Understanding Dreams

Alexander Pagani
1. Does God Speak Through Dreams?
2. 5 Reasons God Speaks Through Dreams
3. 14 Categories of Dreams
4. Symbols
5. Numbers
6. Colors
7. 5 Hindrances to Interpreting Dreams
8. Remembering Your Dreams
9. Interpreting Dreams
10. Random Things in Dreams
Lesson 1
Does God Speak
Through Dreams?
1. God speaks through dreams and visions.

Then the Lord descended in the pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of
the Tabernacle. “Aaron and Miriam!” he called, and they stepped forward.
And the Lord said to them, “Now listen to what I say: “If there were prophets
among you, I, the Lord, would reveal myself in visions. I would speak to
them in dreams.
Numbers 12:5-6 NLT

2. Dreams and visions are different

Dreams are symbolic, visions are literal.

For God speaks again and again, though people do not recognize it. He
speaks in dreams, in visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on people
as they lie in their beds. He whispers in their ears and terrifies them with
warnings.
Job 33:14-16 NLT

3. Dreams are God’s parables when you sleep.

4. God will conceal the meaning of the dream so that the

king or queen inside you will rise up.

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search
out a matter.
Proverbs 25:2 NKJV

5. In the Bible, God spoke through visions and dreams because

there was no written word.
Lesson 2
5 Reasons God
Speaks Through Dreams
1. To restrain us from evil.

But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, “Indeed
you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she
is a man’s wife.”
Genesis 20:3 NKJV

2. To reveal His will.

But God had come to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said to him,
“Be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.”
Genesis 31:24 NKJV

3. To encourage us.

And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his
companion. He said, “I have had a dream: To my surprise, a loaf of barley
bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and struck it so
that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed.”
Judges 7:13 NKJV

4. To prophesy the future.

Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him
even more.
Genesis 37:5

5. To instruct us.

But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord
appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid
to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the
Holy Spirit.
Matthew 1:20 NKJV
Lesson 3
14 Categories
of Dreams
Dreams are our narrators from heaven. God uses dreams to give us insight,
deliverance, and revelation.

1. Healing dreams - These dreams are designed to bring restoration from

some misfortune or hurt that is happening in your life in the natural realm.

2. Cleansing dreams - These are dreams where God brings deliverance

to you when there’s no deliverance accessible to you.

3. Calling dreams - In these dreams, God is helping you identify what He

has called you to do.

4. Warning dreams - These are dreams where God warns you and tells
you what not to do.

5. False dreams - These dreams do not come from God, but from our
flesh, our selfish desires, or from the enemy.

6. Sickness dreams - When we’re sick in our body, it affects how we

dream.

7. Chemical dreams - These dreams come as side effects of medication.

8. Self-condition dreams - These dreams are God’s way of telling you

where you currently are on the spiritual radar.

9. Courage dreams - These are dreams that give you courage in stepping
out and doing what God’s calling you to do.

10. Correction dreams - In these dreams, God shows you something that
needs to be addressed or corrected, either with yourself or with others.

11. Direction dreams – These are dreams where God shows you where He
wants you to go in your ministry or career.

12. Promotion dreams – In these dreams, God lets you know that you’re
going to be elevated in whatever sphere you are in, in a language you
understand.
 13. Prophetic dreams - These are dreams where God shows you
something that is going to happen when you are awake. When you are
in that situation, you are to re-enact whatever was shown in your dream.

14. Warfare dreams - In these dreams, God shows you the enemy’s plans.

Visitations in Dreams
1. God Himself.
2. Angels of the Lord.
3. Demons.
Lesson 4
Symbols
Which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.
Colossians 2:17 NKJV

The primary person in a story or event is a type. Types foreshadow something

that will occur in the future. They are symbols and examples of spiritual
realities. The fulfilment of a type is called the antitype.

For example, Noah is the type (foreshadowing Jesus), and Jesus is the
antitype.

