I dream every night.
When I don't dream, it's weird. And I always thought that everyone dreams every night. Only when I grew up and started talking about my dreams, did I learn that most people do not dream every night. That dreaming every night was quite unusual.
Psychologists and others in the medical field believe that everyone dreams every night, but that most people just don't know it, or rather, can't recall their dreams upon waking (1).
In the Bible, dreams plays quite a huge part.
From the scriptures, it is clear that God uses dreams to talk to people. There's the famous ones we all know: Joseph, Jacob, Samuel, the wise men, Joseph (Jesus's earthly father). There's also some we forget, like Abimelech, Laban, Pilate's wife - see the link to a complete scripture reference below.
And it is also clear that the devil doesn't know what we dream. Nebuchadnezzar's wise men and advisors could not tell him what he dreamt, nor the meaning of it, because the devil didn't know and couldn't tell them. However, God knew and he told Daniel who then was able to tell him not only the meaning of his dreams, but what he dreamt in the first place. (Daniel 2)
The same with the wise men who came to visit Jesus after his birth. God told them not to return the same way as Herod wanted to kill them (Matthew 2). If the devil knew what they dreamt, he would've informed Herod and attacked them. But as the devil can't see what we dream, he didn't know, and the wise men escaped.
I believe the devil can interfere with our dreams, though, just like with our thoughts. But he doesn't know what you are dreaming, like he doesn't know your thoughts.
That is why you can't rebuke the devil in your thoughts, you have to say it out loud.
Which is why God can talk to us through dreams. However, knowing when it is a message from God, or just another silly dream, or the devil interfering - that is the difficult part.
I know that God talks to me in dreams, or at least shows me stuff. Sometimes it is just to say that something is going to happen, but it will be ok. Other times, it is to tell me to shift my focus, to pay attention to something.
My cell leaders from my old town taught me to pay more attention to the feelings that goes with the dream, than the dream itself. You can dream about dying, and feel quite excited. That may be more of an indication of a positive change that is coming, than actual death. However, dreaming about someone dying, and feeling quite distraught, might be a warning.
I've had one of those second ones recently.
And it was really, really bad. I don't even want to put it into words - I do not want to give power to the dream. I woke up and the sorrow overwhelmed me. I cried, and my husband woke up. He doesn't wake up, btw, so this must've been quite bad. Eventually I got up and went to the bathroom to pray.
There's been prior spiritual attacks along the same lines about the same people, and this seemed like a clear warning of another one happening, or going to happen. So I prayed.
But nothing seemed to convey what I was saying, as if my prayers were moot, useless. Which is strange, since what I was praying was historically and biblically correct. Giving everything to Jesus, sacrificing all for Him, choosing God above all else, is the best choice when you don't know what to do. But this time, it wasn't enough.
Then I remembered a dream I had years before. Jesus was my advocate - although portrayed as a small, very nervous little man - and I was told to keep out of the courtroom, and to go play with my kids. He was my advocate and He will fight my battles for me.
And I remembered the verse that says that the Holy Spirit will talk on my behalf when i don't have the words to say (Rom 8:26-27)
So I asked the Holy Spirit to pray what I don't know how to, and I asked Jesus to step in for me with the Father, to be my advocate and to plead my case in the heavenly courtroom, in front of the Father.
I was still crying, my heart was physically in pain during this whole ordeal. If there was anything in my stomach, I would've thrown up, but I just retched a couple of times from grief. It was really intense, and although a spiritual battle, the grief and sorrow was very real, and very physical.
I don't know how long it was, but it wasn't very long. Maybe a minute or two? When I felt a break in the tense atmosphere, a calming deep in my heart, and like a hand on my shoulder in a comforting manner, and a soft voice saying, "They're ok".
For quite some time afterwards, I was still struggling. Getting out of that severe emotional and spiritual attack, took a while and I wasn't sure that what I heard and felt, was real. What if the devil was trying to throw me off course, telling me it is ok, when it wasn't? What if it is something I just want to believe, given the alternative?
Eventually I had to accept what I was told, and believe that Jesus told me they're ok, and that it was done. This battle was fought, and won, in the courtroom, by the Holy Spirit and my advocate, Jesus, in front of the Father.
I have never heard of this, rather, I haven't heard of this being applied in this manner. We have boldness to enter before the throne, exactly because of Jesus (Heb 4:16). But that not working, or my petition not being granted, and actually asking Jesus to step in on my behalf? No, I did not.
It's been a couple of days, and I am still baffled. Not quite sure what to make of this. Not even quite sure if I should publicize it. It is most certainly scriptural, as Jesus is our mediator between God and us (1 Tim 2:5) and advocate (1 John 2:1), and the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. But it seems a little forward to ask Jesus to fight on our behalf, to ask the Father for things on our behalf.
Yet, my dream of years earlier told me exactly that.
And this experience was exactly that.
So what do I do with this?
References:
(1) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Dream scriptures: https://jesusalive.cc/dreams-visions-in-bible/
