When three Orlando, Florida, womenrecently set out for their favorite mall,

they figured it would be just another shop-ping trip. And it was—until God invadedand changed their lives forever.

While the trio enjoyed lunch in the foodcourt, two of them listened as their friendshared a dream she had the night before.

They were perplexed. Did thedream mean something? If it hada deeper meaning, what was it?

Nearby sat two Christians,who were also talking aboutdreams. They turned to the threewomen. “Do any of you have adream you want interpreted?”they asked.

The women looked at eachother. One of them stammered,“Yes. In fact, we were just talkingabout it.”

As the woman described herdream, the Christians silentlyprayed for God’s wisdom and direction.When she finished they offered her a spiri-tual interpretation of her dream as well asGod’s encouragement. The woman was sotouched that she gave her heart to Jesus,right there in the food court and in front ofher friends.

Elsewhere in the mall that day anothergroup of Christians was walking and pray-ing when they sensed the Holy Spirit point-ing out a certain man. A thought arose intheir spirits: He’s struggling with loneliness.

They approached him and struck up aconversation. Within minutes the maninvited Jesus Christ into his heart.

Elated, the group moved onand found a woman they felt theHoly Spirit directing themtoward. They interpreted a dreamfor her and then led her to theLord.

A third group walking aroundthe Orlando mall felt the sensationof electricity in their hands andinterpreted it as a sign to pray forsomeone’s healing. Upon seeing awoman with a withered hand anda limp, they approached her andwere soon praying for her.

Suddenly, the woman’s with-ered hand opened and her feet straight-ened! She was so excited that she acceptedJesus on the spot.

During that weekend in Orlando, 14people came to know Jesus Christ, and sev-eral were healed. The Christians weremembers of our “Dream Teams,” individu-

P r o p h e t i c E v a n g e l i s m

BY JOHN PAUL JACKSON

DREAMSGOD SPEAKS IN OUR

Prophetic

evangelism—

listening to

God while

sharing the

gospel—is one

key to the next

move of God

in the world.

WITH SO MANY PEOPLE WANTING TO EXPERIENCE THE REAL-

ITY OF THE SUPERNATURAL, DREAM INTERPRETATION CAN BE

A POWERFUL TOOL OF EVANGELISM.

als who have been trained by Streams Min-istries International in dream interpretationand prophetic evangelism.

Last year we sent a Dream Team to SaltLake City for the Winter Olympics. In aStarbucks coffeehouse one night, twoteam members were chatting aboutdreams when they looked over at a groupof about 30 people standing in line. “Doesanyone have a dream they’d like to knowmore about?” one of them asked.

A news agency journalist joined themand recounted her dream. When the teamgave her the interpretation, she fell back inher chair, looked at her boyfriend andsaid, “Wow! Did you hear that?”

Others had gathered and for the nextseveral hours, the team interpreteddreams. In fact, during their stay in SaltLake City, our team members interpretedmore than 150 dreams.

Real-life experiences like these haveled me to the conclusion that propheticevangelism—a reliance on listening to theLord while sharing the gospel—is one key

to the next great move of God in theworld. Prophetic evangelism is a greatway to grow the church and to introduceJesus to your unsaved friends.

T R U E D R E A M S A R E F R O M G O D In the1980s, my friend and pastor John Wim-ber, then leader of the Association ofVineyard Churches, coined the phrase“power evangelism.” He focused on theusefulness of signs and wonders, espe-

cially miraculous healings, as a way tolead people to Jesus.

Prophetic evangelism is the next stepin my understanding of Wimber’s vision.During the last 20 years tens of thou-sands have been saved through what hecalled power evangelism. I believe thattrend will continue.

But I also know that dream interpreta-tion, words of knowledge and propheticwords—prophetic evangelism, as I call it—will help even more people come to Jesus.

There is much scriptural foundationfor this idea. God promised in Joel 2:28

that “Your sons and your daughters shallprophesy, your old men shall dreamdreams, your young men shall seevisions” (NKJV). When we read the con-clusion of that passage we find that theresult of prophesying, dreams, visions,signs and wonders is to bring a harvestinto the kingdom.

