Princess Club: Dreams

Dreams. Dreams. Dreams. We all have dreams. We don't all remember our dreams, but we all have them. Last week during the middle of our craft, one of the girls started telling a dream she had. All the girls became fascinated with it and were talking about what it could mean. I asked if the girls wanted to talk about dreams. YES! Was the adamant reply. So this week we talked about dreams. Where do they come from? What do they mean? Why do we dream?

The Bible is chuck full of stories about dreams...Joseph and the dream his brothers would bow down to him (Genesis 37), Joseph the father of Jesus warned to flee the country when Herod was going to kill the babies (Matthew 2), God talked to King Abimelek about Abraham's wife in a dream (Genesis 20), Jacob dreamed of the ladder to heaven (Genesis 28), the cupbearer and baker of the king of Egypt told Joseph their dreams (Genesis 40), Pilate's wife had a dream about Jesus and asked her husband not to do anything to him because of how much it affected her (Matthew 27), etc., etc. Job's friend told Job that God can send answers to our prayers in dreams and God will make sure we get the point by telling us one, two, or even three times (Job 33:29)!! Acts 2, in the NEW testament, repeats what is written in Joel 2 in the OLD testament...that when the Lord pours out his spirit...the Holy Spirit...we will dream dreams.

One of my favorite books on the topics is called Understanding the Dreams you Dream: Biblical Keys for Hearing God's Voice in the Night by Ira Milligan. I highly recommend it if you are a dreamer. It has great insight into the Biblical background of dreams and highlights key verses and references to look into if you're curious about what your dreams mean. I used much of the introduction of this book in talking with the girls. Carmen, one of the mothers of my younger princesses, is helping me co-teach this club. She talked about the dream that King Nebuchadnezzar had in the book of Daniel and how God gave Daniel the interpretation to the pagan kings dream to bring glory to God (see Daniel 4). PS if you think the name Nebuchadnezzar is difficult to say in English, try saying it in Spanish. I ended up just calling him El Rey Dinosaurio (King Dinosaur). It was so much easier to say!!!

 Here are just a few things about dreams that I shared with the girls:

1. Not all dreams have symbolic meaning. Not all dreams are important. BUT some dreams are. Many dreams are us just processing our day and what's happening in our lives. But some dreams can be from God. Some can also be influenced by the demonic.

2. The images in dreams may be interpreted literally or symbolically. This is where discernment and knowledge play a role, to know the difference between the two.

3. If the dream is from the Lord, it is often presented symbolically, like a puzzle (Proverbs 25:2) It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.). We can use knowledge of scripture and symbolism used directly in scripture to help interpret the dream. Dreams from the Lord never tell us to do things contrary to the Word, which is why it is very important to know the Bible, so you can tell whether or not the dream is from the Lord. BUT we also need to be careful not to take scripture out of context to make up our own interpretations, either. Dreams from the Lord will always equip us to walk in truth and righteousness.

4. Dreams are individualized and specific to that person only, so some times the symbol in one person's dream does not have the same meaning as that same symbol in some one elses dream. For example, if I dream of a pitt bull, most likely for me that will represent that there is something fearful in my life or something is trying to terrify me. Whereas is you have a dream and you own a pitt bull and it's your favorite dog in the world and your best friend, most likely the dream will mean something related to your own dog or close friendship/companionship. 

A sum up of what we talked about:

• Pay attention to what you're watching and listening to, because these may influence your dreams.

• Learn the voice of God. This is done through personal relationship with him by pray and reading the Bible. This can help recognize his voice in dreams.

• Pray!! Ask for more dreams! Ask the Holy Spirit to help you interpret your dreams. Ask the Lord questions about what you're dreaming. Keep in constant communication with the Lord because if he gave you the dream, he will help you figure it out!!

• Write out dreams in a journal. Watch them over time. See what patterns can be found.