt like you were in a war all night, you probably were. Did you know that there is no day or night in the spirit world? It may be surprising, but our spirit is always awake, even when our body is asleep.
I think of some dreams, which I call "reality dreams," as memories of an experience we had as we slept. They are real experiences that our spirit has with the spirit world while our soul is sleeping. A great example of this is Joseph's famous dream found in Matthew 2:13-14. Another type of God-dream is what I call "virtual reality dreams." This kind of dream is actually a vision of the mind that we have while we sleep and remember when we wake up. Virtual reality dreams, or visions of the night, are to your spirit what movies are to your natural man. Nebuchadnezzar had one of these kinds of dreams in Daniel 2:31-36. We know it was this type of dream because it was symbolic and needed an interpretation.
Dreams Can Change Your Life!
A friend of ours told us how his son's marriage was restored by a dream. His son and daughter-in-law were in a year-long, ugly custody battle over their only son. Their marriage was over, and although the husband had had a change of heart and wanted to reconcile with his wife, she remained hurt, angry and bitter. She refused any counsel. She broke all ties with the family and would have nothing to do with any of them.
The night before they were to go to divorce court, his daughter-in-law had a dream. In it she saw herself standing at the edge of a beautiful meadow. Her husband was standing in the middle of the field, and suddenly Jesus appeared in the field. He looked over at her, smiled and then walked through the meadow to her husband and gave him a hug. The scene changed. Her father-in-law was now standing in the center of the field and again the Lord appeared. He looked over at her a second time and smiled while He embraced her father-in-law. In the next scene, she saw herself standing in the field of flowers. Jesus appeared off in the distance, walking through the meadow toward her. Just as the Lord reached out to embrace her, she woke up. She knew the Lord was giving her the grace she needed to restore her relationship with her husband. She got out of bed at five o'clock in the morning and called her husband. They reconciled that very day and lived happily ever after!
4 Truths About Dreams
Dreams are an amazing way to hear God. There are some important things to remember about dreams, and here are four basic truths I think are important for any believer who wants to grow in their dream life:
1. Not all dreams are from God. We can hear from four sources in the spirit realm—our spirit, the Holy Spirit, angels and evil spirits—and this is true even in our dreams. Not all dreams are from God.
2. Just because we have dreams does not necessarily mean we are prophetic. Remember, even wicked people in the Old Testament had dreams. Interpreting dreams is what makes us prophetic.
3. Colors, numbers and other symbolic occurrences in dreams are very important to the interpretation of the dream. But even as we learn to recognize consistencies in this symbolic language, we need to remember that ultimately, the interpretation of dreams belongs to the Lord.
4. If we want to have more dreams, we need to become good stewards of revelations we receive. It is a great idea to put a notebook or recorder by your bed before you go to sleep. Pray and tell the Lord, "Your servant is listening." As soon as you have a dream, write it down or record all of the details you can remember, including the way you felt about the dream while you were having it. To have more dreams, become good stewards of the revelations received.
Job's Insights Into Dreams
There is much to know about the mysterious world of dreams. Job gives us some insight into the nature of dreams and their purposes:
"For God speaks once, yes twice, yet no man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, in slumber on their beds, then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction, that He might turn aside man from his purpose, and conceal pride from man. He keeps back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword" (Job 33:14-18).
Job says the dreams of God often go unnoticed. And he reinforces the fact that virtual reality dreams are visions of the night. He goes on to explain that many times, God uses dreams to change our attitude. If our soul is resisting the Lord, He waits until we are unconscious and then changes our heart through visions of the night. He even says that these midnight encounters can keep us from hell.
If dreams are that powerful, then I want to propose to you that a dream can impact your destiny, turn your heart towards God, bring clarity to a situation and even bring insight to problems in your life that seem hopeless. If that's the case, then let's be a people who notice the dreams God gives us and stewards them well!
There is so much more to know about dreams and visions. John Paul Jackson, James and Michal Ann Goll and Cindy Jacobs have all written amazing books on the subject with deep insights into this language of God. I highly recommend their books.
Are you a dreamer? What are you doing to steward your dreams well? I'd love to hear about your process in the comments. 
Kris Vallotton is the senior associate leader of Bethel Church in Redding, California, and co-founder of Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry (BSSM). Kris travels internationally, training and equipping people to successfully fulfill their divine purpose. He's a best-selling author, having written more than a dozen books and training manuals to help prepare believers for life in the kingdom. He has a diverse background in business, counseling, consulting, pastoring and teaching, which gives him unique leadership insights and perspectives. Kris has a passion to use his experience and his prophetic gift to assist world leaders in achieving their goals and accomplishing their mission.
This article originally appeared at krisvallotton.com.
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