Is God restoring dreams to the church?

There is a growing acceptance of interpreting dreams in the church today: Could God be restoring them?

Over recent years I have witnessed a growing acceptance of dreams in Christian circles as a valid way that God speak to His children.

Could God be restoring dreams and dream interpretation to His church?

This article looks at things God has already been restoring in church history and recent times – and expores whether dreams are another one of them.

I approach dream interpretation from a biblical perspective. My belief is that our dreams can come from God, and understanding them is best understood within the context of an ongoing relationship with Him.

If you have just come across this post and are new to dream interpretation, it is worth mentioning that dreams are symbolic in nature. You might find it helpful to read the following articles: Understand your dreams: A bible-based introduction to dream language and Beginner’s guide to biblical dream interpretation .

Change happens in the church

I have heard it said, with the coming of Covid-19 and other world events that have happened recently, that ‘change is the new normal‘. This is certainly true in the world as a whole.

Change is the new normal!

And those of you who have been in the church for a long time will also testify that many things have changed over the years. Some will say that it’s for the better, and some for the worse, but the truth is that the church my children have inherited is vastly different from the church I grew up in, and there are things that our parents fought hard for that we now take for granted.

There are things in the church that our parents fought hard for that we now take for granted.

I have been a follower of Jesus for nearly 40 years, and I have watched with interest the changing scenes of the worldwide church. I have witnessed many trends and new ideas as they have come and been embraced (or not, as the case may be).

In the remainder of this article, I will share some changes that I have personally seen in the evangelical church. As with any subject, there will be some differing opinions, but I am simply speaking from my own observations.

Restoring things that were lost

As a young adult, I would read the book of Acts with a mixture of excitement and sadness mingled together: Excitement because the stories of healings, miracles and people turning to Christ were so wonderful, but sadness because I had never seen anything like that in my own experience of church.

In general I felt that many things that the early church walked in had been lost or forgotten somewhere along the line.

Some things the early church walked in have been lost or forgotten about over time.

Some people think that this is a good thing, and that these phenomena have no relevance now. Much has been written on that subject. However, it is my view that over recent centuries God has been gradually restoring much that was lost. I have also observed an increase in the rate of change in recent years.

• Jeremiah 6:16, NASB This is what the Lord says: “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it…”

Martin Luthor and the gospel of grace

In my church we recently studied Galatians and revisited the wonderful gospel of grace that Paul expanded upon in that letter.

However, it was sobering for me to contemplate that the church hasn’t always benefitted from this great news, and in fact the truth was forgotten for many hundreds of years. That was until just over 500 years ago when Martin Luther studied the books of Romans and Galatians for a thesis he was writing.

Luther and his contemporaries had been stressed and struggling with trying to please God though their own efforts. Luther subsequently discovered through Scripture the good news that righteousness before God was only possible through the grace of Jesus Christ.

In our generation we freely walk in the knowledge of this grace, but it was contested and fought for in its time. This is just one example that inspires me from history.

Changes I have witnessed in the church

Spiritual gifts and healing

I consider myself blessed to have grown up in a fairly charismatic Anglican Church, which was ahead of its time in regard to spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues and prophecy. There was also healing ministry taking place, which was considered quite daring in those days.

I remember trailblazers like John Wimber who pioneered miraculous healing and faced widespread criticism for it. I read his books such as ‘Power Healing’, where he had to convince his readers from Scripture that gifts of the Spirit are available for us today, before he could even start to talk about healing!

I can also remember his books being ‘banned’ from our local Christian bookshop! Nowadays with the advent of churches like Bethel church in Redding, it is pretty normal for spiritual gifts to be in operation and churches to offer prayer for healing.

Conversational prayer and relationship

I have already shared how, as a child, I was part of a fairly forward-thinking church. However, in the early days – in terms of relationship with God – all I knew about was saying ‘set’ prayers, singing hymns and doing my ‘bible reading’ every day.

Pretty soon the way we prayed together in meetings started to become more conversational in style, as we realised we could actually talk to God as a friend and listen to Him together.

Since that that time I have witnessed a huge shift both personally and corporately, from mostly praying pre-set prayers to the current expectation that walking in a real relationship with God is the normal Christian life. I have observed this shift happening in many churches, even more traditional ones.

Worship music and culture

As a musician it amuses me when I choose a classic hymn like ‘Great is Thy Faithfulness’ and find that not many people know it. There was time when it was hard to sing anything else!

