Can God Lead Me With Dreams by Pastor Dolapo Lawal: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Can God lead us through dreams? Yes

Things to note:

1. Why dreams

   Job 33:14-16

   The purpose of dreams: to turn a man from doing wrong, to keep him from pride, to protect him from the grave.

   Someone saw yourself looking for your sleepers in the dream. Take it as a prophetic word: don't travel till the end of this year.

2. About 21 recorded dreams in the Bible

   The entire 21 were from God. There may be a few more or less, but about 21.

3. The Bible attributes 3 sources to dreams

   Does the devil give dreams? We will see. God, the natural mind, and the deceitful heart of a false prophet.

Source 1: God

Abimelech Genesis 20, Laban Genesis 31:24, Joseph Genesis 37:5-9, Pharaoh Genesis 41, Nebuchadnezzar Daniel 2, Daniel Daniel 7, Joseph and the wise men Matthew 1:20, Matthew 2:12-13, Pilate's wife Matthew 27:19

Majority of these were not people of covenant. God gives dreams to pagans and unbelievers, not only to Christians. Dreaming is not a sign of spiritual maturity in any sense. God can speak to anybody he wants, even the conversation in the book of Job.

God speaks to people and to offices or positions. If something will change the trajectory of Nigeria, God raises a Joseph as special advisor or vice president, but gives the dream to Pharaoh, the decision maker.

Men, be extremely sensitive. There are things God will show you about the family you are heading. You must also be spiritually matured enough to remember the dream and have an interpretation for it.

Seeing without understanding

The limitation of every pagan king: they saw the vision but did not understand it.

Seeing without understanding is worse than not seeing. Misinterpretation will not just destroy you, it will destroy people around you. Imagine Joseph got the interpretation wrong.

One size does not fit all. You have to get the interpretation from God. Pagan kings always called their magicians and they could not interpret.

Dreams are a high end spiritual intelligence that you need the Spirit of God to decode. You can't say a snake always means danger. Be wise as serpents. Jesus was put in similitude to a serpent John 3 A serpent can also mean intelligence.

A man saw a basket and God called it years. Your mind goes to harvest. Your intelligence can't connect basket to years.

Interpretation belongs to the Lord. God makes Himself known in a vision and speaks in a dream Numbers 12:6

Visions are pictures in your mind

Joel 2:28 Easy version: your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see pictures in their mind. What we call visions are pictures in your mind. What you see in a dream is pictures in your sleep.

You can be so in tune that you have a dream life. Solomon asked for wisdom in a dream and God answered him in the dream 1 Kings 3 In his subconscious there was a consciousness.

If God has impressed something in your heart, dream your dream. It is the same God who said old men should dream dreams.

Weak spirit

There is such a thing as being strong in spirit. A weak spirit is an evil conscience and a weak conscience.

A believer with a weak spirit dreams of the rapture and everybody makes it, even the sinner friend, but not him. The devil can torment you with those pictures until you grow in the word and in grace.

Your consciousness and mindset reflect in your dreams. God does not speak to English people in French in their dreams. Someone from the village saw Lagos in a vision and said, "This is the heaven I saw".

Source 2: The natural mind

Ecclesiastes 5:3 A dream comes through much activity.

You play football all day and dream you are a footballer. You wake up and say God wants me to be a footballer. Not so fast. You are 28. Drop it.

A friend wanted to be a footballer. He went to the UK for two trials at 26, a defender among 15 and 16 year olds. They dribbled him so badly he gave up.

You don't dream one dream of counting money and say God wants me to be a banker. It has to be much more than that. You can't use your mind. He has to give you the interpretation.

Source 3: The deceitful heart of a false prophet

Jeremiah 23:16, Jeremiah 23:25

"I have dreamed, I have dreamed." This is where the devil comes in. He gives false prophets lies in their dreams to prophesy. If he can give false prophets dreams, he can give humans dreams.

Your spirit will be enlarged. Your spirit man will be strengthened. You will bear things in the spirit realm. Your dream life will become vitalized in the mighty name of Jesus.

How does the devil fight your dream life? 21 recorded dreams, all from God. A major way God speaks.

Dreams in the New Testament

Paul at Troas: a man of Macedonia pleading "come over and help us" Acts 16:9 The churches at Philippi, Corinth and Ephesus all started from this dream.

The Lord spoke to Paul in the night by vision: do not be afraid, do not keep silence Acts 18:9

The following night the Lord stood by him: be of good cheer, you must bear witness at Rome Acts 23:11

An angel of the God whom he serves stood by him in the night and told him exactly what to do. It saved his life Acts 27:23

Paul alone had four major encounters with Jesus by a dream. He started his journey with an encounter and went to the third heaven.

People who are theological don't like encounter. The devil makes us pick and choose when we can have all. If it is available, be open to it.

If you want to dream, your dream life will be ignited. If you don't dream, that is not the only way God leads. He also leads through prophetic words and scriptures.