Recently, I received an SMS from a young Christian man who attends college. He was quite desperate, writing, “I had a dream recently and need help with interpretation. I don’t know if it means something or just a dream. In the dream, I heard a voice talking to me. That voice didn’t have a face (it came from the sky) but I could hear someone talking to me. In the dream, the voice gave me instructions to follow. So after the instructions were given, I immediately woke up from my sleep. So I don’t know what that means. I couldn’t remember the instructions after I woke up, so I’m asking if the dream means something or was it just a dream with no meaning to it”.
My response was: “In the Old Testament and into the beginning of the New Testament, God used various methods to speak to people. The reason for this was that the Bible was either not in print (OT) or incomplete. Once we get into the second half of the Book of Acts we find that God ceased to speak through prophets and in dreams … and the supernatural gifting ceased once the Bible was completed. This is a crucial matter because we say that we believe in an infallible, inerrant, fully inspired Bible. This means there are no mistakes or contradictions or additions required to Scripture. It is complete. In Revelation 22:18-19 we read … ‘I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.’ All too often we have people saying they had this or that dream and God was saying this or that. The same is true when people say … God told me or God told me to tell you. I do not believe these to be true because all we need for life, godliness and eternity is to be found in the Bible. This will not mean that Christians will not have dreams and it does not mean that at times the devil will not try to use dreams to confuse us. We need to trust God and His Word. Faith must be in what He has written not in things like dreams. Our stability is in His Word, not in confusing things that people or our subconscious seeks to torment us with. Pray about it and ask God to erase it from your mind. It is meaningless!”
Then, I received a second message from him. “… because I asked a pastor in my school to explain and he gave me a different story about it. He said: ‘You have a specific portfolio particularly through prayer. God is saying to you that you need to diligently commit and position yourself in prayer. Only then will the instructions of the portfolio which He has given to you be clear. There is a very particular task that God wants you to use to establish you. You are now to be very much committed to prayer. As I’m writing this to you I also hear Him now telling me to follow exactly what I wrote to you. Your dream is directly from the Lord God of hosts and so is the interpretation thereof. I will also be committing myself as well to prayer as it will please the Lord. The Lord has further more revealed more to me after we spoke. He said to me that the Body of Jesus Christ (The Church) is very dislocated in prayer and thus it is dysfunctional. The Lord of hosts said that He wants to restore the ministry of Prayer in the Body of Jesus Christ. Hence He has given to you the dream. It is a task and portfolio to revive the life and ministry of prayer in the Body of Jesus Christ. This is what the Lord of hosts wants to use you for according to His revelation of the dream in my spirit.’ This is what the pastor at school told me.”
My response: “Where does he suck this from? Nowhere in Scripture does God say that. I tried to show you that you need to believe in the authority of Scripture and nothing else. Too often unbiblical teaching is given. That my brother is devilish … irrespective how appealing it might be. Run fast from it.” Sadly, this type of thumb sucking is happening all over the world from misguided people, seeking to counsel people with what appears to be good and helpful instructions … but what they say is void of any Biblical authority. Irrespective of how nice it sounds, if it’s not from God (Rev 22:18-19 above), where is it from? Scripture, which has helped me greatly to grasp the error of what the proponents of these methods of “guidance” are, says:
2Pe 1:3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
2Pe 1:16 We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. 19 And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
2Tim 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness …
Dear God, give me a greater love for Your Word, helping me to trust your Word even when sincere people try to assist me with what appears to be good but is not from You. Your Word is Truth–help me to trust You. Amen.