How God Speaks to Us in Dreams

Many theologians believe dreams are one of God’s primary ways of getting our attention. So could God be trying to tell you something while you are sleeping? Here are six spiritually significant dreams that may be more than meets the mind’s eye….

1. Visitation Dreams
According to neuroscientist Patrick McNamara, it’s common to have a visitation dream after a loved one passes. The deceased often appear in bodily form, healthy and luminous, in order to communicate an important message: “I’m okay.”

2. Prophetic Dreams
A survey from psychologist David Ryback found that 8.8 percent of respondents had a “dream that came true.” Expert Sue Llewellyn hypothesizes that our dreams use our past experiences to produce a probable series of future events—showing us patterns that help us make better choices when we’re awake.

3. Warning Dreams
God—and your body—can sometimes speak in dreams to warn you about imminent danger, especially regarding health. You may dream of a specific body part or even receive a verbal warning. In a 2015 study of women diagnosed with breast cancer, 83 percent had dreams that were more vivid than normal. And 44 percent reported hearing specific words like “breast cancer” or “tumor.”

4. Healing Dreams
Expert Tallulah Lyons describes healing dreams as those that bring you from an “out of balance” place into “harmony and balance.” They often involve a mystical encounter. Lyons documents the case of one panic attack sufferer who dreamed of an otherworldly white stallion that led her to a meadow, filling her with peace.

5. Heavenly Dreams
According to a 1989 study, more than half of healthy young adults who dreamed of death spent a significant amount of time in that dream in heaven. These dreamers sometimes go down a tunnel or pathway and arrive at heavenly destinations. They also frequently encounter deceased loved ones.

6. Mutual Dreams
A mutual dream is when two people—typically in separate locations—dream of the same thing at the same time. According to a 2017 study, shared dreams are 80 percent identical on average. They often occur between close friends or relatives. Interestingly, 4 percent of these dreams are shared by “nonfamiliar people.”