Dreams can be crazy things.
I don’t often remember my dreams beyond the first few seconds after awaking, but recently I had a dream peopled by some folks I haven’t thought about in years. It wasn’t a disturbing dream, as I recall, but I thought about those people throughout that morning, wondering why did I dream about them…and why then?
Before long, I realized I may never have a sensible answer to that question. But that was okay once I realized I didn’t have to know why—but I could pray for them nonetheless. I prayed for people I haven’t seen—apart from that one dream—in many years. I don’t know how they’re doing. I don’t even know if they’re still alive. But I prayed for them—for God’s protection and provision, for blessing and beauty to be their portion.
Since then I’ve made it a regular practice to pray for the people who populate my dreamscapes. And I’ve discovered it to be a means of blessing for several reasons:
1) It has the possibility of making sense of the seemingly random things I dream about. It reduces confusion; instead of spending time wondering what was that about?, I turn confounding dreams into a prompt for prayer.
2) It can turn an unsettling experience into something positive. If my dream was scary or threatening in some way, praying for the people in my dream actually defuses the fear and calms me soon after waking.
3) Also, if the dream was unpleasant, praying for the people I remember from the dream signals my soul’s enemy—or my own subconscious—that nightmares will be counter-productive, as they will turn me to prayer instead of upsetting me or making me fearful.
4) If my dreams are intuitive or inspired, then praying for that person has the potential to avert harm or bring blessing.
5)I think it also may invite God’s Holy Spirit more into my dreams. Since God and I both know I’m going to pray about the people I meet while I sleep, maybe the Spirit will move and speak in my dreams more than He might otherwise.
I’m sure there are other good things to come from an intention to pray for the people about whom I dream. But for now, those are reasons enough.
What about you? Have you ever prayed about the people in your dreams? Could doing so change how you pray? What you dream?
