Is My Dream From God? How to Discern the Source of Your Dreams

In the midst of dreams having such a powerful place in my life, I have also discovered that not every dream is from the Lord.

As important as properly discerning dreams is, knowing which dream is from the Lord and which one isn’t is essential. Let me list the sources of dreams and where they can originate, then we will discuss each one.

Dreams can come from five sources: the Lord, busyness, the devil, the flesh, and the soul. If we can first determine the source of any dream we have, then we can more adequately discern what it might be saying.

1. The first source of dreams is the Lord.

Obviously, we believe that the Lord is the Source of dreams, or we wouldn’t be examining dreams in this book. There is clear evidence in Scripture of people having encounters with God through dreams.

The first place we see dreams being used to communicate God’s heart is in Genesis 20. Abraham deceives a ruler named Abimelech. Out of fear for his own life, Abraham convinces Sarah to say she is his sister rather than his wife. Abimelech takes Sarah and intends to make her his wife. Let’s let Scripture speak for itself:

And Abraham journeyed from there to the South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar. Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, “Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.” But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, “Lord, will You slay a righteous nation also? Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she, even she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.” And God said to him in a dream, “Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. Now therefore, restore the man’s wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.” So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very much afraid (Genesis 20:1-8).

If we continued reading, we would find that God, through this dream, spared this leader and nation from destructive sin. He kept him from setting in motion something that could have been devastating. This is the first occasion recorded in Scripture where God used a dream to speak and guide. Of course, we will investigate many other places in Scripture in our journey to see where God used dreams to communicate His desire.

2. A second source of dreams can be busyness.

We are told in Ecclesiastes 5 that dreams can be the result of what we are preoccupied with. In other words, we are busy with something, and it is dominating our waking and sleeping times: “For a dream comes through much activity, and a fool’s voice is known by his many words” (Ecclesiastes 5:3).

The word activity is the Hebrew word inyan. It means employment or business. It is the idea of what is dominating our thoughts. Dreams can be the result of what we are heavily involved in. This doesn’t mean that some understanding might come through a dream concerning our activity. However, we must realize that sometimes we have dreams about our busyness, and they literally mean nothing at all. We shouldn’t try to make them spiritual when they are not.

I remember years ago when the Star Wars movies first came out, and a man who had seen the original movie several times shared a dream. We were in a men’s meeting, and this man began to share a dream, thinking it was very spiritual and significant. I don’t remember the dream in detail, just that it had a Star Wars feel to it.

As he shared, he mentioned how many times he had gone to the theater to see the movie. As soon as he finished sharing the dream, in a loving but jovial way, my pastor and apostle let it be known that this dream was a result of his preoccupation with Star Wars. There was no need to continue considering this dream, as it was a result of his many thoughts about this movie. We moved on in the meeting to other things.

I, too, have had dreams that were not from God, but were a result of what my mind was preoccupied with. This has been very helpful for me to understand. This is especially true when the dream is disturbing or upset-ting. If I sense that it is connected to what I have been involved in, I can dismiss it and move on. I realize it is coming out of my busyness and not a word from the Lord.

3. Another source of dreams is the flesh or carnal nature within humans.

Jude 8 tells us of those who dream fleshly dreams: “Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.”

Just to clarify that this is speaking of those who are having sleep experiences of dreams. This word dreamers is the Greek word enupniazomai. It means a dream; something seen during sleep. If we look at this Scripture closely, we see that these fleshly dreams are the result of defiling the flesh, rejecting authority, and dishonoring dignitaries. These activities can result in these fleshly dreams that are not from God. If I am involved in any of these three realms, I cannot trust my dreams to speak honestly to me.

Let’s look at these three things that can result in fleshly dreams.

First of all, they are said to defile the flesh. The word defile is the Greek word miaino, which means to taint or contaminate. It means that we carry a sense of uncleanness. The Bible speaks of the filthiness of flesh and spirit in 2 Corinthians 7:1, which is a defilement of our lives and being that needs to be cleansed and washed:

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

We are to be proactively cleansing ourselves with the water of His Word and presence to keep these defilements away. If our spirit is defiled, it will warp our dreams. We must wash ourselves from these defilements that taint and contaminate our spiritual being. It can be indulging in sexual sin and involvement that defiles who people are. This defilement can be manifest in dreams. I knew a person years ago who was involved in some heavy sexual sins. Another person was visiting and staying in their home. This person told about all the shampoos, cleansers, and soaps that they had in their shower. They said that this was their intuitive effort to get clean from the defilement that they carried. Even though they were giving themselves over to these activities, they carried the guilt and shame of them in their spirit. This defilement of the flesh would dull their spirit and its senses.

Jesus said that defilement is a result of what comes out of a person, not what enters us. Mark 7 tells us what brings defilement to a person:

When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear Me, everyone, and understand: There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!” When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable. So He said to them, “Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?” And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man” (Mark 7:14-23).

