Do you believe dreams are prophetic?

[jennifer_bloom]

God came to me in a dream 18 years ago and told me if I obey His teachings for 4 years, he would increase my intelligence and turn me into a Genius.

[Hardon-Collider]

Rarely. Once in a year or two i have a dream that lets me predict something relevant to the physical world, and it's not even something important. Trivial like what type of work i will do during this specific day. As accurate as it can sometimes be, it's extremely unreliable and must never be allowed to be used as a means to "predict the future".

Since the ego is absent during dreams, usually it's just stories that match the minimal sensory input of the body coming through (like dreaming of a sauna if you ate too much spicy food and are now sweating in sleep), topped with how your personality would reflexively behave in this situation if you had no self awareness, the expression of your soul without the moral compass, your deeper "i" deciding whether to do something or not.

And the funny part is that the true state of lacking the "I" that has a moral compass, is exactly what happens in "dreamless" sleep. Which is close to what our ancient ancestors lived like. No "i" to make decisions, and basically no conscious awareness. If you want to know how prehistoric civilizations had it, think of how you are in sleep.
The dreams happen all night long, that's what recent modern science is finally catching up to https://www.news-medical.net/news/20251022/Dreams-happen-beyond-REM-sleep-analysis-shows.aspx and the reason that you begin to be conscious of and remember the dreams just before waking up is because the ego is about to return into the organism. Hence you can begin to have a moral compass if you get lucid in your dreams, if you integrate the ego a bit stronger. It's actually our task, and i hate that it is cliché, but it is true that our task is to do in daily life what lucid dreams do to regular dreams.

Asking for perfect movie-esque prophetic dreams defies the whole goal spiritual striving. If you are told what and how, you become like a machine, bound to physicality and fully predictable.

[c704710]

"Testing all things" 1Thes 5:21

In your dream or vision. Read something in textual language, read it again, then again.

If it changes each time, you are very likely dreaming. Don't dismiss the dream per se; just don't elevate it to vision status.

If it does not change, you are very likely having a vision. But, verify.
What does your scripture _in authority over you_ say?
What does your pastor/priest/spiritual leader _in authority over you_ say?
What do your spiritual equals/accountability partners say?
What does common sense tell you?
How does it feel spiritually? Do you have spiritual peace regarding it, even if you don't like it?

[purplepoppy]

No but I do believe they reveal your true character because you can't hide from yourself in a dream. Dreams put us in situations we may never face, dangerous ones, hopeless ones, weird ones, and in each we behave as we really would and not as we think we would.

[hafinjun]

And?