In another thread, Simon was talking about how the devil only goes after those who are serving God. This started me thinking about dreams. People have been looking to dreams as a connection to God since the beginning of time. I have experienced many dreams that I know come from God. Most of them have given me a peace beyond all understanding, and a few of them have scared me out of my mind, but even with the fear, there is so much hope, and so much love. I believe-I know-that God speaks to us through dreams.
Unfortunately, I suspect that the devil can get to us through dreams too. For instance, I once had a dream that was nothing more than an image: it was an image of my own severed head, with a fly sitting on my severed neck and looking straight at me. It seemed as though the fly was sneering at me. I don’t believe that dream came from God. Not all of God’s dreams are comforting. I have had dreams where God seriously called me out for something I was doing wrong. I have had dreams where God let me know in no uncertain terms that he was displeased with me but whenever I have a dream from God that makes me uncomfortable, it is also very clear to me what I need to do to rectify the situation. It is very clear that the dream is true.
But I have other dreams that I know are just not true. These dreams leave me feeling confused and miserable, with no way of rectifying the situation, but the main thing is, the message of the dream is just not true. And I often if not always have the feeling that I am being sneered at and mocked in these dreams.
Dreams can be an incredible connection to God, but God isn’t the only One who tries to speak to us through dreams. I think it is a huge mistake to automatically assume that all dreams have truth in them.
ST UnWoke! 
And what about those suffering from PTSD? Does anyone seriously believe that the terrible nightmares experienced by veterans coming home from war are from God? I don’t.
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I have a good friend who converted to Catholicism who said that w hike he easygoing through his instruction he had horrible nightmares. The priest instructing him told him it was the devil,warring for his soul. Hmmm, idk….
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I can believe that, although I don’t think it’s necessarily the devil warring for our souls. In many or most cases, it’s just the devil harassing us. To say that the devil is warring for the soul of someone having nightmares is probably over stating it. Chances are, the devil has no chance of ever getting that person’s soul, and he knows it. He is just inflicting harm where he can, because that is what the devil does.
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I think the devil has some serious competition these days with the people running D.C., nursing homes and the borders. Unfortunately, those aren’t merely nightmares; they’re real!
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Some would say that they are not the devil’s competition, Liz: they are his employees.
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I do not believe Satan has any access to our dream world other than how he may influence our waking thoughts via temptations and such.
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But if he has access to our waking thoughts, then why wouldn’t he have access to our dream world?
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1. Because active (conscious) thought is different from our (super-conscious) dream world.
2. I never said Satan has access to our waking thoughts. He is as a lion. He is not a lion. He has no access to our thoughts unless we actively sell our souls to him. He may only influence our waking thoughts and dreams if we embrace hus temptations. I refuse to allow him any power over me.
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I never thought of it that way before. I was always just kind of assumed without even realizing that the devil has at least some access to our minds. The Screwtape Letters seem to make that assumption too, if memory serves. I don’t know, I have had dreams that seem downright satanic to me, but they are an annoyance more than anything else. I don’t feel that the devil has power over me, he just tries to throw spitballs at me now and again. It’s easy enough to just dismiss him, but I find it very difficult to believe that all of our dreams are from God, or our own subconscious.
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It has to be unhealthy psychologically speaking to believe Satan has access to one’s dreams. That is only giving him power which he does not possess. That is why my Bible says he walks “as” a lion.
The Devil is not lurking behind every bush waiting to pounce on innocent people. We only seem to wish he were. Perhaps by giving away our power to him, we are able to convince ourselves that our unethical behavior, thoughts, and dreams are his fault and doing?
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I don’t know. It seems to me that it might be unhealthy psychologically to assume that all dreams come from God. God is Truth. If I have a dream that I know for certain is not true, then it could not have come from God.
In a previous comment, I described a fly that appeared in one of my dreams: that is how I think of the devil. He is a disgusting little pest, but I know that he can’t hurt me. He certainly can’t pounce on me or on anyone. I take fully responsibility for the wrong I do in my waking hours, but I have had dreams so wonderful that I know they came from God, and a few dreams so terrible that I suspect they came from the devil. I don’t think I deserve the credit for the good dreams, and I don’t think I deserve the blame for the bad ones 🙂
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I never said all dreams come from God.
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Also, in the dreams I am referencing here, I am never doing anything wrong, lol: not saying that I never do anything wrong, just that it doesn’t happen in these dreams. These dreams always involve a malevolent higher intelligence basically just wishing me ill, letting me know that it doesn’t like me. And then the next night, I will have a wonderful dream in which God tells me that I am loved. The good dreams far outnumber the bad dreams, but not everyone is so fortunate. Some of the most saintly people I have ever known experience mostly bad dreams-far worse than anything I have ever had to deal with. I don’t believe those dreams come from God, and those bad dreams only have power over us if we believe they come from God. Ultimately, it isn’t about whether the dream made us feel good or not: the bottom line is, is the dream true? Is there anything of value we can learn from it? If the answer to both those questions is no, then I would hold that dream highly suspect.
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A nightmare will have far more power over someone if they believe it comes from God. If they believe that it comes from the devil, it loses all power. That’s how I look at it. I am definitely not suggesting that God never gives us scary or uncomfortable dreams: sometimes He does, but it’s up to us to be very honest with ourselves and assess our dreams on a case by case basis. To think that every single dream we have comes from God or our own subconscious is, I think, just not true.
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Hard to know.
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I never said the devil has access to our waking thoughts.
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And I never said he was lurking behind every bush. Nor did I say that he is responsible for every bad thing anyone does.
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