Jesus was very clear about what defiles. He was letting the people and His disciples know that our thoughts, activities, and things we allow to come out of us are what bring defilement. If we are to live without defilement, we must deal with our heart from where these things happen. Paul later says in Ephesians 4:29-30 that we are to guard our mouths and restrict our words:

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

We are not to allow corrupt or decaying words to come from us. Not only can they defile others, but they also defile us, according to what Jesus has said. If our spirit is defiled, it will affect the dreams we have. The more we guard ourselves from defilement of the flesh, the more we can trust our dream life to unveil mysteries from God.

Another activity of those who have these fleshly dreams is the rejection of authority. This means they walk in rebellion. If I am in rebellion, I cannot trust my dreams. Unless my dreams are pressing me to repentance, I need to discount my dreams and realize they are deceiving elements as a result of my current spiritual status. We are told that when we walk in rebellion, it can connect us to witchcraft, while stubbornness joins us to idolatry.

So Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king” (1 Samuel 15:22-23).

These verses are in reference to King Saul not fully obeying the word of the Lord. Samuel was rebuking him for his disobedience. When we walk in rebellion, we can be connecting ourselves to demonic spirits of witchcraft. Our stubborn rebellion against God can also be connecting us to idolatry and the worship of demonic spiritual entities. We must repent of this. This can affect our dream life. My spirit is not open to hearing from the Lord because of my rebellion against Him. This is what happened to Saul. We are told that Saul had no response from the Lord when he inquired of Him:

When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets (1 Samuel 28:5-6).

The life of rebellion Saul lived against God caused him not to receive any revelation of God through dreams. This means that dreams are one of the ways God will speak to us. Yet if we are walking in rebellion and connected to the spirit of witchcraft, dreams will dry up and not come. We must choose to obey the Lord and turn from stubbornness and rebellion. This will empower our life of dreams and revelation from the Lord.

The third operation that will make my dreams untrust-worthy is speaking evil of dignitaries. If I am walking in a dishonoring way toward those who should be honored, my dreams can become untrustworthy. Again, unless my dream is pressing me to repentance, I should disregard it and move on. A help in understanding this is a man who had rebelled against a spiritual leader and had a dream. He dreamed that he was the supreme leader of a specific ministry. The only problem was that he had broken away from the God-set leader. This dream he had seemed to indicate he was to occupy that place. He, in fact, did take and assume that position. However, the ministry that he led diminished and went down to nothing with little or no influence.

He trusted a dream he thought was verifying his actions. However, he was in rebellion, dishonor, and even defiling the flesh. The dream was not trustworthy because of his spiritual state. He was led into deception as a result. His family suffered tremendously because of paying attention to a dream that came from a rebellious and unclean heart. The source of this dream wasn’t God; it was his flesh. This idea of speaking against dignitaries has an even greater meaning, though, I believe. Let’s look at Jude 8-9 to get the full idea:

Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

This speaking evil of dignitaries clearly has a greater meaning than just not honoring people in the natural. We are told that Michael, a high-ranking angel, did not himself stand against the devil. He said, “The Lord rebuke you!” In other words, even though the devil is a fallen foe, Michael still esteemed him. He didn’t take it on himself to attack or demean him. He let it up to the Lord, who is over him, to rebuke him. This is not saying that we shouldn’t do spiritual warfare in proper protocol.

Clearly, we are told that we, as an apostolic people, can wrestle with the devil’s forces:

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).

Yet we must use the protocol of Heaven to effectively and safely resist these demonic forces.

Revelation 19:11 grants us insight into the way Jesus Himself does spiritual warfare: “Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.”

Notice that Jesus judges and makes war. The order is very important. Judging is a judicial activity. It is removing the legal claims of the devil to hold certain territory and ground. Making war is then marching to battle after the legal rights of the enemy have been removed. When we use this protocol effectively, we win every time.

However, we are told that we are not to speak evil or demean these dignitaries. Dignitaries in the Greek is the word doxa. It means glory. It means something that is worshipped and praised. Second Peter 2:10-11 gives us added insight into this whole scenario.

And especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord.

How often have we seen people stand and bring railing accusations against powers of darkness that even angels will not touch. This is stupidity and very dangerous. There is a way to wrestle with them from an apostolic perspective, in the Courts of Heaven. We can present cases before God, the Judge of all, and see their rights revoked and their legalities removed! We cannot be guilty of speaking evil against these dignitar-ies, though fallen.

With this said, those who presume and are self-willed cannot trust their dreams. The rebellion and dis-honor in their hearts can make their dreams deceptive. We must have a heart that is pure and clean before the Lord. We are told in Matthew 5:8 that it is the pure in heart who will see God: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

This is not talking about in the hereafter or eternity. It is speaking of those who are living their lives with purity before the Lord. These are the ones who will have visions and revelations of the Lord. Dreams are part of this dynamic and process.

 For the other two sources, read my book: Decoding Your Dreams and Visions from the Courts of Heaven.