But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man
be.
Matthew 24:37 NKJV

Type and Forms

Who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was
divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said,
“See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the
mountain.”
Hebrews 8:5 NKJV

Hagar and Sarah

For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman,
the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born
according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, which
things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount
Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar—for this Hagar is Mount
Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in
bondage with her children—but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the
mother of us all.
Galatians 4:22-26 NKJV

Both Hagar and Sarah served as an illustration:

Hagar was a person, but she also represented the natural city of
Jerusalem.
Sarah was a person, but she also represented the heavenly Jerusalem.
Dreams often include symbols. The things we see in our dreams might not
be literal; they may represent something else.

Pastor showing up in the dream can serve as an illustration.

People and Numbers

God will speak through people and through numbers in dreams.
Lesson 5
Numbers
When we see numbers repeated throughout the Bible, we find that they
hold specific meanings.

Number 1 - Singleness or wholeness

The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole
body will be full of light.
Matthew 6:22 NKJV

Number 2 - Multiplication

Number 3 - Power of God

Spirit, soul, body
Holy, Holy, Holy
Miracles Signs, Wonders
30,60,100
Father, Son, Spirit
Spirit, water and the blood

Number 4 - Divine Order

Four living beings
Four winds
Four directions
Four Levites carrying the Ark
Four gospels
Four seasons

Number 5 - Grace
Five senses
Five fingers
Five toes
Five pillars
Five-fold
Five books of Moses

Number 6 - Man
Man was created on the sixth day
Number 7 - Perfection
Seven days in a week
Seven continents
Seven seas
Seven- fold spirit of God
Seven “I am” declarationsed by Jesus
Seven music notes on a keyboard
Joshua walked around the walls of Jericho seven times

Number 8 - New Beginnings

Number 9 - The Holy Spirit

Nine gifts of the Spirit
Nine fruits of the Spirit

Number 10 - The Law

Ten commandments

Number 11 - Lawlessness and disorder

Number 12 - Government
Twelve tribes of Israel
Twelve apostles
Twelve hours in a day
Twelve months in a year
Twelve spies

Number 25 - Ministry Training

Levites entered their service at the age of 25.

Number 30 - Ministry Launching

Joseph was 30 when he became prime minister.

Number 40 - Two Meanings: Testing and Generation

Moses, Elijah and Jesus fasted for 40 days.

Number 99 - Stability
Jesus said that in a sheepfold of a hundred sheep, only one got lost.

Number 400 - Two Meaning: Silence and Slavery

The Israelites were 400 years slaveryslaves in Egypt for 400 years.
God was silent for 400 years between the books of Malachi and Matthew.
Lesson 6
Colors
God can also speak through colors in your dreams. Joseph was a
dreamer, and he had a coat of many colors.

So that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known

through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly
places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He
carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Ephesians 3:10 NASB 1995

Manifold is defined as various, many sided, and/or multi-colored.

Consider these colors and their meanings when you interpret your
dreams:

Color Positive Negative

Red Wisdom and Anointing Anger and War
Blue Revelation Depression
Green Life Envy
Gold Purity Idolatry
Purple Authority and Royalty Authority Stolen
Orange Perseverance Warning
Silver Grace and Redemption Legalism and Self
Righteousness
Yellow Hope and Gifts Cowardice
Pink Love and Childlikeness Childishness
Grey Honor and Maturity Indecisiveness
White Holiness and Off-White: False
Righteousness Spirituality and
Religious
Lesson 7
5 Hindrances to
Interpreting Dreams
Dream interpretation doesn’t come automatically; it often takes work to
understand the true meaning of a dream. Here are some things that can
get in the way of you properly interpreting your dreams:

1. Laziness
The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; but the soul of the diligent
shall be made rich.
Proverbs 13:4 NKJV

2. Fleshly Wisdom

For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are
earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish
ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.
James 3:13 NLT

3. Doubting Other People’s Giftings

But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own
country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.”
Mark 6:4 NKJV

4. Overanalyzing the Dream

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees.
Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your
herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—
justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the
more important things. Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t
accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel!
Matthew 23:23-24 NLT

5. Religious

Your theological worldview is based on your religious upbringing.

