Daniel. 7:15, 16 “I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me, I came near unto one of them that stood by and asked him the truth of all this, so he told me and made me know the interpretation of the things.”

One of the best ways to keep from either simply forgetting about a dream or jumping to conclusions is to start a dream journal. Taking time to write down a dream usually causes one to remember in greater detail. It also provides a permanent record to come back to.

When recording your dreams, be sure to include each dream’s date, location, and the feelings you experienced while dreaming. The dream and its symbols must be interpreted in light of the life circumstances of the person to whom it is give.

IMPORTANT POINTS will help the dreamer remember what’s happening in one’s life presently, why God gave the dream and what He is wanting to say.

A DREAM IS LIKE A SNAPSHOT, which captures one brief moment out of a lifetime. It cannot be understood fully without knowing something about the life of the person it concerns.

Even when we are FAMILIAR with the background of the person a dream concerns, we should use caution when we apply a symbol’s meaning. Hasty dream interpretations should be avoided.

PRAY before trying to interpret the dream. Ask God to give you wisdom and understand, counsel and might, knowledge and fear of the Lord. One must have an understanding of symbols, but must use caution. Hasty dream interpretations should be avoided. Dan. 4:18-19

The most common type of dream contains more than one scene: a progressive message unfolds as the dreamer is carried along. Scene changes give different viewpoints of the same subject or express the same idea in different ways.

The First Scene usually gives the setting. Like the backdrop of a play, it sets the stage so that the sealed message it contains can be understood, Daniel 4:20-27 is an example. (The first scene reveals growth and prosperity of King Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom.)

Subsequent scenes enlarge upon the plot and carry it forward. (The second scene reveals God’s displeasure with the king’s prideful conduct and foretells of certain chastisement to come.)

Dreams can cover several different subjects and areas of our lives, it is important to correctly discern the subject matter to which the dream refers if we are to utilize the message properly. If we don’t do this, we may easily apply a dream to the wrong area of our lives, or even incorrectly apply it to another person when God is really speaking to us about ourselves.

FRIENDS AND FAMILY  ARE OFTEN USED AS SYMBOLS
Sometimes they represent ourselves,
Sometimes they represent another friend or family member;
Sometimes they simply represent the person.

Questions to ask yourself about someone you know:
How are they connected to you: family, work
What is their name?
Describe the person with three adjectives
Do you like/dislike or indifferent
Do you admire?
What characteristics stand out?
What role do they play to sustain or change a dream?
What spiritual quality do they have?
Have they been in another dream? Similar or different?

Questions to ask if you do not know the person:
From their activity, how would you know them?
Is this person in other dreams?
What percent of the dream is impacted by the person?

Consider the occupation/relationship as a symbol:
Baby – new: beginning, new idea, new work, helpless, innocent, sin, natural baby
Baker – instigator, one who cooks up ideas, originator
Bride – Church: covenant (good or evil)
Brother – self: spiritual or natural brother; someone he reminds you of
Carpenter – builder, preacher evangelist, laborer (good or evil)
Cartoon character – person: one who is like or is acting in the same way as the cartoon character. For example, Goofy, foolish, dumb actions
Clown – fool: foolish work of the flesh; childish
Doctor – healer: authority, Christ; preacher, medical doctor
Driver – control: self; Christ, pastor, teacher, the emphasis may be on the nature of the driver (careful, careless, frantic, confident, selfish, rude, kind, etc.)
Passenger – self: church member; family member.
Employee – servant: fellow employee, self
Father – authority: God, author, source, inheritance
Father-in-law – law, legalism; problem relationship
Friend – self: revelation into oneself or person
Husband – authority: God or Christ, natural husband
Man (stranger) – angel, oneself, or a demon
Mother – source: church or natural mother; love; kindness
Mother-in-law – legalistic church; meddler, trouble
One’s children – oneself or themselves: character or behavior reveals something about person
dreaming
Witch – witchcraft – control, evil influence, seduction
Woman (stranger) – spirit: seducing spirit; temptation, deception, God’s messenger (angel)

Being stabbed/ killed – reveals a spirit of fear. Study the emotions to understand the root of why someone is feeling a certain way.

Personally hurting or killing someone – can alert us to spirit of jealousy or hate.

Although most of our dreams are in black and white, sometimes certain colored objects appear in them. Colors are symbolic, supplying additional information about the objects that are colored. Every color is like a coin, it has two sides. You determine the meaning by looking at the context, feeling and the message that you want to send.

COLORS will help you understand that colors are symbolic, supplying additional information about the objects that are colored. For example, if you previously owned a blue car of a certain model and you dream of owning and driving that same car, God is probably talking about your past. The blue car represents an earlier period of your life.

