Prophetic Intercession: Dreams and Visions

Dream- A sequence of images, etc. passing through a sleeping person’s mind (Webster’s Dictionary)

Vision- A mental image (Webster’s Dictionary)

There are many ways that the Lord communicates to the human heart.  Through heart felt words, actions, emotions, the Holy Spirit, audible words, and dreams and visions.  Dreams and visions are an earmark for those with a Seer gifting.  Seer’s see.  They are visual and gain prophetic insight from the Lord through pictures, whether while awake or while sleeping.  Examples of Seers in the bible are found in 1st and 2nd Chronicles with Gad and Iddo, as well as many other references to “seers” in the bible. 

2 Chronicles 33:18 

Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God, and the words of the seers that spake to him in the name of the LORD God of Israel, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel.

2 Kings 17:13 

Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.

Isaiah 29:10 

For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.

Isaiah 30:10 

Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:

However not all must be Seers in order to see, just as not all must be Prophets in order to prophesy.  As with any gift, all we need to do is ask for it and learn to steward it with reverence toward the Gift-Giver.  We must always guard ourselves against pride remembering that this gift, as with any gift, is for His glory alone and for His purposes and not our own.  Dreams have become a significant tool in my ability to intercede prophetically.  The Lord will share a secret plan with me in a dream and I will begin to pray into it and see the dream come to pass or for breakthrough to come or God will use me to pray for protection over a family by revealing a danger to me in a dream. 

Daydreaming is MAN utilizing the visionary process and may be referred to in Ecclesiastes 5:7, “Much dreaming and many words are meaningless.  Therefore stand in awe of God.”  It is better to present the eyes of your heart to God and ask Him to fill them with Divine dreams, visions and godly imaginations and to heed the warning of Ezekiel in Chapter 14, verse 2...”Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, who are prophesying, and say to those who prophesy from their own imaginations: ‘Hear the word of the Lord!”   I personally tremble at this verse.  I never want to “prophesy from my own imagination” or embellish or exaggerate a genuine word from the Lord.  This can be a great temptation and we must be diligent to steward prophesy and protect the word of the Lord from defilement.  We must be so careful to remain close and intimate with the Father.  Dreams and Visions are not the goal.  They are a tool for Him to use.  The closer we draw to Him, the more likely we are to receive dreams and visions as one of the many ways that He draws near to us invites us into Prophetic Intercession.  Like all things related to our relationship to God, we must be careful to steward our dreams and visions well, with honesty and integrity.

Four reasons we should ask for and listen to our dreams~

1. God declared that He WOULD speak through dreams and visions in the Old Testament.

Numbers 12:6

“And He said, “Hear now my words; If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream”

1. God declared that He DID speak through dreams and visions in the Old Testament.

Hosea 12:10 

“I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitude’s, by the ministry of the prophets.”

1. God declared that He WILL communicate through dreams and visions in the New Testament.

Acts 2:17

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.”

1. God declared that He WILL COUNSEL us at night through our dreams.

Psalm 16:7

“I will bless the Lord who has counseled me; indeed, my mind (inner man) instructs me in the night.”

Practical Application:  Ask God to speak to you through dreams as you fall asleep at night.  Put a journal beside your bed and immediately record your dreams as soon as you wake up.  When you wake up, ask God to bring to mind any dreams you may have had and forgotten.  Immediately pray into your dream!  Keep praying into your dream.  As you pray over your dream make note of any “extra” understanding you receive from God.

Prophetic Intercession: Resting

“By practice of the Presence of God, by steadfast gaze on Him, the soul comes to a knowledge of God, full and deep, to an unclouded vision: all it’s life is passed in unceasing acts of love and worship, of contrition and of simple trust, of praise and prayer, and service; at times indeed life seems to to be but one long unbroken practice of His Divine Presence.” Brother Lawrence

To be unclouded, unbiased, undistracted...this should be the goal of every believer when seeking the will of God and listening for His voice.  It is so easy for us to get religious even about not becoming religious.  Our hearts can get heavy with our own opinions and perceptions.  We can become too confident in what we know, see, believe, that we fail to realize that our hearts are severely disconnected to the heart of God.  In my life, I have found, that the biggest hindrances to me hearing His voice are the stresses of life; lack of finances, a calendar that is simply too full, friends in distress, and family stresses all seem to cloud my vision and make spending time with Jesus difficult.  We can again, fall so easily into condemnation.  We rehearse in our minds all the reasons why we are distant from God...laziness, lack of faith, sin, need to do more for Him, need to hear more from Him.  The list can go on and on.  All of these thoughts just feed into the problem and we take steps backwards and further from the presence of God even as we are so desperate for more of Him.  The answer isn’t try harder, work harder or be a better Christian.  The answer is resting in Him.

Matthew 11:28-30

“Come to Me all who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”       

What a beautiful invitation!  “Come and rest!  Let Me teach you how to rest!  How to be gentle and humble like Me!”  Jesus had a very busy ministry, He had 12 disciples to teach and steward, and many others to care for as they followed Him from village to village.  He had haters and scoffers, the religious were after Him, many needed Him, wanted Him, pulled on Him and demanded His attention...and yet He knew how to rest through it all and He is inviting us now to learn from Him the secrets to His success!  Not just in ministry but in having a relationship with His Father through it all.  We don’t have to have it all figured out, all we have to do is COME!  As we learn to come to Him and rest in Him, we will hear His voice as He counsels us, teaches us, and comforts us.  

