Are Dreams From God?

It’s happened to me many times. I wake up from a night of deep sleep and think, “Whoa, what a weird dream!” In dreams anything can happen at all, and sometimes you can hardly wait to get to sleep to see what awaits you when you dream. Are these dreams just your subconscious going over things you have thought about throughout the day? Or could they actually be messages from God giving you warning and instructions? I think they are from God. If you study your Bible you will find that dreams were used to give warnings and instruction to people all throughout.
The first instance that is mentioned in the Bible where a dream was used was in the case of Abimelech. Abimelech was King of Gerar and he fell in love with Abraham’s wife, Sarah. Well, Abraham was too chicken to tell him that Sarah was his wife because he thought he would be killed to get to her. Abimelech took Sarah as his wife but he did not lie with her. Then God came to Abimelech in a dream to tell him that he was as good as dead and all who were in his household. Abimelech pleaded his ignorance to the Lord and God told him that he understood that he had been deceived, and that he had kept Abimelech from sinning against Himslef by sleeping with Sarah. The Lord told Abimelech that if he returned Sarah to Abraham immediately he would be spared.
Now in this instance, the Lord spoke directly to Abimelech through the dream. There are other instances where Angels revealed the message of God in the dreams. Sometimes, and I find most often, you will find symbols and colors to show you the meaning of the dream. In the book of Genesis, Joseph dreamt that his brothers would bow down to him two different times:
5 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. 6 And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: 7 For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. 8 And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. 9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. 10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? 11 And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.
Gen 37:5-11 (KJV)
In these cases, God showed Joseph what would happen through symbols. Now that you know that symbol and colors have meaning in dreams, I caution you about studying any other source of symbols than the Bible. Some people, even people who have Christian reference books on dreams, may not be teaching you the right thing. Go straight to the source I’d say. In the book of Daniel, we learn that only the Holy Spirit can reveal what a dream means.
The list goes on and on for dreams in the Bible. I think the God that gave those people dreams for warning and instruction is the same God I serve today. Why wouldn’t I think He’d still give his people dreams today? The thing I love the most about getting instructions through dreams is I know that I’m not even awake, so it can’t be my flesh getting in the way of the message. I think there are time we think we hear from God it’s us hearing what we want to hear, so when I get dream messages I know it’s really God.
If you don’t dream, I would start by asking God to give you dreams. Then, sleep with a notebook beside your bed so that if you wake up in the night you’ll have a way to jot down what you have dreamed so you won’t forget. Believe me, it’s easy to forget. Keep a light source on so you can see when you wake up. If you need help figuring out what your dream means, I have a friend who has a facebook group called dreams that are from God. Head over there and he’ll be glad to help you I’m sure. He’s studied the Bible for dream interpretation for over six years.
I hope you get some great dreams soon and get helpful instructions and warnings straight from the source…the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

Laura is a single mom who loves to study the Bible and study dreams. Find out if dreams are from God and more about Biblical Dream Interpretation at Laura's blog called What Do You Know About Jesus.