Dreaming can be very exciting, extremely scary, and often strangely bizarre. Some dreams make total sense, while others are like a watching a Tim Burton movie or looking at an M.C. Escher piece.

Every now and then I have a dream that makes me sit up in the middle of night, or I wake up crying. When my son was young, I kept dreaming about him drowning. 7 dreams within 1 year! They woke me up because I was crying. As a child, in my dreams I was usually being chased by someone. I was desperately running from him and trying to flap my arms to fly, but everything was in s l o w motion. After near exhaustion I would just barely get off the ground and be flying up in the air, soaring above the danger.

There are those dreams that make us wonder if some of that really happened, or could it happen, or will it happen?

An old friend of mine from childhood had been struggling wth an alcohol addiction most of his life. In the last few years he had been trying to stay sober and maintain a better lifestyle. He would share with me about his ongoing battle to not drink and keep up his job. But then his mom died from cancer, and this sent him spiraling. Our communications ended for a while as he was unreachable.

Several months after his mom passed away, I had this dream. I was standing in a large, open building, facing massive windows and glass doors that led outside to the street. Then a man walked past me heading outside, and as I saw the back of him, I noticed his jacket had a name written on it. I immediately knew who it was and ran up to my old friend and hugged him so hard! Then I woke up. It was awesome to see him if even in my dream!

Seeing my friend made me think about him. The next morning I messaged him and repeated my dream, adding that I felt led to pray for him as a result of that dream. I believed that the Lord had put him on my mind for a reason.

Later that day, he actually messaged me back! He said I was spot on and that he had just been released from the hospital the day before. His old behavior had caught with him, and now the alcohol poisoning had gone to his liver. He was dying.

I believe 100% that the Lord uses dreams, memories, or a moment of recognition in someone else to bring to light a friend in need of prayer. If this happens to you, don’t shrug it off or just think about them. Take a moment to pray for that person. You never know what they are really going through.

The Lord has a long history of speaking to people in their dreams. Sometimes that dream needed interpreting by another, but every time it was a message the Lord wanted conveyed. Today, He continues to use this method of reaching people. Many of the new converts in Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia say they became believers because Jesus spoke to them in their dreams!

Job 33:14-17  “For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds, then he opens the ears of men and terrifies them with warnings, that he may turn man aside from his deed…”

Food for thought: Is there someone you’ve had on your heart lately that you should intercede for? Let them know!

Fun fact:  Vincent Van Gogh said, “I dream my paintings then I paint my dreams.”

Photo by: Kari Wiseman – White Cloud Reflection.