When you are dreaming about others, do not share it without interpretation.
Lesson 8
Remembering
Your Dreams
Many people miss the ways the Lord is speaking to them because they
don’t remember their dreams or ask the right questions. Doing these
things can help you remember and understand your dreams:

1. Have a dream journal.

2. Reduce the dream to the simple form.
Ask yourself:
3. Where am I in the dream?
4. Who is participating?
5. Occasionally you shift positions in the dream.
6. Establish the focus.
7. Establish self-focus.
8. Establish details.

Don’t be tempted to think that you will remember your dreams without
writing them down or recording them somehow. Do whatever makes it
easiest for you to remember them.
Lesson 9
Interpreting
Dreams
How you interpret dreams will determine if you’re left-brained (Apostolic)
or right-brained (Prophetic).

1. Left-brained (Apostolic):
Logical, sequential, reasoning, analytical, black and white, blueprints, rules,
loyalty, shapes.

2. Right-brained (Prophetic):
Creative, imaginative, random, interpret dreams quickly, rhythmic, colorful,
artsy, essence, spontaneous, principles, honor, dimensions.
Lesson 10
Random Things
in Dreams
Here are some items or scenes you might see in your dreams, along with
their meanings:

1. Animals
Dog: friend, loyalty
Cats: independence
Spiders: demonic
Horses: Power and authority
Rats and mice: demons
Eagles: high levels of authority
Snakes: lies

2. Transportation
Car:
a. Passenger: in a ministry
b. Driver: it’s your ministry
Bus: a church with good systems
Boat: a ministry that moves in deep waters
Train: a denomination or church movement
Plane: a ministry that moves in a high level of anointing

3. Places
House: your the house
Basements and attics: hidden things, history
Hotel: temporarily place
Gas station: a place to be filled
Bathroom: deliverance
Office: administrative work
School: training, learning, or teaching

4. People
Grandparents: inheritance and bloodline
Parents: DNA, God the Father
Friends: brothers and sisters in Christ
Spiritual Leader: office and anointing
President: you’re a pastor or a leader
Children: legacy and continuance
5. Other
Stairs and elevators: promotion or demotion
Doors: opportunity
Nakedness: transparency
Pregnancy: ministry
Falling: losing control
Shooting: people are saying hurtful things against you
Teeth falling out: God is communicating a loss
Naked in public: a season of being publicly vulnerable
Getting money: favor
Losing your wallet: losing your identity
Finding your wallet: regaining your identity
Understanding Dreams
Discussion Questions
Lesson 1 – Does God Speak Through Dreams?

Ice Breaker

Do you believe God speaks to you through dreams?

Watch Video

Suggested Scripture to Read

Numbers 12:5-6
Proverbs 25:2

3 Discussion Questions:

1. If dreams are symbolic, what do visions mean?

2. Why will God sometimes conceal the meaning of a dream?

3. Why did God speak so vividly through dreams and visions in the Old
Testament?
Understanding Dreams
Discussion Questions
Lesson 2 – Five Reasons Why God Speaks Through Dreams

Ice Breaker

What was the last meaningful dream that you received from the Lord?

Watch Video

Suggested Scripture to Read:

Genesis 20:3
Genesis 31:24
Judges 7:13
Genesis 37:5

3 Discussion Questions:

1. Have you ever felt that God revealed His will for your life through a dream?

2. From the lesson, what some of the 5 reasons why God speaks to us
through dreams?

3. Have you had a prophetic dream that later came to pass?

Understanding Dreams
Discussion Questions
Lesson 3 – 14 Categories of Dreams

Ice Breaker

What’s a dream you had as a child that still sticks with you?

Watch Video

Suggested Scripture to Read:

Matthew 1:20

3 Discussion Questions:

1. From the lesson, what does a “cleansing dream” mean?

2. Have you ever had a dream that gave you courage or boldness to do what
the Lord has called you to do?

3. According to the video, who are three different beings we can get
visitations from in a dream?
Understanding Dreams
Discussion Questions
Lesson 4 - Symbolisms

Ice Breaker

Do you believe that night dreams can reveal something about our spiritual
lives?