Though many churches have embracedthe idea of Christians prophesying, theyhave not been as accepting of biblicaldream interpretation. That’s unfortunate.The Bible teaches us that God speaks to usin the night.

Elihu confirms this in Job 33:14-16: “ForGod may speak in one way, or inanother, yet man does not perceiveit. In a dream, in a vision of thenight, when deep sleep falls uponmen, while slumbering on theirbeds, then He opens the ears ofmen, and seals their instruction.”

Jeremiah and Zechariah criti-cized “false” dreams, because theyknew the importance of “true”dreams from God (see Jer. 23:25,27:9; Zech. 10:2).

Daniel 1:17 tells us that,“Daniel had understanding in allvisions and dreams.” The youngprophet ends up prophesying toKing Nebuchadnezzar concerninga dream he had.

The impact of the revelationwas so powerful that the king exclaimed,“Truly your God is the God of gods, theLord of kings, and a revealer of secrets,since you could reveal this secret” (Dan.2:47).

Early church fathers and mothersreadily accepted the validity of dreams asa way in which God speaks. First-centuryJewish historian Philo said that dreamsare a way God gave to mankind to learnabout the spiritual world.

Tertullian of Carthage, who lived inthe second century after Christ, said,“Almost the greater part of mankindderive their knowledge of God fromdreams.” Jerome, the fourth-century the-ologian who translated the first LatinBible, the Vulgate, was converted to Chris-tianity by a dream from God.

God has never stopped speaking to menand women who want to hear His voice. Infact, dreams are such a powerful means ofcommunication that the enemy has triedeverything in his power to discredit andcounterfeit it them.

Why do New Age practitioners haveso little trouble with the idea ofdreams, and why do Christians—the ones who long to hear God’svoice—devalue it? God createdthis connection between HisSpirit and our spirit for a reason.

S P I R I T C O M M U N I C AT I O N Biblicaldream interpretation comes as theresult of a growing relationshipwith God. A hunger for Him trans-lates into a hunger to hear andunderstand His voice.

True dreams from God gener-ate a curiosity in us, a question thatwe’re desperate to answer. We longto hear His voice.

Every night, God whispers intothe dreams of unsaved men and

women. He seals the truth within theirhearts.

Some will search the world looking forthe key to unlock that truth. Many today aredrawn to the New Age movement, thinkingthe answer might be there.

Others may go to dream interpreterswho operate in the perversions of Freudianand Jungian dream analysis, and they willfind no peace. Christians who hear andunderstand the voice of God hold the key

Dreams are

such a

powerful

means of

communica-

tion that the

enemy has

tried

everything

to

discredit

and counter-

feit them.

for these wanderers. Prophetic evangelismis about giving a human voice to the spiritualmysteries God has implanted in the lost.

During my years of study, I have discov-ered that God will give the interpretation toa dream in any of four different ways:

● God will speak the interpreta-tion to our spirit in the dream. We willawaken with the understanding of whatthe dream meant.

● God instantly gives a dream’smeaning. As with Daniel, the interpreta-tion comes through an angelic messenger.

● God gives the interpretationduring the process of record-ing the dream. First Chronicles28:19 says: “‘All this,’ said David,‘the Lord made me understand inwriting, by His hand upon me, allthe works of these plans.’”

● God gives us interpreta-tions of dreams as we grow andmature in our understanding ofHis ways. Proverbs 25:2 says that,“It is the glory of God to conceal amatter, but the glory of kings is tosearch out a matter.”

God wants us to meditate onHis mysteries. He places greatvalue on our searching for the spir-itual truths and insights that Heconceals like buried treasure.

Often, we learn as much, ifnot more, in the discovery process ofinterpreting a dream as we do in simplyobtaining the dream’s answer itself. Themore we learn, the hungrier we become.

I T ’ S H I M W E N E E D God will not removeour need for the Holy Spirit. It is throughHis wisdom that dreams are interpretedand that we commune with God.

