In the ancient Near East, dreams were one of several ways people sought to see the future and to make decisions that would be beneficial to them. In some societies, people went to temples or holy places to sleep in order to have a dream that would show them the best decision to make 1. Dreams are important and part of the fabric of life on planet earth. What can we learn about them and how they impact our being?
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Acts 2:17 (KJV)
17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out 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:
- The entire gamut of human existence is covered by dreams and visions – young to old.
- Somewhere on planet earth today, someone is dreaming.
- Dreams and visions are one of the ways that God communicates with man.
- God, the Creator and Designer of man created in man the mechanism of dreaming.
- Sometimes God will use this method to try and direct a persons’ life.
- Here is an important safeguard for your life.
- If you awake from a dream, and don’t know that it was from the Lord, forget about it, it wasn’t.
- If you have to ask go around and ask other people what the dream means, forget about it. It wasn’t from God.
- God is an expert communicator. He is not going to send you on a wild goose chase.
Dream Facts
- Humans spend one third of their life sleeping.
- God is not going to be shut out of one-third of your life. He will communicate to you at times during this part of your life.
- God’s consistent action has always been to find a way to interact with the man He created.
- All operations of God are by faith, including dreams and visions
- So, believing in dreams and visions aids the process.
- Nothing in the realms of God are automatic.
- Things won’t happen properly just because they are in the Bible.
- You don’t go seeking them but you set your heart in this way. You be open to anyway that the Lord wants to communicate with your life.
- Our mindset and our conversation with heaven then should be something like this, ‘Lord if you want to communicate with me this way, it’s okay with me. Lord anyway that you wish to speak – any channel you choose – its okay with me.’
Different Types of Dreams
- There are different types of dreams
- There are fantasy dreams
- There are memory dreams.
- There are bad dreams.
- Bad dreams are from the enemy.
- God is not going to give you a lustful dream or fearful scary dream.
- The enemy invaded the Garden of Eden that God made for His man. He has been trying to invade the other realms of God ever since.
- Take authority over sleep and your room and you shouldn’t have any trouble here.
- You should not be afraid to sleep.
- Do not lie down in fear.
Proverbs 3:24 (KJV)
When you lie down, you will not be afraid; When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
- You should look forward to sleep.
- There are prophetic dreams.
- Prophetic dreams are dreams where you are shown a picture of tomorrow.
- Prophetic dreams must be acted on.
- He shows you things in order that something may be done about that situation.
Isaiah 38:1-6 (KJV)
1 In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’ ” 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, 3 and said, “Remember now, O LORD, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. 4 Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah, saying, 5 “Go and say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will add fifteen years to your life. 6 “I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city.”‘
- Can you see the reason why God communicated with Isaiah in the first place? Can you see why the Lord told him that he was going to die?
Dreams and Faith in God
- The main difference between dreams and visions is that dreams are a night phenomenon and visions are an ‘awake’ phenomenon.
- The majority of our believing God has to do with our awake activities.
- God designed a 24 hour day in which one-third of it you spend sleeping.
- I say eight hours of sleep but everybody knows what the average amount of sleep should be. Just ask a person when they wake up. The answer is always one hour more.
- If it takes faith to live during our ‘awake’ hours of the day, that is sixteen hours, do you think it also takes faith, believing, trusting in God to sleep? Does it take faith to function the last eight hours of that 24 hour cycle?
- How are we going to tell if our faith needs to be active during the sleep phase of our life?
- By understanding how faith comes, faith comes for our ‘awake’ time activities how?
- By hearing and hearing the word of God.
Romans 10:17 (KJV)
17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
- If you do a word search in the original language on sleep, you come up with 135 verses!
Sleep Facts and the Bible
- God is in the knockout business
- The Lord can give you sleep
Genesis 2:21 (KJV)
21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.
- This is the most unique way you have ever seen of getting a spouse.
1 Samuel 26:11-12 (KJV)
21 “The LORD forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the LORD’S anointed; but now please take the spear that is at his head and the jug of water, and let us go.” 12So David took the spear and the jug of water from beside Saul’s head, and they went away, but no one saw or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because a sound sleep from the LORD had fallen on them.
