When God Speaks in Dreams

Yesterday afternoon, I spent time at a park, eating and talking with people who have made their home on the streets. There is something so sobering about the human condition when we listen to vulnerable stories. People like you and me. A mum smiled at me from her car, with her newborn sitting in the backseat. A brother who sleeps in a van that leaks, and it’s his birthday this week. Paying the rego on the van means he is now with his bank account at zero, after paying the registration on his car, and a dad who lost his daughter, never recovering.

I know you are also feeling the discomfort of our world in its current state. The impact of economic instability, the innocent loss of lives in Bondi and a year that held so much challenge. I am thinking of you today as I write this letter, and one thing I have learnt over many years of listening to stories is that the act of sharing them brings healing.

I am more convinced than ever that stories heal.

As we gather in safe places to unpack the year that was, there is something profoundly powerful about finishing the year softly. Next Monday Evening, the 22nd of December, I am hosting a time of writing, prayer, meditation and discussion to help us return home in a season of so much confusion. Creativity has the power to reset what we cannot understand.

Is it time to reset some of the stress from the year?

This year saw much change for us as a family. Whilst we were overseas at the start of the year, we saw a house with the potential we had been looking for, but we couldn’t attend the open home because we were overseas and it was Christmas, so I let it go.

For over 20 years, I have hosted end-of-year reviews. This year, it is more important than ever before. With so much misinformation, with confusion and chaos, we need to find insight to hear what God is saying above all the noise.

Last year’s end-of-year retreat guide was full of creative exercises to help you document and process the year that is passing and plan the one that is coming. Simplify when applied is life-changing. This is because throughout the year I have used and written on every page, and the healing found there is the open door to the clarity I have seen in this season.

There is a very simple one-pager in this retreat guide that you can print and have on your bedside table. It is a dream journal page. A straightforward step of obedience that I heard from God in 2024. I heard God say, “Write down your dreams, I will speak to you this way.”

Just before Christmas that year, I had a dream; by then, I had completely forgotten about the house. And the dream is profound. As I wrote about the dream in my simplify book, nuance after nuance spoke to the house that we now own. This step of faith was undergirded by a clear presence of peace that God had spoken, and our response was only to be obedient. Obedience is not a popular topic in a world that is so focused on self-reliance and independence. The dream specifically referenced a house of surprises. And we have enjoyed surprise after surprise.

Scripture presents dreams as a significant way God communicates with His people, particularly when other forms of communication seem closed or difficult. God’s promise, however, is that he will speak through dreams: “I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.” – Joel 2:28 (repeated in Acts 2:17)

“When there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions, I speak to them in dreams.” – Numbers 12:6

Key biblical dreams:

Joseph (Genesis 37-41) – received prophetic dreams about his future and later interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams, saving Egypt from famine. Daniel – both received and interpreted dreams revealing God’s plans across kingdoms and generations. Joseph, Mary’s husband (Matthew 1:20, 2:13, 2:19) – received crucial guidance through dreams: to marry Mary, to flee to Egypt, to return home. The Magi (Matthew 2:12) – warned in a dream not to return to Herod. Pilate’s wife (Matthew 27:19) – warned about Jesus’ innocence through a dream

Job’s testimony: “For God does speak—now one way, now another—though no one perceives it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they slumber in their beds, he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, to turn them from wrongdoing.” – Job 33:14-17

Scripture affirms that when words fail or circumstances silence other voices, God can still speak in the night season. Dreams were especially important for guidance, warning, and revelation.

God is speaking, but are we listening?

Journal Prompts:

1. Listening in the Night Season

When have you sensed God speaking to you during a time when other voices seemed silent or unclear? Reflect on a season when circumstances made it difficult to hear guidance through conventional means. What did that experience teach you about God’s willingness to meet you in unexpected ways? How might you create more space to listen for His voice in dreams or the quiet moments?

2. The Dream Journal Practice

God spoke in 2024, saying, “Write down your dreams, I will speak to you this way.” If you were to begin (or continue) documenting your dreams with intentionality, what might you be listening for? What questions are you carrying into sleep? Write about any dreams you remember from recent weeks, noting even the most minor details or feelings that lingered when you woke. What patterns, symbols, or themes do you notice?

3. Obedience in the Midst of Confusion

God is still speaking, and even when it feels like hope, joy and peace are absent.

Reflect on a time when obedience required you to move forward despite confusion or incomplete information. What role did peace play in your discernment? In this current season of “so much misinformation, confusion and chaos,” where might God be inviting you to take a step of faith—even when you can’t see the full picture?

This January, I will be holding an online retreat to learn about documenting dreams and listening to what God is saying in these environments. As the world gets darker, remember that it is our light that shines bright in these times.

He still speaks.

Let’s gather, learn and listen together.