Have you ever had a really vivid dream, or a particularly insightful one, and wondered whether it’s God trying to speak to you?

Key points

• From Saul to Joseph, Jacob to Mary the dreams and visions recorded in the Bible track incredible shifts.
• In her book God Dreams Tania breaks down the distinctions between different types of dreams,
• Hear more from Tania Harris on her Hope 103.2 podcast Everyday God Conversations.
• Listen to this episode of UNDISTRACTED on the Hope 103.2 app, in the player above or wherever you get your podcasts.

There’s a lot our mind and body do while we’re sleeping to repair, consolidate memory and give us the rest we need for the day ahead, but PhD pastor and practical theologian Tania Harris wants to ensure we don’t overlook what’s occurring spiritually as well.

“Not every dream comes from God,” Tania told Hope 103.2’s UNDISTRACTED podcast.

“But the times God speaks in our dreams are often very profound and worth listening to.”

For Christians in the western world where thinking is far more defined by scientific rationale and logic, the idea of God speaking in a dream may seem mystical or ungrounded, but it’s important for our faith not to write them off.

From Saul to Joseph, Jacob to Mary the dreams and visions recorded in the Bible track incredible shifts.

“The whole Christian faith is built on the premise that God is relational,” Tania said.

“In church we often talk about ‘having a relationship with God’, but how do you have a relationship with a deity you can’t see?

“What we see throughout the Biblical history, is that the way God shows Godself is through speaking, communicating.

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“There are different ways we can recognise His voice, and God-dreams and visions are one of the most common ways God speaks throughout the Biblical literature.”

From Saul to Joseph, Jacob to Mary the dreams and visions recorded in the Bible track incredible shifts in leadership, reminders of God’s provision and protecting the birth of Jesus.

Given many of our dreams can be natural though, or unfortunately nightmares, how do we know if a dream is from God?

In her book God Dreams Tania breaks down the distinctions between different types of dreams.

“The most important test is to say, ‘does it sound like Jesus’?” Tania said.

“Does it produce love, joy, peace and kindness and goodness?

“We have to test what we hear, [and] I think one of the reason the church has rejected [dreams] is because we haven’t discerned things very well.”

In her book God Dreams Tania breaks down the distinctions between different types of dreams, and why generic “dream symbol” books aren’t always helpful.

“Every dream or vision needs to be interpreted against the backdrop of the person who is receiving that message,” Tania said.

Hear more from Tania Harris on her Hope 103.2 podcast Everyday God Conversations.

Reflecting on one of the most famous dreams of the Bible where Joseph dreams about cows and heads of grain and gets a strategy for how Egypt can provide sustenance during famine, Tania says “when we have a dream, we need to ask what’s happening my life at the time?”.

“What does the symbol mean to the dreamer?” Tania said.

“What do I associate with it?

“Once [our dream] is tested and discerned to be of God [then] we have to do what God is saying.”

Tania Harris’ latest book God Dreams is out now.

Listen to the full episode of UNDISTRACTED with guest Tania Harris on the Hope 103.2 app, in the player above or wherever you get your podcasts.

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