Should Christians Interpret Dreams...?

 This is one that I believe many Christians are leery of because it just sounds like new-age woo-woo, but dream interpretation was actually mentioned in the bible on multiple occasions! As always, I encourage you to take what you read here to the Lord in prayer and see how He directs you personally. This is just where I'm at with this.

Joel 2:28 mentions dreams and visions. It's actually considered a gift of the Spirit! 

"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions." (ESV)

To see this actually play out, reading about Joseph is a great place to start. Joseph was the son of Jacob and Rachel. Long story short, he has a dream that represented his brothers bowing down to him and his brothers become jealous of him. They sell him in order to get rid of him. He gets blamed for something by Potiphar's wife that he didn't do and then gets thrown into the dungeon. While there, he is able to interpret dreams of a couple other people that were there with him and what he predicted came true! 

Much later, in Genesis 41, Pharoah himself is having dreams that nobody could interpret. One of the people previously in the dungeon with Joseph remembered him and suggested they ask him. He interprets it and basically saves everyone from starvation during a great famine, including his family.

Daniel is another person we can read about that utilizes this gift in the bible. In the book of Daniel, he is given the interpretations of dreams for several kings, including King Nebuchadnezzar. 

I feel that the best way to interpret dreams is by simply asking the Lord if your dream has any special meaning. Sometimes we have recurring dreams (which could point to their importance) or we may have one so vivid that we can explain them in great detail. I believe these are signs that they have more meaning than that you simply ate some bad cheese before bed.

There are a lot of resources out there that can give you some clues as to what your dream means, but I would encourage you to stick with biblical explanations. The reason for this is because I see it as God communicating to us and I want to know what He's saying about it, not anyone else. A great resource that I have utilized for many years is the A-Z Dream Dictionary by Dr. Barbie Breathitt. 

Barbie has been endorsed by people such as Patricia King of XP ministries and Dr. Chuck D. Pierce of Glory of Zion Intl. 

Jesus often spoke in parables and utilized symbolism to portray a message. Sometimes the meaning of a dream can be very clear and sometimes the meaning can be hidden behind symbols. A quick example could be something like a falling dream. Falling can mean that you feel out of control, depressed, that you feel unsupported, or have experienced a moral failure (among others). 

Many of the definitions in this book have verses that go with them and I recently discovered that Barbie is coming out with a 2nd book like this, for which I am very excited. Obviously you can see where I stand on this topic. I hope that I have shared something that will encourage you to at least consider that this is something God is still doing today. 

I would personally advise against getting interpretations of dreams from secular sources. Some symbols/themes have multiple potential meanings and it's important to always take any potential meanings to the Lord in prayer so that you can make sense of things. Once you have a good idea of what the dream was trying to show you, it's time to ask the Lord what He'd have you do with the information. He doesn't just communicate this way for fun - there's a reason. 

Having a journal beside your bed could prove useful if this is a gift you feel the Lord is calling you to grow in. Sometimes a dream may wake us in the middle of the night. We shake it off and go back to sleep, only to realize that by the time we get up for the day we can't remember a single bit of it! Don't let this happen to you. 

As soon as your eyes open, train yourself to be diligent and write everything down with as much detail as possible, so that you can start the work of interpretation once you're ready. 

I feel this is a good place to also consider why you maybe aren't remembering dreams very often. There are multiple culprits, including sleep quality, stress/anxiety, medications, sleep duration, alcohol/substance use, waking up abruptly, and not being intentional about recording your dreams right away. Some of these things we don't have much control over and then there are some that we do. If you get nothing else out of this, at least consider bettering your current sleep hygiene. It's so important. 

Thank you so much to those that have made it this far. I appreciate your time. May you receive the answers you're seeking. Blessings!