It is so easy for us as intercessors to slip into burdensome labor in the place of prayer.  We can take someones great need and wear it as a yoke, carrying a weight that we do not have the grace to carry, because we are not meant too.  Discernment is such a wonderful gift, especially as an intercessor who depends on our spiritual and natural understanding to fuel our prayers.  However, there is a difference between feeling a burden and carrying a burden. 

Galatians 6:2

“Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

Psalms 52:22

“Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.”

I picture myself holding a large mirror in my hands, always facing out and up.  The Lord shows me a need, a burden, His heart...it hits me, right in the mirror and it bounces right back to Him in the form of prayer.  I feel the impact, I bear the burden for a moment, but then I “cast it” right back on to Him.  A friend comes to me with a deep, painful need, it hits me in the mirror and reflects right up to Jesus through my intercession for them.  I feel it, but I don’t carry it.  This is the only way I can intercede for as many people and situations as I do.  It is light, not heavy.  It is a joy and not a burden.  Yes, I weep sometimes, I travail sometimes, sometimes I will mourn all day long as I am praying for a friend who is hurting, but I am feeling....not carrying.  There is a difference.   When I walk away from intercession, I know that Jesus is carrying the burden, and the ones I have been praying for.  I know that He is helping and comforting them.  He is faithful to meet every need.  My job is done and I can walk away, make dinner for my family and laugh with my friends because I have partnered with Jesus in the place of prayer and He will answer my petitions to Him.  I can rest in Him and His faithfulness.

Mark 6:31 

“And he said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.” 

Personal Application:  Take some time to today to fall into the arms of Jesus, to rest in Him.  Release any burdens you may be carrying.  Say the names of all of the loved ones whom you carry in your heart and/or on your back and give them all to Jesus.  Ask Him to specifically remove heavy yokes from your shoulders and neck regarding social issues that you may be contending for and to place His yoke on your neck instead.  Spend some time soaking in gentle worship and position yourself to receive His love, His peace, His counsel.  He will teach you how to be a restful intercessor!

yoke  (yk)

n.

1.

a. A crossbar with two U-shaped pieces that encircle the necks of a pair of oxen or other draft animals working together.

b. pl. yoke or yokes A pair of draft animals, such as oxen, joined by a yoke.

c. A bar used with a double harness to connect the collar of each horse to the pole of a wagon or coach.

2. A frame designed to be carried across a person's shoulders with equal loads suspended from each end.

3. Nautical A crossbar on a ship's rudder to which the steering cables are connected.

4. A clamp or vise that holds a machine part in place or controls its movement or that holds two such parts together.

5. A piece of a garment that is closely fitted, either around the neck and shoulders or at the hips, and from which an unfitted or gathered part of the garment is hung.

6. Something that connects or joins together; a bond or tie.

7. Electronics A series of two or more magnetic recording heads fastened securely together for playing or recording on more than one track simultaneously.

8.

a. Any of various emblems of subjugation, such as a structure made of two upright spears with a third laid across them, under which conquered enemies of ancient Rome were forced to march in subjection.

b. The condition of being subjugated by or as if by a conqueror; subjugation or bondage: v.tr.

1. To fit or join with a yoke.

2.

a. To harness a draft animal to.

b. To harness (a draft animal) to a vehicle or an implement.

3. To join securely as if with a yoke; bind: 4. To force into heavy labor, bondage, or subjugation.

v.intr.

To become joined securely.

Prophetic Intercession: Waiting For His Voice

Isaiah 40:28

“Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow weary, and His understanding no one can fathom...” 

I love this quote by John G. Lake, “There is probably no more delightful thing on earth than to watch a soul praying to God when the light comes on him and the life of God fills his nature, and the holy affection that we seek from others finds expression in Him.”  

We  were made to encounter God in the place of prayer.  We were never meant to strive to form perfect words to move Him or to be spotless on our own before approaching His throne of grace.  If we wait until we are perfect before we approach Him, then we will have a lifeless, meaningless relationship with Him.  Too many people love God without having a prayer life because they feel that they have to fix all of their problems first.  They feel dirty, ashamed and guilty over struggles with sin, inability to feel His presence or the length of time since the last time they sat down to spend time with Him...thinking that it is the Lord that condemns them when, in reality,  they condemn themselves.  We tend to make spending time with God more complicated than it needs to be.  We struggle just to get to the point of talking to Him, let alone succeeding in encountering His heart and His affections toward us.

