A Guide to Spiritual Understanding

I was given a question; “How do you ask God to interpret dreams?” If you think this question is too elemental take a second look. Here is what I love about the question: It is so real and foundational. If God gives a dream who will best know how to interpret it?

Key Takeaways

  • Approaching God with humility unlocks His grace for dream interpretation – it’s a foundational posture that opens the door to understanding
  • Starting and staying in the Spirit is essential – human reasoning alone can lead us away from divine insight
  • Following biblical examples like Joseph and Daniel shows us the importance of acknowledging our dependence on God’s wisdom

The Heart of Dream Interpretation

The question, “How do I ask God to interpret my dreams?” Is a humble question. It immediately takes us to a humble posture. God says He gives grace to the humble!

Moving from Spirit to Flesh: A Common Mistake

So often When God gives us a dream, vision or prophecy we receive it in the Spirit, and then try to figure it out in the flesh. We digress often into a vacuum of humanistic, godless reasoning. It is presumptuous to lean on our intellect rather than go heart to heart with our loving God. Paul said,

“You can’t start in the Spirit and end in the flesh (Gal 3:3). Our Lord Jesus said the flesh profits nothing (John 6:63). He also said He could do nothing on His own steam (John 5:30). He required the Father for everything, including wisdom for understanding mysteries.

The Expert’s Trap

Those of us who have the most practice at attempting to understand dreams and visions are the most likely to forget how essential it is that we seek the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth (John 16:13).

We immediately look to our repertoire of stock answers. We lean on past insights rather than new revelation understanding. We try keys we have picked up in the past rather than thinking a new lock may require a new key.

Common Approaches vs. Divine Guidance

How to Ask God to Interpret Dreams

So many of us when we get a dream will immediately go to techniques and mechanics, rather than humbly to our wise Father as simple children saying, “Father, what was that about?” We look to past experiences, dictionaries, dream symbol books, Google, and of course Bible verses to come up with interpretations. All of these may be fine in their place, but their place is second. Leaning on God with our hearts is first. And it may be easier than you think.

A Personal Lesson

In a dream a man told me, “You need to pray more.” Then he told me, “It’s easy. It’s like leaning on a fence or a wall.” That little dream was a chastening, a correction, a teaching, and a big encouragement. Although Proverbs 3:5-6 is a life verse I often forget:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.

We can’t lean on the Lord with our intellect, only our hearts. Before you begin scratching your head to come up with dream meanings, lean upon the Lord.

The Simple Approach

Probably the shortest, simplest answer to the question, “How do I ask God to interpret dreams?” is “Go, and ask like a child would” (Matt 18:4).

You can ask your Father simply and expectantly; “Father, please explain this to me.” It’s easy, although it may require a time of attentive waiting. Using resources to understand our experiences is great when the Holy Spirit is in it, but start and then continue in the Holy Spirit!

A Pattern of Prayer

For years I have prayed a simple prayer;

“Lord in the night with dreams, and in the day with visions.” I have added little addendums like, “Please help me understand, interpret and apply the things You show me.” I think it is more about positioning our hearts than speaking a prayer with the proper words and tones.

After pondering dreams, visions and prophecies for quite a while I’ve gained some insight, for which I am grateful. Still I always come up short, aware of how little I know and understand. So I’m always needing to ask for help.

Overcoming Pride

I must counter the silly, prideful thoughts which say, “You’ve been getting insight into revelations for decades. You should be able to figure this out.” But real understanding comes only as we go low. We don’t want to miss God’s provision of warning, protection and fruitfulness because of pride.

Biblical Examples of Dream Interpretation

Joseph’s Story

Joseph and Daniel are the superstars of interpretation in the Bible. They are known for gaining insights through humble seeking! The Bible says, “Humbly receive the word of God implanted” (James 1:21).

Both Joseph and Daniel, these big hitters of interpretation were humble to acknowledge they didn’t understand unless God coached them.

When the cupbearer and baker were puzzled about their dreams, Joseph did not say, “Tell them to me because I am an interpretation expert.” He said, “Do not interpretations belong to God?” (Gen 40:8).

When Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “I cannot do it, but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires” (Gen 41:15-16).

Daniel’s Journey

Think of the humility of Daniel. When he was asked to reproduce to Nebuchadnezzar what the king dreamed and then what it meant, Daniel answered, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come (Dan 2:26-27).”

It is said of Daniel he, “could understand dreams and visions of all kinds.” Even so, when Nebuchadnezzar shared his dream about the great tree Daniel didn’t get it right away. “Then Daniel (also called Belteshazzar) was greatly perplexed for a time, and his thoughts terrified him” (Daniel 4:9). He needed to wait a bit and lean on the Lord. He knew God gives dreams and God knows their secrets. The Creator makes the locks, and the Creator makes the keys.

In Daniel 8 he beholds a staggering vision. He starts trying to figure it out, then God has Gabriel give the meaning. In this case he found the vision and interpretation come in the same package.

I was trying to understand what the vision meant, when suddenly someone was standing in front of me. I heard a voice call out over the Ulai River, “Gabriel, explain to him the meaning of what he saw.” Gabriel came and stood beside me, and I was so terrified that I fell to the ground (Dan 8:15-16).

Learning from the Disciples

When the disciples were puzzled with Jesus’ parables they were humble enough to ask, “Explain the parable to us” (Matt 15:15).

God’s Promise of Wisdom

Even vast human experience cannot approximate the wisdom of God. We are far too limited. Think how willing our Father is to supply! Consider His generosity. “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (James 1:5).

When we are stumped and perplexed we must not rely on ourselves. We realize we only “see in part,” but He sees the whole! So we turn to our loving God confident He will graciously give us the wisdom we seek.

A Simple Prayer for Dream Interpretation

Heavenly Father,
You are the only wise God. You have given insight to the saints who have gone before us. We need your insight as well. Give us interpretation wisdom just as You gave Joseph and Daniel.
As best we can, leaning on You, we ask for wisdom. We do it believing in our hearts You love us and will answer.
We wait now on You, and abide in You as Jesus taught us.

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