God is speaking to you through your dreams. Learn how to hear him

We’ve all experienced times in our lives when we’ve needed guidance. Fortunately, as Christians, we have a loving God to turn to for answers. He speaks to us in various ways: through prayer, the Bible, the Holy Spirit, and even through other people. However, one of the most overlooked ways is through our dreams. God speaks to us at night, and we can learn to hear Him in our dreams.

He reveals your purpose and destiny, warns you about danger, and offers strategies to help you overcome issues. But you may miss out on this valuable guidance if you’re not paying attention to your dreams. 

We can all hear God in our dreams

I never used to pay much attention to my dreams. I thought dreams were just our subconscious mind making sense of our experiences. Occasionally, I would have weird dreams, but I’d usually dismiss them. I never really considered that God could be speaking to me. 

I was familiar with the various stories in the Bible where God spoke to people in their dreams. Joseph’s dream about his brothers bowing down to him (Genesis 37:1-10) and King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream about a great statue (Daniel 2) are well-known examples. But I’d always believed God only spoke to prophets in their dreams. I would eventually learn that God can speak to all of us in our dreams. 

“‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.”

Acts 2:17 NLT

Pay attention to your dreams

Many people believe that they don’t dream at all, but this isn’t the case. All of us dream and are capable of receiving dreams from God. Some people happen to dream more than others, while some find it more difficult to remember their dreams. 

God grows what you nurture. As you begin to pay more attention to your dreams and write them down, they’ll become easier to remember. God will even begin to give you more dreams. 

“Then he added, “Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given —and you will receive even more.”

Mark 4:24 NLT

I started writing down my dreams several years ago, as often as I could remember them. I also began learning all I could about dreams from Christian authors and teachers. And sure enough, the more I wrote them down, the more dreams I had, and the more I began to understand them.

The dreams that changed my life

I eventually had a series of dreams that changed the course of my life. They came at a time when I was feeling quite low and sorry for myself. There were things I wanted to achieve in my life, but nothing seemed to be working out.

Then, one night, I had two dreams. 

Dream 1

Thieves broke into the vault of a very wealthy person and stole their diamonds. But they didn’t take everything. As the thieves hurried to get away, they dropped some of the diamonds and left them behind. 

Dream 2

I was at home monitoring the arrival of my train to work, but it was running late. Then my uncle called the train station and bought me a new train ticket. 

What they meant

Even though I felt worthless, God was showing me I wasn’t. He had important work for me to do. But the devil was attempting to steal my purpose. Despite the delays, I was being given new opportunities to pursue my purpose and destiny. 

These dreams gave me the push I needed. I realized I needed to stop wallowing in fear and self-pity, start pursuing my dreams and goals, and not allow the devil to steal my destiny. 

I enrolled in a business course and resumed taking classes in web development, something I’d given up doing years earlier. But I eventually began to lose steam and be consumed with fears and doubts again. 

So God sent me another train and diamond dream!

Dream 3

I went to use the bathroom, but I left my shoes in a toilet stall when I came out. I had to queue to get back in, but I got my shoes back. 
Then I took a train, but when I got off, I left my shoes behind on the train. 

Dream 4

My engagement ring slid off my finger, and I didn’t realize it. Someone eventually returned it to me, but it was rusty, and someone had stolen all the diamonds. 

What they meant

The shoes represented my authority, and the diamonds represented my purpose. I had been given opportunities and potential, but I wasn’t valuing my destiny and purpose enough to keep pursuing them. If I didn’t make a change, my destiny would eventually slip away, and I wouldn’t even notice. I would never reach my full potential or fulfill my destiny. 

If I hadn’t been paying attention and keeping a record of my dreams, I probably wouldn’t have recognized this revelation about my purpose and destiny or noticed these repeated dreams from God.

I realized that no matter what, I needed to persist and keep moving forward with my dreams and goals. I didn’t want to look back at my life with regret about all the things I never achieved. 

One of the things I eventually did was start this blog!

Why God uses dreams to speak to us

We are often so busy and distracted with our daily lives that it is easy to miss it when God speaks to us. So God chooses to speak to us when there are no distractions – when we are sleeping. 

“For God speaks again and again, though people do not recognize it. He speaks in dreams, in visions of the night when deep sleep falls on people as they lie in their beds. He whispers in their ears and terrifies them with warnings. He makes them turn from doing wrong; he keeps them from pride.”

Job 33:14-17 NLT

God will provide the guidance we need by giving us dreams. He will correct us when he sees us doing something wrong, warn us if we’re heading towards danger, and guide us so we can fulfill our life’s purpose. He will also give us recurring dreams if he’s trying to get our attention about something. 

While your dreams can be about friends, family, and other people in your life, they usually focus on you and your life. 