Black – lack: sin; ignorance; grief; mourning; gloomy; evil; ominous; famine; burned. Pr. 7:6-9; Jer. 8:21-22; Lam. 5:10; S of S 1:5; S of S 5:11.
Blue – spiritual: Spiritual gift; divine revelation; heavenly visitation; depressed (as in singing the blues); a male infant.
Medium or dark blue – God’s Spirit or Word; blessing; healing; good will. Very Light Blue – Spirit of man; evil spirit; corrupt. Nu. 4:7,9; Ez. 23:6; Pr. 20:30a; Lu. 2:13-14.
Brown (or Tan) – Dead (as dead grass is brown): Repented; born again; without spirit. Compassion. I Pet. 1:24.
Gray – not defined: Unclear (as in the gray area between right and wrong); vague, not specific; hazy; deceived; deception; hidden; crafty; false doctrine.
Gray hair (wisdom, age, or weakness. Pr. 16:31; Hosea 7:9.)
Green – Life: Mortal; flesh; carnal; envy; inexperienced; immature; renewal.
Evergreen – eternal life; immortal. Ge. 9:3; I Pet. 1:24; Ps. 37:35; Lu 23:31.
Orange – Danger: Great jeopardy; harm. (A common color combination is orange and black together, which usually signifies great evil or danger). Bright or Fire Orange – power; force; energy; energetic; danger. Mt. 5:22; Pr. 6:27.
Pink – Flesh: Sensual; sensuous (as in hot pink bikini); immoral; moral (as in a heart of flesh) chaste; a female infant. Ez. 36:26.
Purple – Royal: Rule (good or evil); majestic; noble. Jud. 8:26b; Mk.15:17
Red – Passion: Wisdom; emotion; anger; hatred; lust; sin; enthusiasm; zeal. Ja. 4:1; Rev. 6:4; Is. 1:18.
White – Pure: God; without mixture; unblemished; spotless; righteousness;
blameless; truth; innocence. Rev. 19:8; 2 Ki. 5:27.
Yellow – Gift: A gift with feeling; gift from or of God; marriage; family; honor; deceitful gift; timidity; fear; cowardliness. Welcome home (as in tie a yellow ribbon). Ps. 68:13; Pr. 19:14; 2 Ti. 1:7

METALS
Brass – Word: Word of God or man; judgment; hypocrisy, self-justification; fake; man’s tradition. Rev. 1:5; I Cor. 13:1; 2 Chr. 12:10; Eph. 6:16.
Gold – Glory or wisdom: Truth; something precious; righteousness, glory of God; self-glorification. 2 Chr. 16:2a; Col. 2:3; Ja. 2:2-4.
Silver – Knowledge: Knowledge of God – redemption. Knowledge of the world idolatry; Pr. 2:3-4; John 17:3; Acts 19:24.

You may ask, “Are dreams from God or scriptural?” “This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.” (Acts 2:16, 17)

Since Abraham, God has spoken to mankind through dreams. In the Bible, 224 references to dreams or visions can be found and one-third of Scripture recounts or relates to a dream or vision.

SEEK FOR REVELATION:
Daniel. 8:15 “And it came to pass when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision and sought for the meaning, then behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.”
JOURNAL YOUR DREAMS:
Dan 7:1 “In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and vision of his head upon his bed then he wrote the dream and told the sum of the matters”.
DATE THE DREAM:
A timeline will emerge as you watch your spiritual growth develop

Ask God to prepare your heart to receive a message from Him.

Follow the enclosed SIX STEPS to interpret your dream. It’s my desire to support and to encourage you to enjoy the journey that connects you with God and the plans He has for you. If you need support, insight or any help, fill out the form below.  We will provide a one time summary based on experiences and prayerful guidance.

STEP ONE:
EMOTIONS: What feelings do you or the people in your dream have?
(Examples: fear, shame, anger, annoyance, anticipation, yearning, etc. The emotional response after we wake up can be misleading. For example, if we dream of a person’s death and in the dream we are at peace, it does not follow that God is saying the person will die. The key to understanding what a dream is saying is always found in the emotions we feel while we are dreaming).
Journal the feelings you had in your dream and don’t try to interpret now You’re building a special message from God to you.

STEP TWO:
COLORS: Although most of our dreams are in black and white, sometimes certain colored objects appear in them. Colors are symbolic, supplying additional information about the objects that are colored. Every color is like a coin, it has two sides. You determine the meaning of color by looking at the context, feeling and the message that you want to send. See Colors- Dreams).

STEP THREE:
FIND THE THEME: Describe what is happening in your dream in one or two sentences.
Example: I was in the backyard of my childhood home. The spring in my backyard was filled with sand. Boats were speeding on it.
Theme example: Boats were speeding over a spring filled with sand. Take time to journal the big idea revealed in your dream.

STEP FOUR:
DISCERNING OF SYMBOLS (Literal or Symbolic): Discerning is deciding if a dream is symbolic (like a parable) or if it is literal (representing the exact picture). As a rule, if there is an object or person in a dream that cannot be taken literally, then the entire dream should be viewed as symbolic.
See People and Symbols.
Ask yourself:
What symbols appear in your dream?
What do you associate with these symbols?
What do you like or dislike about the symbols?

STEP FIVE:
PRELIMINARY UNDERSTANDING: Could the people in the dreams be a characteristic of you?  (See People and Symbols / Ask yourself the questions listed.)

STEP SIX:
APPLYING THE DREAM: While others may assist in dream interpretation, only you, the dreamer can really say if a particular interpretation is correct.
Ask and journal your answers:
a. Are you actively involved in the dream? If so, then the dream is about you. What is God doing in your life now? Have you been asking Him for anything specific?
b. Are an observer in the dream? If so, you are called to pray. Why would God lay this person on your heart? How does He want you to pray for him/her?
c. A particular interpretation may “strike a chord” or “feel right”. Journal that thought. Ask God for more. By applying the understanding or insight gained from the dream you may experience the interpretation as correct.
d. More than one interpretation may be just as valid. The dream may be saying several things to the dreamer.
Is there a story in the Bible similar to the dream? A character in the Bible you could relate to?
e. Can the dream be applied literally to a current life concern? Have you been anxious or distressed about anything? Are you in the middle of a decision?
f. Does the dream compensate for some extreme in your waking attitudes or experiences?
g. If you experienced the dream in waking life what would you learn?