I keep having dreams that come true at times. It is like I have already lived it. I can wake up and tell the whole dream like who was in it, what they had on and what they said. Is that a gift from God and does the Bible speaks of such dreams?

God has used dreams in the past to give a message of prophecy as He deemed necessary. Let’s examine some of the most notable.

Starting with Joseph the son of Jacob, Joseph started receiving prophetic dreams when he was young. His first was of sheaves of wheat bowing his sheave or bundle. The next dream was of the sun, moon and 11 stars bowing to him. This caused him a lot of persecution from his brothers, and this even upset his father. We know later when Joseph was in Egypt, these prophecies came true. While in prison in Egypt, the king’s baker and butler each had a dream, for which Joseph had the gift of interpretation as well. This all led Joseph to interpreting the Pharaoh’s dream which set him in the position of Prime Minister of Egypt. These dreams were prophetic.

Another notable dream in Scripture was with King Nebuchadnezzar and the dream of the statue, specifically representing future world governments. It was the prophet Daniel who was not only able to describe the dream but interpret it. Again this dream was prophetic.

There is a number of other times when individuals were warned directly by God in a dream, including Abimelech (Genesis 20:30), Jospeh the father of Jesus (Matthew 2:13) and the wise men who visited the baby Jesus (Matthew 2:12). Their dreams were prophetic in the sense of what would happen if a certain course was followed or not followed.

In addition:

Jeremiah 3:28, 29 (NIV), “Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?’ declares the LORD. ‘Is not my word like fire,’ declares the LORD, ‘and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?”

The context of these verses is God’s description of the false prophet’s dreams. They are nothing and are like the chaff or straw. That is there is no substance or “grain” of truth as it were in their message. Their message does not harmonize with God’s Word, and so it is shown to be false.

Joel 2:28,29, “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions, and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.”

The Apostle Paul quotes these scriptures in the beginning of the book of Acts and gives them a partial fulfillment at Pentecost. The primary fulfillment of these verses is still yet future, in the Kingdom Age which we pray for, and is not applicable to the day we are living in right now.

Getting back to your question; are your dreams just vivid dreams, or are they actual messages from God?

The “test” comes in three parts: First, do all aspects of your dream harmonize with the Word of God, are they directly relevant to Scripture and edifying for everyone in the Church? Second, all particulars must come to pass. God tells us that any failure of a prophecy given, in whole or in part, is a sure sign of a false prophet. Lastly, dreams given by God in the Bible were given as highly symbolic imagery and not literal “movies” of events, which needed to be interpreted either by the giver or by someone who was able to give an interpretation, like Daniel.

Everyone in the Bible who had a dream from God knew it with complete certainty. There was no question.

The Apostle Paul warns in 1 Corinthians 13:8-11 that the time for the outward gifts of the spirit would be over: “Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues (speaking in a foreign language unknown to the speaker), they will be stilled; where there is knowledge (meaning miraculous knowledge without having to study), it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes (when the Bible is completed and available to all as a witness), what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.”

We should not expect God to give us the gift of prophecy through our dreams.

While God communicated through human dreams in the Bible, there is nothing that specifically promises such communication to us now. But, of course, we think about what might have influenced them and if there is anything we can learn or do to move forward in a positive way.

We need to carefully guard what we do, where we go, what we see and what we allow to influence us. Pure, noble and holy thoughts have an elevating and ennobling effect on both our mind and body. It also gives us peace and allows us to focus on the plan of God and how we personally fit into it by being a preserving and calming influence on those around us, radiating His glory.