Psalm 127:2 (KJV)
It is vain for you to rise up early, To retire late, To eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.
- If you can’t sleep, do not count sheep – talk to the shepherd.
- Obeying God in the daytime helps you sleep at night
- It is hard to believe God for sleep at night if you are disobedient during the day.
Psalm 4:8 (KJV)
In peace I will both lie down and sleep, For You alone, O LORD, make me to dwell in safety.
You can’t lie down and sleep if you are not at peace.
Romans 5:1 (KJV)
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
- If your conscience is bothering you and you are trying to override it – you’re trying to push it off – it is going to mess with your believing for sleep.
- It takes more than a soft pillow to insure sound sleep.
- It takes a good conscience.
Sleep Robbers
- Warning: Disobedience in these two areas will definitely cause sleepless nights
1 Peter 5:7 (KJV)
7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
Eph. 4:26 (KJV)
26 BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
- The Lord Protects the Sleep of the Righteous
- He will look out for this area of your life.
Exodus 22:25-27 (KJV)
25 “If you lend money to My people, to the poor among you, you are not to act as a creditor to him; you shall not charge him interest. 26 “If you ever take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, you are to return it to him before the sun sets, 27 for that is his only covering; it is his cloak for his body. What else shall he sleep in? And it shall come about that when he cries out to Me, I will hear him, for I am gracious.
- Here is a general rule – don’t cause people sleepless nights – the Lord watches that.
- Sweet sleep comes to fearless people
Proverbs 3:24 (KJV)
24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid; When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
- Refuse to fear – do not lay down afraid
- Deal with the fear before you close your eyes
- God does not sleep – there is no sense in you being afraid.
Psalm 121:4 (KJV)
Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord will sustain you in sleep
Psalm 3:5 (KJV)
I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the LORD sustains me.
- You do not have to lie down and wonder if your going to wake up
- You do not have to fear or dread bad dreams.
- The Lord will sustain you!
Sleep Positions
- Scientists believe the position in which a person goes to sleep provides an important clue about the kind of person they are.
- Professor Chris Idzikowski, director of the Sleep Assessment and Advisory Service, has analyzed six common sleeping positions – and found that each is linked to a particular personality type.
- The Foetus: Those who curl up in the foetus position are described as tough on the outside but sensitive at heart. They may be shy when they first meet somebody, but soon relax.
- This is the most common sleeping position, adopted by 41% of the 1,000 people who took part in the survey. More than twice as many women as men tend to adopt this position.
- Log (15%): Lying on your side with both arms down by your side. These sleepers are easy going, social people who like being part of the in-crowd, and who are trusting of strangers. However, they may be gullible.
- The Yearner (13%): People who sleep on their side with both arms out in front are said to have an open nature, but can be suspicious, cynical. They are slow to make up their minds, but once they have taken a decision, they are unlikely ever to change it.
- Soldier (8%): Lying on your back with both arms pinned to your sides. People who sleep in this position are generally quiet and reserved. They don’t like a fuss, but set themselves and others high standards.
- Freefall (7%): Lying on your front with your hands around the pillow, and your head turned to one side. Often gregarious and brash people, but can be nervy and thin-skinned underneath, and don’t like criticism, or extreme situations.
- Starfish (5%): Lying on your back with both arms up around the pillow. These sleepers make good friends because they are always ready to listen to others, and offer help when needed. They generally don’t like to be the centre of attention.
- Here is a simpler one for you.
- Sleep positions for those who are in Christ.
- The king sleeps on his back.
- The wise man sleeps on his side.
- The rich man sleeps on his stomach.
- What are you saying? It does not matter how you sleep if you’re in Christ, you have got it made.
- You can have the world’s greatest renewal.
Call to Action:
It is God’s plan for His children to recuperate in the night seasons. His desire is that your rest be sweet and satisfying. But you have to believe Him and trust Him for it just like you do any other part of your life.
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Question: How has the Lord helped you in this area of sleeping restfully? Please share that in the comments section below.
- Albert F. Bean, “Dreams,” ed. Chad Brand et al., Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 442 ↩