Seeing the Voice of God: What God Is Telling You through Dreams and Visions (28 page)

This clearly shows there is a difference between receiving the Holy Spirit and being baptized in the Holy Spirit. Between His coming
in
and His coming
upon
. Didn’t John prophesy it at Jesus’ baptism in Matthew 3:11? “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit
and fire” (emphasis added).

We also see where others received this baptism of the Holy Spirit in Scripture:

• Acts 2:1–13, with the disciples. “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues” (verse 4
  NIV
  ).
  
• Acts 8:12–19, with the Samaritans. “[They] prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit” (verse 15).
  
• Acts 9:17, with Paul. “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit” (
  NIV
  ).
  
• Acts 10:45–46, with Cornelius. “The gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God” (
  NIV
  ).
  
• Acts 19:6, with the Ephesians. “When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied” (
  NIV
  ).
  

I remember when I was still apprehensive about the baptism of the Holy Spirit because I was afraid that praying in tongues would open a door to the demonic. How silly! But my logical husband looked at me one day and said, “Laura, have you asked God for this gift in 1 Corinthians 14?” I answered yes. He said to me, “Well, then, if you asked your heavenly Father for bread, He would not give you a fish. If you asked Him for a fish, He would not give you a serpent.” Jesus spoke these words in Matthew 7:9–11. Luke 11:13 (
NIV
) records them, too, and ends with this: “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Did you catch that? It says “give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” We are to
ask
for the Holy Spirit. I am going to ask for anything and everything that Jesus says I can ask Him for. Will you ask for more of the Holy Spirit?
Para
,
en
and
epi
?

I can say sincerely that the baptism of the Holy Spirit changed me, and I was already head over heels in love with Jesus for seventeen years beforehand. But ask anyone who knew me before
and after. I can also definitely testify that I really began my prophetic dreaming once the Holy Spirit came upon me in this way. There is a whole other book I could write on that, but it is not our topic at hand.

Please promise me, my seer friend, that you will get into a church that will teach you about these things. Seers are notorious for becoming disenfranchised due to rejection and offense, so let’s take some time now to discuss the importance of congregational connection.

Eye-Yai-Yai

If you do a topical study on dreams and visions, your research will show you that one-third of the Bible is about dreams and visions or the result of a dream or vision. One third! Churches that steer clear of the topic are, in this author’s opinion, existing on only two-thirds of a scriptural diet and in danger of Revelation 22’s warning about “taking away” from Scripture.

But let’s be honest. Plenty of so-called seers also add to and take away from God’s Word with their so-called discernments, which is treacherous, too. It is no wonder pastors avoid visionary gifts like the plague. It is messy ministry. The Word of God is black-and-white, absolute and unable to be argued with (argued about, but not with). Visions and dreams, on the other hand, are unpredictable, often symbolic, require interpretation and with just a little bit of wounded fleshiness, can easily become a train wreck. I have lived through it. Do not forget, my husband and I also pastor a church.

But pretending that seers do not exist is not the answer. My husband and I made a decision when we started Eastgate Creative Christian Fellowship not to restrict the flow of God by excluding the seer gifts. In fact, we trained our congregants to expect them—but
not before setting some hard-and-fast house rules. We held a weekend conference called “Prophetic Etiquette,” at which we discussed the biblical dos and don’ts of prophetic ministry. We plainly stated the specifics of how all things would be “done decently and in order” (1 Corinthians 14:40).

Our methods worked so well at Eastgate that we are even able to have a fifteen-minute “open mic” time during each Sunday morning service, where people form a short line just as our thirty-minute worship time is coming to a close and briefly share any visions they have had while worshiping or any relevant, recent dreams. They can also release prophetic words or Scriptures they have heard while in worship. But the trick is that Chris and I act as a double-filtering process that first weeds out all the dross.

Here is how that works. First, as worship is ending but the band is still playing, Chris prays aloud, asking the Holy Spirit to speak to each person there. He then instructs the audience to wait upon the Lord and listen, sharing only that which would edify the Body. He instructs them to come to me on the front row and share privately what they have heard or seen. This is where it gets fun. Oh, how I love my job!

In this sweet atmosphere where music marries ministry and births boldness, people step out in faith to see if they can make a difference in someone’s life (and when they do, it makes it easier to do out on the streets, too). They trust me to listen and discern if their word is for the whole Church or just for them, if it is too vague or too long, and so on. Like Goldilocks deciding if the porridge is “too hot, too cold or just right.” As a shepherdess, if I do not think something will edify my sheep, I ask the person to pray more first. People are never offended by the assignment.

We stick by the three rules that Paul outlines for corporate prophecy in 1 Corinthians 14:3: “But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.” So we say that the message must do one of those three: “build up, lift up or cheer up.” If it does, I send the people on up to Chris, who stands by their side in case they deviate and go off on a tangent
(which has never happened). They know this is not the place for doomsday judgment, but he stays front and center with them because, of course, his obligation is to protect his sheep, even from another sheep if need be. But the Spirit of God is too thick by that point for anyone to steward His presence irresponsibly.

It is so powerful to hear half a dozen unscripted revelations that all have the same theme. And it is even more powerful when my husband admits, “You all just preached my sermon!” That is proof that God has one voice. Chris and I would much rather God’s words flow through His entire Body than just through us. If there is ever a lull and no one steps forward, we wait. The worship team plays softly and instrumentally, and we simply wait. People need to learn to wait on the Lord anyway. It is in those instances that the shy emerge, having gained their nerve and realized that the bold, whom they usually allow to speak for them, are not going to do so. These “waiting” times produce the cream of the crop, in my opinion. Congregants are also free to come to us anytime during the week with a dream or vision.

