Hope, Confidence and Excitement

Last week I had a wonderful dream. However, before I prayed about the meaning, it didn't seem so wonderful! Though it was a short vision, it spoke much to me.

The main character in this dream was James. He was telling me about his marriage and how it wasn't going well. He and his wife were even talking about divorce. I was shocked. I hadn't seen it coming at all. As he continued to talk, it was revealed to me that he was actually possessed by a demon. As quickly as the discovery was made, I began to call out the demon in Jesus' name. It didn't take long before I saw this demon leave James, but it did take conviction and confidence on my part. There was a visible change in his face and I knew that the problem had been solved.

When I woke from this dream I was taken aback. I thought about it all day but was having a hard time understanding the message. James is some one I care for very much. He also does not yet consider Jesus a friend. I questioned what I was suppose to do with this dream. Was I suppose to ask James about his marriage? It didn't seem to be under any unusual stress to me. Should I tell him I had a dream? If I mentioned God in any way, I wanted to be on the right track, lest I cause him to stumble further away from the love of our saviour. I mulled and prayed over this dream for days.

I believe it was on day four I received some clarification in which I felt confident. I felt God saying that the picture of marriage was not that of "man and wife", but of "man and Jesus". Then when I asked about the demon, He said that it was a representation of Satan. It was (and is) James' heavenly marriage that is in trouble, not his earthly one. Satan has some how deceived him, thus the demon possession.

I was delighted to finally have some light shed on this puzzling dream, but there was more to be revealed. Why had God sent me this message? What was I to do with it? I had to ask the question, "so what"? I believe that God is asking me to pray for James. Now, I have often prayed for him, but I have also often questioned what good it will do. I must admit that my faith is somewhat lacking in this circumstance. How can my prayers help some one who has trouble seeing with the eyes of his heart? Well, the more I thought about this dream, the more awestruck I was. God asked me to pray for James. That means that He loves this man, is seeking this man, is desiring for this man to love Him back. God asked me to join him in wooing James to Himself. As a result, God also spoke hope into my heart for this man. So, I have committed to praying for James, believing that it is in fact God's plan for my prayers to be successful. However, God has also shown me something else. That He wants me to pray with the confidence and conviction I had when I cast out the demon in that dream.

In the past, when I prayed for James, a bit of hopelessness always seemed to sneak into my heart. Since the revelation of this dream the attitude of my prayers have changed. Now when I pray for this man who is dear to me, I feel great hope and excitement. I think of the day that he learns how much Jesus loves him and how wonderful it will be. I don't know when that day will come, but I feel confident it will happen. God can make it happen, and it seems pretty obvious to me that He wants it to happen.