How to know it’s God speaking

I believe God speaks to us in our dreams much more than we realize. But it’s important to know that not all dreams come from God. They can come from other sources, too. Knowing about the sources of dreams will give you a better idea of what is from God and what isn’t. 

Dreams from God

Dreams from God are usually light and colorful and often have a positive, peaceful feeling. They enlighten, inspire, and instruct you and never contradict what is taught in the Bible. When you wake up, you will sense that something about the dream is different from a regular dream. You may remember it more clearly and find yourself thinking about it as you go through the day. 

However, this may not always be the case. God won’t give you nightmares, but he may send you a startling or negative dream to get your attention about something going on in your life. 

Dreams from yourself

Also known as soulish or flesh dreams, these types of dreams can be influenced by your emotions, what you may have recently watched or read, your medication, or hormonal issues. If there is something you strongly desire, this may also cause you to dream about it. 

Even though these dreams may not be from God, they are still worth paying attention to and writing down. They can be an important indication of your state of mind and point to areas of your life that you may need to work on. 

Dreams from the enemy

Nightmares and scary dreams can come from Satan. They are often muted in color, sickly green, black and white, or grey. You may experience paralysis or get the sense of an evil presence. They will usually leave you feeling scared, anxious, and worried. 

The enemy doesn’t want you to hear what God is saying to you in your dreams, and he wants to prevent you from fulfilling God’s plan and purpose for your life. He will send you these dreams to scare and intimidate you so that your sleep is disrupted and you live in fear. Always pray before going to sleep and ask God to protect you from these types of dreams and give you a peaceful sleep. 

Dreams don’t always stick to set rules. So keep in mind that not all color dreams are from God, not all black and white dreams are from Satan. Not all dreams about the book you read or the TV show you watched before bed are from your own mind. Pray for discernment and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the source of your dreams if you’re not sure. 

Why dreams are so difficult to understand

Dreams can be really weird. I have had some crazy ones that I still don’t understand. I once dreamt of laying in bed staring up at the ceiling lights, watching goldfish swimming around inside the lampshades while having a nice chat with Tyler Perry. It literally doesn’t make sense. And that is the reason dreams are so difficult to understand. Almost all dreams use metaphors and symbols to tell a story. They are very rarely literal. This is how God communicates to us through our dreams.

Jesus didn’t always speak plainly in the Bible. He frequently used symbols, metaphors, and parables when teaching about spiritual issues and people often had difficulty understanding what he meant. 

“His disciples came and asked him, “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?” He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. That is why I use these parables, For they look, but they don’t really see. They hear, but they don’t really listen or understand.”

Matthew 13:10-13 NLT

He taught in this way because he wanted the true meaning of what he was saying to be revealed to people who were willing and humble enough to receive it and hidden from those who were not. God wants us to hunger for deeper spiritual truths and be willing to pay attention and search for understanding. 

This same principle applies to our dreams. God wants us to pay attention and be open to the fact that he speaks to us through our dreams. He wants us to examine them and search for their meaning. As we search for understanding, we will draw closer to him, and he will open our eyes so we understand more. 

Understanding your dreams

The Holy Spirit gives some people the gift of dream interpretation. In the Bible, Joseph and Daniel had this gift. Joseph was able to interpret Pharaoh’s dream, which warned about famine. Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar what his dream was when he couldn’t remember it and also what it meant. But dream interpretation is something you can learn to do. It is like learning a new language and a new way of thinking. 

Rather than thinking logically and literally, you have to begin to think metaphorically and symbolically. The symbols and imagery in your dreams have a meaning. When you understand the context and what they represent, you can begin to decipher the meaning of your dreams. 

It also requires guidance from the Holy Spirit. We should always pray and ask him to reveal the meaning to us. 

“And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.”

Isaiah 11:2 NLT

Don’t get discouraged if the meaning isn’t revealed immediately. There are some dreams that God purposefully chooses to withhold the meaning of because the timing isn’t right. 

How to hear God in your dreams  

Understanding your dreams will open up a whole new way to hear God’s voice and learn what he’s saying about your life. But it takes time to learn.

Right now, the best thing you can do is to start paying attention to your dreams and writing them down. It is so important to begin keeping a record of them. You will soon begin to notice the symbols, metaphors, and reoccurring themes and how they may relate to your life. Think of it like storing up a box of treasure that will be there waiting for you when you’re ready to open it. 

1. Pray before you go to sleep

Invite God to speak to you in your dreams and reveal what he wants you to know. Ask him to help you to remember your dreams when you wake up and help you to understand them. Also pray for protection against nightmares, insomnia, and sleep disruptions.

“In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe.”