Lets just strip it all down to waiting.  Start with waiting.  We are much too hard on ourselves.  If we wait on the Lord He will renew our strength (Isaiah 40:31)and through His kindness He will lead us to repentance without fear of rejection or condemnation. (Romans 2:4) Rather than the unrealistic expectation of walking into our time with Him refreshed and renewed, lets come as we are and then leave our time with Him refreshed and renewed by His mercy shown to us.  We must remember that we serve a gracious and loving God who spread out His arms and died for us so that we can encounter Him, washed and made whole by the blood of the Lamb.  Not by our works, but by His grace alone are we made worthy to approach Him and to fall into His open arms.  He is always ready to receive us, if we will only just come...

Ecclesiastes 5:2

“Do not be quick with your mouth; do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God.  God is in heaven and you are on the earth, so let your words be few.”

Here’s the good news!  Praying doesn’t necessarily equate to talking!  You don’t have to have perfect words!  As an intercessor, we must start with the basics.  “God what is on Your heart?  What is on Your mind?”  Pressing into Him who has all knowledge of what was, what is, and what is to come, is the only way we will be able to truly pray for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Often, we assimilate “pressing in” with talking to Him.  However, to enter into a place of “Prophetic Intercession” the bulk of our time must be spent in waiting, listening and allowing ourselves to hear revelation, to feel revelation, to know the revelation of what is on God’s heart. 

I believe that as we wait for Him quietly, we allow the core of our spirit-man to do the calling/inviting.  To be silent in the natural, yet longing and crying out to Him deep on the inside.  “I want to know what’s on Your heart.”  It is in the depths that the whispers of God’s heart are spoken.  I have found that often I will walk away from “waiting’, having not heard or sensed anything.  Then a few days later, I will have a dream, or something will just drop into my spirit, when I am least expecting it.  We need to remember that when we wait on the Lord, we may not get instant results.  God loves being mysterious and He loves to provoke our hearts to “press in”.  We must always keep our spirit-man engaged and ready to hear from the Lord.

If we are to enter into “Prophetic Intercession” then we must learn to wait on God without fear of rebuke.  To understand that He wants us to come to Him and pray so that we will know Him fully and fall in love with Him and His will everyday.  He desires for us to seek revelation and the knowledge of God.  What a joy it is to then pray into the very things that He has revealed to us!  It always comes back to intimacy with Him!  He wants to be one with you!  (John 17:22)  You are His bride and He is your Bridegroom!  Wait on Him, rest in Him!  He reveals His heart in the place of rest and intimacy.  Let Him take care of you in the place of prayer!

Practical Application:  Prophetic Intercession is all about waiting on the Lord to reveal His secrets about people, places and things.  And then, after the revealing, we pray into those things that He has shown us.  Today, start with YOU!  Find a quiet place, and with your heart, rather than your mouth, begin to invite the Lord to reveal His affections for you.  “What do You see when You look at me?  What are Your dreams for me?  Jesus, talk to me....about me.  I want to know the secrets of Your heart towards me.” 

Prophetic Intercession: The Invitation

Jeremiah 33:3

“Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”

Prophet- One who utters divinely inspired revelation:  One gifted with more than ordinary spiritual and moral insight.

Intercession- The act of a person praying on behalf of another person, place or thing.

Prophetic Intercession-One who prays divinely inspired revelations on behalf of another person, place or thing.

As intercessors, we are invited to hear and learn the heart of God towards people, places and things.  He is a feeling and loving God.  He is emotional and responsive.  From the beginning of the foundations of the world He has invited humans to know His heart and partner with Him in shaping history.  

In Jeremiah 33:3 the Lord extends an invitation to Jeremiah to “Call to Me” and then the Lord will answer and reveal great things.  We all want God to reveal great things to us.  Often, as an intercessor, we are asking the Lord to reveal His plan/intent for our families and friends, as well as the nations.  We all have our own way of asking God to reveal Himself and His wisdom towards situations to us, but what does it mean to “Call” on Him?

The Greek word for “Call” is Kaleo which literally means to “invite loudly”.  In Jeremiah 33:3, the Lord is inviting Jeremiah to invite Him to reveal great and mighty things that he does not know.  That same loving command and promise is extended to us.  But how do we make the shift from asking to inviting?  What is the difference?

Invite:   
To make a polite, formal, or friendly request to (someone) to go somewhere or to do something.

Ask:     
Say something in order to obtain an answer or information.

I am struck at how an invitation is so much more personal than just simply asking.  To make a request politely is to ask sweetly, to be formal is to show respect and to take it seriously, a friendly request is happy and light hearted.  God is so infinitely wise even in the words He chooses in telling us to invite Him into an intimate relationship with Him through prayer.  We were never meant to pray from our own limited understanding or imaginations of how things should be.  We were created to walk intimately with the Living God, partnering with His heart towards people and situations.  When we pray from a place of revelatory insight, intercession becomes exciting and new every time.  We break out of the hopeless, mundane task of making a difference with seemingly empty words that hit a deaf ceiling to uttering the very will and purposes of God and witnessing a transformation in the lives of the people around us as we enter into Prophetic Intercession. 

Practical Application:  Find a quiet place today and focus on “inviting” the Lord to reveal Himself to you, to show you His intentions for your life, for your family, for your city.  Focus on the invitation, rather than the response.  There are rewards in the seeking... not just the finding, in the knocking... not just the opening, in the inviting... not just the revealing.