Does God speak to us when we sleep?

Stephanie Ike Okafor, 33, is the pastor of ONE Church, led by Touré and Sarah Jakes Roberts. When she announced that she was releasing a book in August this year, about how God speaks through dreams, I was quick to pre-order it, having followed her online for a while.

In the book, Stephanie shares that it’s scientifically proven that people dream every night, but that many people don’t remember their dreams. Although I remember parts of my dreams regularly after waking up, I’ve never derived much meaning from them. There are only a handful of times where I’ve had a dream that I believe has been clearly from God.

There are only a handful of times where I’ve had a dream that I believe has been clearly from God.

One example of this is a dream I had earlier this year that I remember so vividly. It was essentially about battling forces in the spiritual realm. Every moment of it felt so clearly directed - almost like I was in a film being directed on what to do with every step I took. But although battling took place in the dream, when I woke from it, I didn’t feel scared as the tone of the dream was one of victory and it was clear that God was with me. When I woke up, I called my friend for our weekly morning prayer session. I still felt a burden weighing heavy on my heart from the dream, so I felt compelled to share it with her.

After describing the dream, my friend said that she had the same dream before waking up for our prayer meeting.

After describing the dream, my friend said that she had the same dream before waking up for our prayer meeting. Together, we prayed about the theme of the dream and God revealed more through prayer and prophetic words, which my friend has the gift of. Immediately after, the heavy feeling I felt in my heart lifted and I felt peace. It felt like I had obeyed God through the message he sent in that dream through praying with my friend. Thankfully, the meaning of this dream appeared to be pretty clear to me and didn’t seem so obscure. But there have been times when I’ve had dreams that seemed pretty random.

But it was the dream that fuelled me to learn more about how God speaks through dreams.

Whilst some people may be highly gifted with interpreting dreams like Joseph in the Bible, Stephanie suggests that dream interpretation isn’t as exclusive as we may think. The book encourages us to actively seek to decode the meaning of messages God sends us in our sleep.

In her book, Stephanie practically breaks down points to consider when interpreting a dream. Using Joseph as a case study, Stephanie highlights how Joseph was able to understand the significance of each element in the dream to decode the message God was sending (Genesis 40). Stephanie writes that when Joseph interpreted the cupbearer’s dream, he could derive meaning from the three branches that represented three days until he would be restored to his original position. This section particularly stood out to me as I have often disregarded certain elements of dreams as ordinary but reading this challenged me to be more intentional in considering the contexts of dreams.

Stephanie also notes that not all dreams are from God.Sometimes they are from our subconscious or in the worst case, the enemy.

Stephanie shares how reading God’s word and seeing patterns there can also help you decode dreams. For example, Joseph’s interpretation highlights how numbers can be a key way of deciphering the source of a dream. I want to discover more about the significance of numbers biblically so I’m more aware of them when dreaming.

Understandably, remembering every detail in a dream is not always easy. Stephanie recommends having a journal or notepad near your bed to jot down your dreams soon after you wake, so that the details are still fresh in your mind. I keep my phone near my bed to record my dreams on the notes app.

In the process of reading this book, I had some recurring dreams that ordinarily, I wouldn’t have thought too much about. But since reading Stephanie’s book I have been encouraged to ask God the meaning of them and consider how every element of a dream could carry profound meaning.