Eastgate’s spiritual papa, Don Finto, visited one Sunday and said he wished he could bottle what we do during this prophetic-flow time and distribute it to other churches. But it is not ours to bottle. It is just the Word of God in motion.

Seers sometimes do not fit in to churches because no place has been created for them to fit in. Ask your pastors if they would be willing to implement this at your church. It is risky, but worth the investment to offer a little bit of training and reap the results. What is a Body with no eyes? We have auditory services where people sit and listen to speakers, but we have denied the Body vision from the seers. It takes trusting the Holy Spirit during your services, but now more than ever, the world needs this gift.

Why? Because we live in a post-verbal society. Moving images are everywhere, and we get our information from Internet images. As you watch the evening news now (if you still do), underneath the anchorperson is a moving feed of more headlines, and behind him or her are moving images or changing hues. Even billboards at stoplights change images three times
now as we sit and wait, because we officially have the attention span of gnats. A picture is worth a thousand words. We leaders and pastors need to remember that and not shun the seers in this visual age.

What Say You?

Whether you are a seer or a shepherd of seers, I hope this book has beautified the way you view communication with God. Hopefully, you have learned that He is never silent, that you have four eyes and four ears and that you can expect to hear from God regularly through various categories of prophetic dreams. And if you were not convinced that sleep was the mattress of dreams, hopefully you will now make the necessary investments to get more rest. I will be praying that God helps you implement the dream recall strategies I have outlined so that you can remember all the dreams you will have as a result. Also, prepare yourself to become a humble vessel of dream interpretations for your friends.

And while you are awake, I believe God will open your eyes in the spirit realm to see visions and also to hear His voice with utmost clarity, drowning out all the other voices in your head. May you find breakthrough in any personal battles with spiritual deafness and feel the prompting of the Holy Spirit to join me in praying that the influences of the deaf and dumb spirit would no longer plague the Body of Christ.

You are now equipped to see, interpret, hear, prophesy and resist all counterfeits. You also now have a serious decision to make in finding a church that will embrace your desire for this endowment and temper you as you grow in it. Or if you are a pastor, to turn your church into a house with 20/20 hearing by making room for the visionary gifts to be served at your family table each Sunday.

I’ve sung the line a hundred times, “twas blind but now I see”

But now I know it’s more than placement on God’s family tree

With opened eyes and ears I’ll seek Him even though I’m flawed

I’ll read His Word to test what’s heard and see the voice of God.

© Laura Harris Smith, March 13, 2013

PRAYER

Let’s pray out loud together:

God, I confess that Jesus Christ is the sole focus of my spiritual commitment, and I ask You now to baptize me in Your Holy Spirit. I desire the “epi” encounter where You come upon me with power, the way You did with so many others in Scripture and so many others still today. I want all of You there is to have, and I ask Your forgiveness for when I’ve settled for less. Sync my heart to beat with Yours, out of which will come 20/20 hearing and the seer anointing. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

IMPARTATION

I release and impart to you the biblical baptism of God’s Holy Spirit to make you holy, fine-tune your heart to His and open your eyes and ears to His irresistible voice. (Now open your hands, shut your eyes and receive it.)

I
n my many years of teaching on dreams and visions, I have noticed that a handful of questions come up in people’s minds repeatedly, regardless of their age, gender or denominational preference. What follows are the Top 10 questions. Maybe you are asking some of these yourself. Daydreaming about how wonderful it would be to sit with you face-to-face and answer these questions conversationally, I have designed a webpage where I communicate through video v-casts. The page makes use of a place you are probably visiting anyway, Facebook. Just find your question below and discover the answer by noting the video title beside the question. Then visit 
www.facebook.com/LauraHarrisSmithPage
. Make sure to “Like” my page so that you will be notified every time new video Q&A’s are posted. And feel free to post more Q’s.

Do you have a dream symbol you need help with that is not mentioned in chapter 7’s dream dictionary? Post the symbol on my Facebook page (not the whole dream, please) with your city, and I may include it in an upcoming video.

I would also enjoy hearing how
Seeing
the Voice of God
has affected the way you communicate with God or how this book has influenced you. Let me know on Facebook, and also check out all the v-casts available at 
www.YouTube.com/LauraHarrisSmith
.

“How do I know if a dream is from God or just worry?”

View
Was That Dream God or Worry?

“What does God’s voice sound like?”

View
Hearing God’
s Voice
.

“How did people in the Bible interpret dreams without the Scriptures?”

View
How Did Biblical Characters Interpret Dreams
without the Bible?

“How can I be sure that my dream interpretation is right?”

View
Interpreting Your Own Dream
.

“How do I share a dream with someone else?”

View
Sharing Your Dreams with Others
.

“How do I know if it’s a vision or just daydreaming?”

View
Visions
101
.

“How can I increase my dreams?”

View
Increasing
Your Dreams and Visions
.

“How do I get rid of nightmares?”

View
Nightmares and Night Terrors.

“Do animals, babies and the blind dream?”

View
Do Animals Dream?

“My church won’t receive prophecy—what do I do?”

View
My Church and My Prophetic Gift
.

Chapter 1: Is God Ever Silent?