Dreams are one of the strongest highways through which God gives us divine ideas. I strongly believe God is also giving you divine ideas that can solve critical problems in your life and even transform society. The real question is, how do we recognise these dreams, and what should we do once we receive them? This part in the “God of Ideas” series deals with exactly that.
Sources of Dreams
Dreams occur when we sleep and begin to see pictures or videos of different events; sometimes from our past and sometimes pointing to the future. Dreams generally come from three main sources: God, the flesh, or the demonic realm.
God often uses dreams as one of the primary ways to speak to us as Christians, aside His written word (the Bible). For example, in Matthew 1 and Matthew 2, we see how God used dreams to stop Joseph from divorcing Mary and to guide him in protecting the life of Jesus from Herod. The Bible also says in Job 33:14–15, “For God may speak in one way, or in another, yet man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, while slumbering on their beds.” This shows that God speaks to us through dreams.
Secondly, we can receive dreams that arise from our own flesh and daily activities, as Ecclesiastes 5:3a tells us: “For a dream comes through much activity.”
Finally, there are dreams that come from the demonic realm, intended to deceive and divert us from God’s path. Jeremiah 23:32 says, “Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams, says the Lord, and tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies and by their recklessness. Yet I did not send them or command them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all,” says the Lord. It is important to pray that God will cleanse your dreams and deliver them from any demonic infiltration or manipulation.
Documentation
Once you have a dream that comes with a clear instruction or divine idea, or indeed any dream at all, there are a few things you need to do after having such a dream. The first and most important thing you do is to write the dream. The Bible says in Habakkuk 2:2, “Then the Lord answered me and said write the vision and make it plain on tablets that he may run who reads it”. You need to write the dream down immediately you wake up.
The Bible contains many dreams, visions, and messages God gave to apostles, scribes, and prophets, and they were instructed to document them. Today these writings still guide us. In the same way, the first thing you should do when you wake from a dream is to write it down or record a voice note that you can later transcribe. It is important to prioritise writing the dream before rushing to the restroom because you may forget important details by the time you return.
God is very detailed and He often speaks through symbols. Every part of a dream carries meaning, from the time and date you had it to the colours, letters, numbers and personalities you saw. All of these elements can communicate something, so when you document a dream, write down the date, the time and the full dream with every detail you can remember. I like to use the Notes app on my phone to record my dreams. I have a folder called “Dreams” and I use a separate note for each dream, because it automatically records the time and date.
Pray for Interpretation
After you finish documenting your dream, you need to pray for its interpretation. Dream interpretation is not easy, and the Bible hints at this in Job 33 verse 23 which says, “If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show unto man his uprightness.” This shows that a true interpreter is rare, almost one in a thousand, which is why understanding dreams requires God’s help.
When Nebuchadnezzar and his son Belteshazzar had dreams in Daniel chapters 2, 4 and 5, no one in the whole nation could interpret them except the prophet Daniel, who had the God-given gift of interpreting dreams.
It was the same with Pharaoh. When he had two dreams that he could not understand, it took Joseph to interpret them in Genesis 41. I encourage you to read all these chapters to see how both Daniel and Joseph interpreted dreams. This shows that interpretation requires keys or insight that comes from God. In Daniel 1 verse 17, the Bible says, “As for these four young men (Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego), God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.” This shows that true understanding comes from God. So spend time praying for understanding, even if it means praying persistently for hours or days.
Know the Timelines
One of the final things you should do after receiving a divine idea is to pray for the timeline for its execution. Timelines are very important when dealing with divine ideas so that you do not go ahead of God. Some ideas you receive through dreams may only become relevant after a few years, and God uses that period to build and prepare the vessel. For example, Joseph received dreams about his greatness when he was about seventeen years old, and he entered their fulfillment when he was about thirty. This gave him roughly thirteen years of preparation. Timelines are very important.
I had a dream in November 2020 about a business I was supposed to start. I spent time putting my house in order, and in 2021 I gathered everything I needed for the business. In 2022, I received a follow-up dream that gave me more details about the idea, and in that dream I also sensed the right time to begin. When I finally started the project, it became successful immediately. I wrote about it here.
I have also received many divine ideas for companies that are not mine. For example, I once had a detailed dream about the well-known Ghanaian urban and casual brand Wear Gigi, also known as Wear Ghana. In the dream, I saw that they had expanded into corporate or more formal designs and had become very big. Their signature design now appeared on kaftans, suits and many other items. See the attached note showing how I documented the dream and also the second image shows an A.I. generated image of what I saw in the dream.
Let me know in the comments if this has been helpful, and if it is stirring you to go back and pray about the ideas you have received through dreams. In the next part, I will be talking about the importance of delegation in walking with the God of ideas.