Even though there are biblical guide-lines for interpreting dreams, we needHim, not pat answers or fixed rules. We

are truly dependent on Him to lead usinto all truth. And to truly hear the Lord,we need His peace in our lives.

All revelation comes from the HolySpirit, who searches the deep things ofGod. He chooses how He will give therevelation to us. The Holy Spirit is theSpirit of peace, and when He comes, aresidue of peace is left with us.

God uses metaphors and symbols in ourdreams. He is a visual, creative entity, andHe loves to wrap His wisdom in the mys-teries of our language and culture.

When we interpret a dream, we needto approach the metaphors in adream from different points ofview. Why did God choose to usethis symbol? Why not another?

God is purposeful in every-thing He does. As you interpretmore dreams, you will begin to seepatterns in how God uses certainsymbols in your dreams.

P E O P L E A R E W A N T I N G T R U T H

When I am in a situation with non-Christians, I ask God to show meif they are open to His Spirit ornot. If they tell me a dream, that’sa good sign they are indeed opento spiritual things.

The moment you open yourheart to the possibility that God

speaks through dreams, you will discoverthat many people near and dear to you havedreams and want an interpretation. As youbegin to embrace the ways God speaks toyou, He will speak to you even more.

I have interpreted more than 40,000dreams in my life—from Christians andnon-Christians. Not all were from God.Many were soul dreams and some I’veencountered were impossible to interpret.

I’m still learning every day about howGod communicates this way and how

Prophetic

evangelism

is about

giving a

human voice

to the

spiritual

mysteries

God has

implanted in

the lost.

dreams can be used prophetically toevangelize the lost. Compared to whereGod wants to take us in His Spirit, we’reall little children. We have much to learn.

This is the hour for prophetic evangelism—for the light of God to shine on people whohave waited for years for a resolution in theirlives. This is a moment in history in which Chris-tians can make a massive difference—one per-son and one dream at a time.

As Paul wrote, “Eye has not seen, norear heard, nor have entered into the heartof man, the things which God has pre-pared for those who love Him” (1 Cor.2:9). We are standing on the threshold ofa new spiritual awakening.

I believe God is getting ready to unleasha powerful wave of prophetic evangelism,larger than any of us have ever dreamed.And with it will come a harvest that isunprecedented in church history.❧

JOHN PAUL JACKSON is the founder andchairman of Streams Ministries Interna-tional (www.streamsministries.com), aNew Hampshire-based nonprofit organi-zation that offers courses on hearing Godand biblical dream interpretation. Hisnewest book is I AM: 365 Names of God(Streams Publications).

G O I N G D E E P E R

For further study on this topic:

Dream

by Mark Rutland (Charisma House)

Dreams and Visions

by Jane Hamon (Regal)

A Dream Come True

by James Ryle (W Publishing Group)

To get connected with us and to purchase these and

other resources, visit SpiritLed Woman online at

www.spiritledwoman.com\goingdeeper.

WHEN IT’S TOUGH TO SURRENDER

When you come to the end of any season that’s been hard, tough or heart-breaking, it’s usually as difficult to conclude as it has been to live. The end

of such a time often becomes the start of a soul’s long night of restlessness, reliv-ing the struggle and re-experiencing its pain.

But into such days, moments or seasons of the soul, Jesus’ closing words fromthe cross speak a principle of discipleship laden with wisdom: “Father, into Yourhands I commit My spirit” (Luke 23:46, NKJV).

There is something sublime about Jesus’ final words from the cross. Thoughsometimes overlooked, their message points the way to wisely conclude any badday, any trying experience: Place it into the hands of God and leave it there.

There are dozens of life issues that call us to follow Jesus’ pathway in living throughtough times, issues that are seldom as quick to pass as we would wish and that alwayscall us to the cross to hear the Savior’s words again, “Into Your hands I commit.”

Committing ourselves into His hands may be the key for some of us to enter a newday—or new year—with newfound expectancy, notwithstanding the “bad” behind us.

For Jesus, the end of it all finally was revealed in a resurrection. For you and me—where “surrender” is truly made—there’s full reason to expect precisely the same.

—Jack Hayford

❦