The Gift of Dreaming

You might think that “the gift of dreaming” is an odd statement. Isn’t dreaming a random thing that happens at night based on what you ate for dinner? I belief dreaming is a gift. A personal gift from the Holy Spirit. Not a random nightly occurrence given to the one who indulged in a peculiar combination of foods the evening before. But dreaming, like other known giftings from the Holy Spirit such as faith, teaching, speaking, and leadership, to name a few, is given to us for a purpose and by design. The gift of dreaming is personal and is something to be nurtured and used like all other gifts of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God.

Dreaming as a Map

Think of dreaming as the map for the plans God has for you. Whatever you do as occupation or vocation the ability to dream, remember, and interpret is closely tethered to this great plan. It speaks so implicitly to just how uniquely designed you are. Dreaming enriches your communication with God. You receive impressions on levels that you could never achieve on your own, in realms and that you could only enter upon invitation. And when you track your dreams you are connecting your course towards a treasure called Purpose.

Start Up Tools

My mom believed in the symbolism of dreaming, and because she could see that this was something I was gifted at doing, she gave me some start-up tools. She encouraged me early by simply asking me about my dreams. She told me to tell the story, to write it down, and before I could write, she would write them down for me.

What a beautiful partnership! God gave me a mother who not only was interested in my dreams (and the storytelling) but would go so far as to teach me to write them down, to record them. She knew there was much more to this sharing of my nightly dream journeys than a mere desire for verbal gymnastics over Captain Crunch.

The Gift of Remembering

My mom was very intuitive and insightful. And because she saw my life unfolding before her eyes, and knew the daily inner workings of it, she could most easily interpret those dreams (also a gift). Interestingly, she did not, however, have the gift of dreaming, which always baffled me. She could hardly ever remember her dreams. For I believe if God is going to gift you with dreaming, He’s going to gift you with the ability to remember them. Why? Because He wants His gifts back! He wants you to shine them and lift them up to Him for the good of your neighbor. So why would He gift you something you can’t use?

Dealing with Nightmares

When I was very young, Mother helped me deal with a nightmare by simply telling me to write it down. It was of The Count from Sesame Street.

“He was shooting the letter “E” at me,” I wrote. But when the “E” reached me, it flipped around where it had a nasty pointy spike like that of a tac.

I wrote down “I was bleeding”. That nasty Count. I also drew pictures. And now that I think of it, that Count wasn’t even in his wheelhouse. He wasn’t even counting anything. What was he about, that Count. Writing it down helped me process, talk about it, gain authority over it. It became a story, and I was the storyteller.

No matter how chilling the nightmare, how frightening, you have authority over it. And you must take it. Write the dream down, pray, breath deeply. No. It was NOT “just a dream”. It was more than a dream. It was a quaking. But now you are awake. You are not alone. And now you will begin to dissect.

Next Time

I’ll talk about how to know if you have the gift of dreaming and interpretation. I’ll be talking about types of dreams such as prophetic and visitation dreams.

Check back for more on this topic! Are you a dreamer? What have you learned about your gift of dreaming? Let me know in the comments.

I am currently writing a book on Dreams as a gifting from God. Unlike glossaries of what it means to dream you lost your teeth, were flying, or found yourself on a toilet with no door, (Come on, we’ve all dreamed at least one of these), it is a book about dreaming as a gift that was given to you on purpose.

Learn more about what I’m working on here.