When three Orlando, Florida, women recently set out for their favorite mall, they figured it would be just another shopping trip. And it was—until God invaded and changed their lives forever.
While the trio enjoyed lunch in the food court, two of them listened as their friend shared a dream she had the night before.
They were perplexed. Did the dream mean something? If it had a deeper meaning, what was it?
Nearby sat two Christians who were also talking about dreams. They turned to the three women. “Do any of you have a dream you want interpreted?” they asked.
The women looked at each other. One of them stammered, “Yes. In fact, we were just talking about it.”
As the woman described her dream, the Christians silently prayed for God’s wisdom and direction. When she finished, they offered her a spiritual interpretation of her dream as well as God’s encouragement. The woman was so touched that she gave her heart to Jesus, right there in the food court and in front of her friends.
Elsewhere in the mall that day, another group of Christians was walking and praying when they sensed the Holy Spirit pointing out a certain man. A thought arose in their spirits: He’s struggling with loneliness.
They approached him and struck up a conversation. Within minutes, the man invited Jesus Christ into his heart.
Elated, the group moved on and found a woman they felt the Holy Spirit directing them toward. They interpreted a dream for her and then led her to the Lord.
A third group walking around the Orlando mall felt the sensation of electricity in their hands and interpreted it as a sign to pray for someone’s healing. Upon seeing a woman with a withered hand and a limp, they approached her and were soon praying for her.
Suddenly, the woman’s withered hand opened and her feet straightened! She was so excited that she accepted Jesus on the spot.
During that weekend in Orlando, 14 people came to know Jesus Christ, and several were healed. The Christians were members of our Dream Teams, individuals who have been trained by Streams Ministries International in dream interpretation and prophetic evangelism.
Last year, we sent a Dream Team to Salt Lake City for the Winter Olympics. In a Starbucks coffeehouse one night, two team members were chatting about dreams when they looked over at a group of about 30 people standing in line. “Does anyone have a dream they’d like to know more about?” one of them asked.
A news agency journalist joined them and recounted her dream. When the team gave her the interpretation, she fell back in her chair, looked at her boyfriend and said, “Wow! Did you hear that?”
Others had gathered and for the next several hours, the team interpreted dreams. In fact, during their stay in Salt Lake City, our team members interpreted more than 150 dreams.
Real-life experiences like these have led me to the conclusion that prophetic evangelism—a reliance on listening to the Lord while sharing the gospel—is one key to the next great move of God in the world. Prophetic evangelism is a great way to grow the church and to introduce Jesus to your unsaved friends.
True Dreams Are From God
In the 1980s, my friend and pastor John Wimber, then leader of the Association of Vineyard Churches, coined the phrase “power evangelism.” He focused on the usefulness of signs and wonders, especially miraculous healings, as a way to lead people to Jesus.
Prophetic evangelism is the next step in my understanding of Wimber’s vision. During the last 20 years, tens of thousands have been saved through what he called power evangelism. I believe that trend will continue.
But I also know that dream interpretation, words of knowledge and prophetic words—prophetic evangelism, as I call it—will help even more people come to Jesus.
There is much scriptural foundation for this idea. God promised in Joel 2:28, “Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.” When we read the conclusion of that passage, we find that the result of prophesying, dreams, visions, signs and wonders is to bring a harvest into the kingdom.
Though many churches have embraced the idea of Christians prophesying, they have not been as accepting of biblical dream interpretation. That’s unfortunate. The Bible teaches us that God speaks to us in the night.
Elihu confirms this in Job 33:14-16: “For God may speak in one way, or in another, yet man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, while slumbering on their beds, then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction.”
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