Faith Filled Family Magazine October 2016 | Page 42

trying , we will just keep the lighting as-is .” WOW !!! I cannot tell you how happy I was . Somehow God changed Al ’ s heart because Al suddenly decided to stop trying to get my company to pay for the new lighting and he held me blameless . It was an answer to prayer because the stressful situation was resolved .
I later had a dream that I was at work and my CEO came and he started searching my office . In the dream I was freaked out because I had drawers full of contracts that needed to be filed . I woke from the dream and I was freaked out because in real life , I had drawers full of documents and supplies that needed to be organized . I prayed and God said , “ Clean your office .” Six months later , my boss walks in and tells me that I am being transferred to another office . For the next two weeks my assistant and I worked overtime to get my office in order . So the dream that God had given me was a warning dream . Had I listened , I would have had six months to work on my office little by little with no stress . Now with these dreams it was clear that they were from God because when I prayed about the dream , He told me what the dream meant .
I pray about all of my dreams and I ask God if they are from Him or not . Most times I know that they are from God because He starts speaking to me about the dream as soon as I ask Him , however there have also been many times where I ’ ve prayed for weeks before fully receiving revelation . If I suspect that the dream is a pizza dream- i . e . a dream that occurred solely because of what
I was doing , watching , or thinking about recently- then I immediately review the past fortyeight hours . Confession : I used to watch countless episodes of Law & Order , SVU . It turns out watching a murder show right before bed can lead to violent dreams . Who knew ?
Last year I was teaching a young person to drive and we drove past my High School . I had not seen that school in years . The next week I had an elaborate and detailed dream about high school . I prayed and prayed about that dream for days and received no words or confirmation from God . I was nearly positive that the dream was from God because it was so vivid , however eventually the Lord confirmed that the dream was not from Him .
The best way to determine whether or not a dream is from God is by knowing God and by knowing the word . When we know someone ’ s heart , motivation , and character , we can more easily understand them . Likewise , the more we Know God , the more we understand and perceive when He communicates with us . We know God by knowing the word because John 1:1 tells us In the beginning was the Word , and the Word was with God , and the Word was God . John 1:14 provides more clarity as it reads And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us , and we beheld His glory , the glory as of the only begotten of the Father , full of grace and truth . In these verses we see that God , Jesus , and the Word are One . In reading the Bible we get know the Author and how He communicates .
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful , and sharper than any two-edged sword , piercing even to the division of soul and spirit , and of joints and marrow , and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart . Here we see that it is the written word of God that will help us distinguish the hardest areas in life and also discern the thoughts of the heart . The word will help us discern the thought of our heart and God ’ s heart . Therefore when we have dreams we can know whether the dream is from God or us because was have so much of the word hidden in our heart that we can recognize God ’ s fingerprints and His voice within dreams . Even when a dream is alarming .
The most memorable dream I ’ ve head thus far was scary . God does not give us the spirit of fear , so the reason for the dream was not to introduce fear , the reason for the dream was to warn me . In the dream I had a boyfriend who was manipulative , narcissistic , and abusive . I knew that this man was not a good person however I was afraid to let him go , so when he tried to walk out of the door , I convinced him to stay with me . In the next scene of the dream I was holding my infant baby . I knew that the baby belonged to me and that my boyfriend was not the father . My brother and a close male friend were with me , when suddenly my boyfriend begins to beat my baby violently . I cry hysterically and I look to my brother and male best friend to help , to no avail . The dream ends with me watching my baby being beat by my new boyfriend , as I am para-