Psalms 4:8 NLT

2. Get enough sleep

Getting a good night’s sleep is essential to having a good dream life. Think of your sleep as having different stages, with 1 being the lightest stage and 4 being the deepest. Each night, we fluctuate back and forth through the sleep stages, going from light sleep to deep sleep and then back to light sleep. 

We don’t dream at stage 4 because we are in a deep sleep. We dream during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, which happens between stage 1 and stage 2. When we are excessively tired, we spend very little time in REM sleep and spend the majority of our time in stage 4 deep sleep. You won’t dream much and will have difficulty remembering them when you wake up. 

So try to get to bed at a reasonable time and aim to get 7-8 hours of sleep each night. 

3. Write down your dreams as soon as you wake up

Dreams are very easy to forget, so writing them down needs to be the first thing you do when you wake up. I’ve made the mistake of checking emails and social media first thing in the morning, thinking I’ll write my dream down later, only to find I can’t remember it at all. 

Spend the first few minutes after you wake up praying and meditating on your dreams. Try to recall as many details as possible and write them down. 

I use a notes app on my phone to record my dreams. Each year, I create a new folder. Then, I create a new note for each dream and add a descriptive title. Having my dreams stored digitally makes them easy to search through. If I want to search for all the times I’ve dreamed about trains (which is a lot!) I type the word “train,” and the app brings up all the dreams where trains are mentioned.’

Alternatively you can keep a notebook by your bed if you prefer to write your dreams down. 

4. Include as much detail as possible

• Give your dream a descriptive title. 
• Where did the dream take place? Was it in the kitchen, garden, work, church, car?
• What did you see, hear, sense, feel?
• What emotions did you feel? 
• Did the dream have a positive or negative feeling?
• Note any significant numbers. Maybe you saw two chickens and three eggs or the number 70 on a sweater. 
• Note what color things are in your dream. Was the car red? Or was the hat blue?
• Was the overall color of the dream light or dark?
• Note the people you see in your dream and their names. 
• Is it a dream you’ve had before?

5. Seek the Holy Spirit for guidance

The Holy Spirit reveals truth and revelation to us. Pray and ask Him to reveal what your dream means. If it is a negative dream, ask Him to reveal the source.

God will sometimes conceal the meaning or the instruction of a dream until the time is right for you to know. Have you ever suddenly known the answer to something you didn’t know before? Or gotten clarity about something that was confusing you? That could be God unsealing your dream:

“In a dream, in a vision of the night, When deep sleep falls upon men, While slumbering on their beds, Then He opens the ears of men, And seals their instruction.”

Job 33:15-16 NKJV

Sometimes God may want you to dig deeper and search for the answers, through prayer, fasting, or studying the Word. 

While you wait for the meaning to be revealed, keep learning all you can about dreams from Christian sources. Also, make it a habit to go back and read through your dreams occasionally. I find that they often make more sense later on. 

6. Make it a habit

Writing down your dreams is something you need to do routinely. It allows you to record what God is saying to you over time, and you’ll notice the recurring themes and patterns in your dreams. 

Remembering to write your dream down requires consistency, and the best way to do something consistently is to make it a habit. They say it takes 21 days to form a habit. 

”So try challenging yourself to spend the next 21 days recalling your dreams and writing them down each morning. You could use a calendar or daily planner to track your progress each day. Even if you forget to write your dream or you simply don’t remember it, mark that day with an ‘X’ to show your progress. After 21 days, keep going!

”You could also put a visual reminder about your dreams somewhere you can see it when you first wake up. It could literally be a sign that says “dream” that you put on a wall near your bed. If like me, you pick up your phone first thing in the morning, try adding a dream wallpaper to your phone lock screen to remind you to write your dream.

7. Learn about dreams from Christian sources

It is best to avoid information and dream dictionaries from non-Christian sources. They are usually written from a psychological rather than a Christian perspective, which will change the meaning of your dreams. 

A lot of the information online is New Age or occult in nature. If someone starts talking about things like crystals, spirit guides, or astral projection, click away immediately because it’s not biblical. This type of information can lead you astray. As you begin to learn more about dreams from Christian sources, it will be easier to recognize and avoid the bad content. 

Here are some of my favorite books from Christian authors to get you started on this exciting dream journey. 

Final thoughts

Start paying attention to your dreams. God is speaking to you at night, giving you guidance and direction for your life. The average person spends a third of their life sleeping. At 75, a person has spent 25 years asleep. That’s a large part of your life not to pay attention to. Just imagine how much revelation you’re missing out on. 

Start recording your dreams now so you can hear God speaking in your dreams. Don’t miss out on what God is telling you.

Other helpful resources

• Powerful Christian Books To Understand Your Dreams
• 5 Reasons Why You Need A Dream Journal
• How To Start A Dream Journal

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