THE OUTPOURING OF THE SPIRIT AND DREAMS AND VISIONS

Eph 5v18: …Instead, be filled with the Spirit…

1 Corinthians 12:4-7 - Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

Acts 1v4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me[a] in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

12Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walkc from the city. 13When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

15In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty)

2 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord[a] in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

17
‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.
18
And on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days;
And they shall prophesy.

We know as Christians that we have already been filled with the Spirit, but the Word also says that this is to be something that we should want to happen on a continual basis. The writer of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul, said 'be filled with Spirit' (Eph 5v8). This being filled with the Spirit is in order to be empowered to be able to do God's will (and thus serve), know what that will is, and to actually be directed in that will, and especially that we may be Jesus' witnesses. We know this because this is exactly what happened with the disciples on the day of Pentecost. Furthermore, a major way that God chooses to do this with His people is by giving dreams and visions. Again, we know this because this is exactly what happened at the first outpouring of the Spirit in the New Testament, as visions of tongues of fire appeared on each disciples' head. Peter recognised why this was happening (remembering the passage from the book of Joel), and explained it to the people:

Acts 2v16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17
‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.
18
And on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days;
And they shall prophesy.

From the outpouring of the Spirit and the resultant visions of the tongues of fire, came an opportunity for Peter to witness for the Lord and His death and resurrection, and from there, the Bible tells us, around 3,000 souls were saved (v41) and God continued to add each day to those that were saved (v47). From this we can clearly see just how important, not only the outpouring of the Spirit is, but the outpouring in the form of dreams and visions (and just how much God values these things).

God is willing that all His people would receive dreams and visions. There is no stipulation in the Word which says that people must be prophets in order to receive them. The scripture above says that God will pour out His Spirit on 'all flesh'; so all of His people. Both sons and daughters (v17) will prophesy and both old and young men alike will receive dreams and visions. And those considered small or the least (in mens' eyes) in the Kingdom will receive them: 'And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days'. God is no respecter of persons, and the only reason any man receives dreams or visions is because of the blood of Jesus Christ and His great mercy and grace.

While God gives dreams and visions at times which are completely unlooked for, He usually gives such things by the method we see in the passages above. Jesus specifically told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem (Acts 1v4) until they had received the promise of the Father. This waiting involved prayer: 14They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.' When God gives us the promise of His Spirit, He desires us to respond by showing a desire for that very thing via asking for it in prayer:

Matt 7v7“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

9“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

In asking in prayer, we align ourselves to receive what God has for us and this readies us to receive it. There would be no point for God to give us dreams and visions if we wouldn't even recognise a dream or vision when we got one. Similarly, if we couldn't discern whether a dream or vision is from God, it would also be in vain for God to give us such a thing.

In asking we also ready our hearts and minds to receive such things in the right way. We should desire to receive such things in order to serve God and His people, not in order to build up our pride:

James 4v2: Yet[a]you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

In asking we should remind ourselves about the reason that God gives us such things, and that is to glorify Jesus and make Him known. We should also ask that God use such things in the way that He wants to use them, for often we are unaware of exactly how He will use them and what ends He has in mind: Luke 22v42: '...nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.' 2 Cor 4v8: '...we are perplexed, but not in despair…' 1 Cor 13v12: 'For now we see through a glade, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.' Often, when light (truth and revelation) is received, simply shining (sharing to all) that revelation and truth is all we need to do: Matt 10v27: 'What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.' But there are also times when we need to be particularly wise with when, where, to whom and in what manner we share the dreams and visions God gives us because God will have a specific will for these things.

Furthermore, in the asking, God actually works on our own hearts and our own spiritual lives. In times of specific waiting and asking we naturally spend more time with the Lord, and this then leads to God stirring up our heart for Him in other areas of our spiritual walk. God expands our prayer life so that we begin praying more for others, and we also become more mindful for His Kingdom and will in general. We also find ourselves becoming more spiritually minded and mindful of spiritual things as we think on the will of God and the things that God is doing in our lives, the lives of others and in the world in general. God also uses the time we wait in order to have us die to ourselves so that we can receive dreams and visions in the right way. None of us are perfect at this, and often times we fail, but God is patient with us and He is gracious with us. God also often needs to purify our motives and our desires (as to the reason why we are asking for such things), and He does so by having us wait on Him in prayer and in waiting on Him in general (His Word, worship etc). And often God will often allow us to be very weak in ourselves, so that we will know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are not strong in ourselves or pure in ourselves, no matter how much grace we may receive in getting dreams and visions. When God took Paul to heaven, afterwards the Lord gave Paul a thorn in the flesh to keep Paul from becoming conceited.

It is quite important for us to have a good biblical understanding about dreams and visions. God very much wants us to know why these things are given, how He's given them before and understanding as to the types of revelations He gives in this form. The more we know about them via His Word, the more we come to understand, not only about dreams and visions, but the God who gives them. If we haven't before, it is very important that we get a good biblical knowledge about how the Spirit has poured out such things in the past, and how God has used such things to glorify Jesus and build His Kingdom.

It is of vital importance that we pray and ask for dreams and visions by using the Word of God. The Father always listens to the Son (the Son always interceding for us) and we know that Jesus Himself is the Word of God. When we pray using the Word, we pray according to the heart of God. What is more, the Word is always living and active and sharper than any two edged sword- the Word will never fail in its purpose! Whereas we are often weak and sometimes perplexed, the Word is always strong and always clear. Quote those scriptures which promise the outpouring of His Spirit, especially in the form of Him giving dreams and visions. And quote those which promise that if we ask, we shall receive. Some of the scriptures I've used in prayer in the past are the Matthew 7v7 + v9 scripture and the Acts 2 scripture I've put above and the one I've put below (there are others, but I'll try and post them another time):

John 16v13: But when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.

If you have a desire for such things, be encouraged to ask God for them and to wait till He gives them to you. This is often very hard to do. In my experience, sometimes I've only had to wait a very short time, and at other times I've had to wait quite a while for them. When I first asked God for dreams and visions I didn't receive them for quite some time, but eventually they did come. I would encourage everyone to ask for dreams and visions, whether you have a desire for them or not, quite simply because God said He would pour such things out in the last days, and these are the last days! It's also clear from that Acts passage that it is God's desire for His people that they ask for and serve with such things- the Word says, 1 Cor 14v1 Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. … 3 But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. 4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. God is wanting to encourage and edify His people with such things, and He is wanting to use us to do just this! We also know that prophecy teaches, instructs, encourages and warns; all things which the Word of God always provides for us, and prophecy does exactly the same thing. But the key has been and always will be for us to ask God for these things in prayer and then to wait for them.