Prayer & Dreams

Not cuticle off the Russian nightmare know the devil's nightmare here from it's time to man up challenging men step into their true manhood.

Your chosen Truth Network podcast is starting in just a few seconds.

Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening to the truth. Podcast network.

This is good Truth Network encouraging prayer, God offers an open invitation for his people to talk with him at any time about anything on encouraging prayer Dr. James Banks, author of the best-selling and many other books on prayer provides weekly biblical insight help you learn to love and now only have you there James. It's hard to believe it over hundred episodes we haven't covered this one, but today really talking about prayer and dreams you you really got me thinking about this some time ago and off the air you were telling me about the way you pray.

Sometimes before you go to sleep it were telling me that you told the Lord.

Sometimes there's anything you want to communicate to me. Please help me to be open to you, even while I'm sleeping and I found that so helpful because I know the Lord is communicated to me that way more than one comment really is helpful counsel because if you think about it in our hearts and minds are busy with so many things during the day.

You know it's it's an effort to for us to get quiet and listen to God so he can reach us any time, even while were sleeping. I love what the psalmist said in Psalm 16 right you instruct migraines in the night seasons like I want that mechanic with Joel about the senior government will see rooted your old man with three great, maybe worried about that but I thought more than just dreams. Really, it's more about.

It's a lot more. I think it's about a lot more than just dreams.

Have you ever noticed how you can hear God more clearly. Sometimes when you first wake up in the morning, absolutely.

I have been actually that time when I hear him back.

One of my favorite times are brave or even open my eyes would start thinking about the day. There are this quiet moment with him where you sent there he is in there you are, and you can hear him and communicate very clearly exactly this is really about practicing the presence of God at any time.

Yeah it is. And that's exactly how we need to see this is something that happens under God counsel because this is a topic that you don't hear too much about important we set some scriptural guidelines because sometimes when you do, you hear about it you know it can get a little weird for some interesting places but you know dreams can be powerful things.

And we can feel them poignantly, emotionally, but the question is whether dream genuinely is from God.

So we have to take close to his work in the great example of a powerful dream from God is found in Genesis 28 where Jacob dreams about angels ascending and descending on the stairway and God spoke to him through that and they made a beautiful promise to Ryan. I mean, he told them that they should be with him wherever he would go. They would never leave him and he would bring him back to that place right and he continued his promise to Abraham that his children would be many and blessed yeah exactly and and after that Jacob said this is none other than the house of God. This is the gate of heaven anything about you know how sometimes we got given you a dream. And you know it's from him and you know that you know that it from insert this beautiful story and course God keeps his promise to Jacob and either scriptural precedent for this in several places.

But there's also a place for caution that again we don't hear about it sometimes. But Beth and Jeremiah 23 where God is speaking to false prophets not listen to what he says in that chapter and verse 25. I've heard what the prophet say who prophesy lies in my name they say I had a dream I had a dream, how long will this continue the hearts of the flying prophets who prophesied the delusions of their own minds, and he continues in verse 28 let the prophet who has a dream recount the 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 the rock in pieces so so what these verses show us is dreams have to be weighed against God's word. Most of all. So this helps us set some ground rules in a week. We have to recognize that Satan can use dreams to deceive us. That's what he does, the deceiver, and finally we have to recognize that a dream can also just be from our own minds to their again you see that Scripture is one of the best ways we can discern all of this. Everything has to be submitted to God's Word and God's will that way is really really helpful.

James so with that in mind, what are some of the ways we can generally open to God in this like you were saying this is a great way for us to practice the presence of God and I like the way you put it, just staying open to him because so often we aren't listening. We were honest with ourselves and this is a beautiful way for us to do that so it's words by praying as were putting our heads on the pillow and by the way, you got your pillows and rock it when were still very awake, praising him submitting ourselves to him. I like to think of the children prayer. Now I lay me down to sleep I pray the Lord my soul to keep the court that that traditional version finishes if I should die before I wake I pray the Lord my soul to take.

Like I would never ending to it.

Wake me in the morning light with all things beautiful and bright. I like that because it's looking forward to him and we can see this as a way of serving him.

But really, we can because his word does tell us in acts 217 that his spirit will speak to us in this way, so we really want to listen. Yes, we do and it makes such a difference. Making God our last stop go to bed at night.

I think it protects our hearts and minds and can lead to some really beautiful moments with them and just look at that moment Jacob had had some beautiful times as well. Nothing quite like that. But some really special one. I'm all ears. Well, I remember one of the college and working on a problem underneath my heart. I could not figure out how to fuss about it finally prayed about it and that night when I went to bed. I had a dream that I was under the car doing repair in a particular way. Now I already spent hours on it was so flustered, but the next morning I got up and went out and I did exactly what I done in my dream, the car was fixed in a matter of moments I've had some special special moments. There's no doubt in dreams, and I often just praying as you'd mentioned God, please, please, help me to instruct my rains in the night season so I can see you actually in my dreams I'm going through things and he really just this week I started to have some breakthrough where I was going through some struggles and I actually called on God. In the dream which was really something I been praying about and again for somebody's not familiar with added it's just it's a really neat thing to kind of live this long as you often talk about.

Pray the prayers of the Bible. Yeah, it's really like going to prison. The Bible is such a practical thing. It doesn't have to be this material weird kind of thing so you know, to wrap up the point is that God has wonderful things in store for us not only when were awake or sleeping as well and we don't want to miss them so Robbie would you please close this with a prayer. We won't all I would love to Jesus.

Thank you that you continue to whet our appetite for prayers and all sorts of ways and and we pray that you would as we lay our heads on our pillows tonight that we will almost instruct our rains in the night season to help us to sense you even ask that you hear more from Pastor James by visiting the website James Banks.org or by visiting these church in Durham, North Carolina. May God bless you and encourage you to pray. This is the Truth Network