Watch Video

Suggested Scripture to Read:

Galatians 4:22-26
Hebrews 8:5

3 Discussion Questions:

1. How does understanding “types” and “antitypes” in the Bible, such as

Noah and Christ or Hagar and Sarah, enhance our understanding of God’s
plan and His promises to humanity?

2. Why do you think God uses examples and symbols, like the tabernacle or
people in the Old Testament, to represent future spiritual truths?

3. Have you ever felt that God spoke to you personally through people or
numbers in a dream?
Understanding Dreams
Discussion Questions
Lesson 5 - Numbers

Ice Breaker

What role does a legal right play in deliverance? Why?

Watch Video

Suggested Scripture to Read:

Matthew 6:22

3 Discussion Questions:

1. Taken from the meaning of the number 1 (singleness or wholeness), how

might focusing on spiritual wholeness impact a believer’s actions and
decisions?

2. Why do you think certain spiritual concepts like miracles, signs, and
wonders are grouped in threes?

3. Why do you think God often communicates through numbers in scripture,

and how can these patterns help deepen our understanding of Biblical
truths?
Understanding Dreams
Discussion Questions
Lesson 6 - Colors

Ice Breaker

Do you believe God uses colors to speak to us?

Watch Video

Suggested Scripture to Read:

Ephesians 3:10

3 Discussion Questions:

1. Looking at the chart of colors, how do you think colors play a role in
expressing both positive and negative traits in our lives? Can you give an
example of when a specific color’s attribute showed up in your life?

2. Is there an area in your life that you can identify is keeping you bound?
Why do you believe that is?

3. How do you think the coat of many colors given to Joseph might symbolize
the “manifold wisdom of God” described in Ephesians 3:10?
Understanding Dreams
Discussion Questions
Lesson 7 – 5 Hinderances to Interpreting Dreams

Ice Breaker

Do you normally write down your dreams? Why or why not?

Watch Video

Suggested Scripture to Read:

Proverbs 13:4
Mark 6:4
Mathew 23:23-24

3 Discussion Questions:

1. How does laziness hinder one’s ability to interpret dreams? How can
diligence impact one’s spiritual understanding or receptivity to dreams?

2. In what ways might “fleshly wisdom” differ from divine wisdom when
it comes to dream interpretation? How can one discern the difference
between the two?

3. Why might it be important to have an interpretation before sharing a dream

about others? How could premature sharing lead to misunderstandings or
harm?
Understanding Dreams
Discussion Questions
Lesson 8 - Remembering Your Dreams

Ice Breaker

Why is it important to keep a dream journal, and what benefits might it

provide for recalling dreams over time?

Watch Video

3 Discussion Questions:

1. Why do people often struggle to remember their dreams? What tactics,

in addition to journaling, might help improve dream recall?

2. Of the eight techniques for remembering dreams covered in the lesson,

which one resonated with you the most, and why?”

3. What do you think about the statement, “I should never believe myself
when I say I’ll remember it”? Do you find this relatable, and how does it
impact your approach to dream journaling?
Understanding Dreams
Discussion Questions
Lesson 9 - Interpreting Dreams

Ice Breaker

Do you feel like you are able to correctly interpret your own dreams? Do
you use other material or books to help you interpret them?

Watch Video

3 Discussion Questions:

1. Which traits listed for left-brain thinkers (like logical, analytical, and
sequence-oriented) might influence their approach to understanding
dreams?

2. Can you think of a personal experience where your dream interpretation

style leaned more toward one side (apostolic or prophetic)? How did it
shape your interpretation?

3. Do you think cultural backgrounds can sway how one interprets a dream
or is interpretation universal? Why or why not?
Understanding Dreams
Discussion Questions
Lesson 10 - Random Dreams

Ice Breaker

Do you think your random dreams can have meanings? Why or why not?

Watch Video

3 Discussion Questions:

1. Discuss the significance of being a passenger versus being the driver

in a dream. What implications do these roles have on your perception of
ministry and leadership?

2. What does it mean to dream about hidden spaces, such as basements

or attics? How might these relate to your personal history or experiences?

3. Consider the meanings behind recurring dream themes, such as falling

or losing teeth. What do you think God might be trying to communicate
through these symbols?