Many people like me fought a long battle for modern worship music to be accepted in our churches. Now it is the norm, and YouTube is continually filled with a plethora of new songs.

It’s not just about the style of music, but the whole culture of Sprit-filled worship that was being fought over and has now widely been restored. Have a read of my ‘organ story’ below!

In the above testimony things eventually changed and the resulting joy was wonderful. But we had walked a long journey (for more than 15 years) to get to the place where we could see that change manifested in our church.

We faithfully endured many years of a style that we did not find helpful in order to be in situ when it was the right time for change to be established. Scenes like these have been repeated in countless other churches – and are still ongoing in many.

Could God be restoring dreams in this hour?

So, coming back to my original idea: I believe that the same thing is currently happening with regard to dreams.

Let me share a piece of my story. (You can read the full version in My story: How dreams transformed my relationship with God.)

When I was a child, I regularly had vivid dreams, but never heard anything to suggest they meant anything. In western culture, dreams were considered to simply be the result of our minds processing life.

In the church, I never heard anyone take dreams seriously either. When I think about it this was quite strange, since there are some very well-known dreams in the bible. I think most of us thought that dreams from God would somehow be ‘different’ from our normal dreams. Maybe with a trumpet fanfare or announced by a voice from heaven!

I think most of us thought that dreams from God would come with a fanfare, or an announcement from heaven!

Starting to take dreams seriously

That was my view until 2006 when I heard the late John Paul Jackson speaking at a Christian conference and I went on to take some of the courses he had written. The dream training that I took contained a detailed biblical and historical case for dreams, which was very helpful for me.

On that course, there was a sense of having to persuade Christians to take dreams seriously before one could even think about training anyone to interpret them. Does that sound familiar?

At that point in time I was the only person in my church who was interested in this subject. I experienced a range of reactions from good natured indifference and cynicism to direct ridicule for believing that my dreams could be from God.

I experienced good natured indifference, cynicism, and direct ridicule – for believing my dreams came from God.

I persevered despite this reaction, because having tasted the fruit in my life I could never go back to thinking that dreams were irrelevant. I soon realised that it was best to keep quiet and treat it as a personal interest.

An increase in acceptance of dreams

As you can imagine, it has been a great joy to me over the last couple of years to see an increase in interest and appreciation of dreams amongst the wider Christian community. I have observed the following trends:

• An increase in friends and colleagues asking me about dreams
• An increase in the acceptance of dreams generally
• The emergence of a number of well-written Christian books about dreams
• An increase in well known ministries offering training in dream interpretation
• Respected prophets posting dreams regularly and treating them as words from God
• An increase in individuals blogging about dreams

Best of all, I am now able to talk about dreams with other Christians without being ‘that crazy dreams lady’ anymore!

These are just my observations, but why not keep your eyes open too, and be on the lookout for some of the above? See what you discover!

In my resources article I share a few of my favourite bible-based books and resources relating to dreams. I also have a Facebook Group where I share useful information, dreams and testimonies that I come across.

Conclusion: Are we ready?

For me, it seems evident that we can no longer ignore the subject of dreams or hide it away in a closet. Most things that we enjoy today in our walk with God have been won by people who have paid a price for our gain. We would be so much poorer without these things.

I believe we will be so much richer for learning to interpret our dreams in a godly way.

I have a feeling that we are about to see a move of God as such that the world has never seen before. I also have a hunch that dreams, visions and spiritual encounters could be a major part of this move.

The question is, will we be ready? If God is moving in the area of dreams and visions, where will people turn to find answers? Will they turn to the New Age and other religions who take dreams more seriously than us? Or will there be followers of Jesus Christ who are ready to help people and point them to a godly understanding of dreams?

On behalf of the worldwide church, I hope that we will be ready. I hope that as Christians we will be able to embrace what God is doing and prepare, both for ourselves, and for a world that is seeking answers.

“Every truth passes through three stages before it is recognized. In the first stage it is ridiculed, in the second stage it is opposed, in the third stage it is regarded as self-evident.”

Schopenhauer

Dream interpretations

The purpose of this blog is to provide biblical foundations for interpreting dreams and encourage others to make their own dream journey. I am primarily a writer and bible teacher – who loves dreams, and I hope you will be inspired to learn to interpret your own dreams.

It is not currently my aim to routinely engage in dream interpretations or provide training, except through writing blog posts. You can read my most up to date position on interpreting dreams here: Requests for dream interpretations.

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