Silas
Beloved of All
Your prayer as a little child trusting the Father is beautiful, and I join you in it. You are leaning on the right truths, that Jesus lives to intercede for those who come to God through Him, that God can do all things and nothing is impossible with Him, and that the things impossible with people are possible with God.
Scripture does show that God has spoken in dreams and visions. In Job we are told that God speaks in one way and then in another, though people may not perceive it, in a dream or vision of the night when deep sleep falls on them, to warn, to turn a person from wrongdoing and keep them from pride, and to preserve a life from the pit. In Numbers the Lord says He makes Himself known to a prophet in a vision and speaks in a dream. And through Joel the Lord promised that in the last days He would pour out His Spirit on all people, so that sons and daughters would prophesy and old and young would dream dreams and see visions. That promise was powerfully fulfilled when the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost, and Peter explained that what was happening was what Joel had foretold. From the beginning the Spirit of God has been at work, and God has often communicated by these methods to those who belonged to Him and even at times to those who did not, as with Abimelech or Laban or Nebuchadnezzar, always for His own purposes.
It is important to keep this in its biblical balance. The Holy Spirit was at work before Pentecost, convicting of sin and drawing people to Christ. When a person trusts in Jesus, the Spirit comes to dwell within, and you cannot even call Jesus Lord except by the Spirit. Your body becomes His temple. He then works within you to conform you to the image of Christ and to give you power to live like Him. The outpouring of the Spirit is an overflow of that indwelling life for witness and service. Once the Spirit was given at Pentecost, there was never again a command to wait or tarry for Him in that same way, because He has been given and now indwells all who believe.
The Spirit is also the One who inspired the Scriptures through men like David, and what is written is sure and will be fulfilled. That is why any dream or vision must be tested by the Word of God. God will never speak in a dream anything contrary to what He has already spoken in Scripture. His most steady and sure way of feeding our spirits and guiding us is through prayer and the Word. Just as we are faithful to feed our bodies, we need to be faithful to feed our spirits, and as we do, the Spirit strengthens us and makes us victorious over the flesh.
So I pray with you for your wife. Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank You that Your arm is not too short to save and that You are able to do what You have promised. We ask that in Your mercy and wisdom You would speak to this dear wife in the way You know is best. If it pleases You to speak to her in a dream of the night as You have done from ancient times, we ask You to do so, to open her ears, to turn her heart from any wrong way, to keep her from pride, and to preserve her life. Pour out Your Spirit upon her and upon your people, and make Your will in Christ Jesus clear to her. Give her a heart to hear and to respond. We trust You to do this in Your perfect way and timing, and we thank You in advance by faith, believing that You hear us when we pray according to Your will.
Continue to come as a little child, fully persuaded that God is able to fulfill what He has promised, abiding in prayer and in the Word, and trusting the intercession of Christ for you both. May you be filled with His Spirit, and may He by His Spirit guide you, strengthen you, and help you.
Scripture does show that God has spoken in dreams and visions. In Job we are told that God speaks in one way and then in another, though people may not perceive it, in a dream or vision of the night when deep sleep falls on them, to warn, to turn a person from wrongdoing and keep them from pride, and to preserve a life from the pit. In Numbers the Lord says He makes Himself known to a prophet in a vision and speaks in a dream. And through Joel the Lord promised that in the last days He would pour out His Spirit on all people, so that sons and daughters would prophesy and old and young would dream dreams and see visions. That promise was powerfully fulfilled when the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost, and Peter explained that what was happening was what Joel had foretold. From the beginning the Spirit of God has been at work, and God has often communicated by these methods to those who belonged to Him and even at times to those who did not, as with Abimelech or Laban or Nebuchadnezzar, always for His own purposes.
It is important to keep this in its biblical balance. The Holy Spirit was at work before Pentecost, convicting of sin and drawing people to Christ. When a person trusts in Jesus, the Spirit comes to dwell within, and you cannot even call Jesus Lord except by the Spirit. Your body becomes His temple. He then works within you to conform you to the image of Christ and to give you power to live like Him. The outpouring of the Spirit is an overflow of that indwelling life for witness and service. Once the Spirit was given at Pentecost, there was never again a command to wait or tarry for Him in that same way, because He has been given and now indwells all who believe.
The Spirit is also the One who inspired the Scriptures through men like David, and what is written is sure and will be fulfilled. That is why any dream or vision must be tested by the Word of God. God will never speak in a dream anything contrary to what He has already spoken in Scripture. His most steady and sure way of feeding our spirits and guiding us is through prayer and the Word. Just as we are faithful to feed our bodies, we need to be faithful to feed our spirits, and as we do, the Spirit strengthens us and makes us victorious over the flesh.
So I pray with you for your wife. Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank You that Your arm is not too short to save and that You are able to do what You have promised. We ask that in Your mercy and wisdom You would speak to this dear wife in the way You know is best. If it pleases You to speak to her in a dream of the night as You have done from ancient times, we ask You to do so, to open her ears, to turn her heart from any wrong way, to keep her from pride, and to preserve her life. Pour out Your Spirit upon her and upon your people, and make Your will in Christ Jesus clear to her. Give her a heart to hear and to respond. We trust You to do this in Your perfect way and timing, and we thank You in advance by faith, believing that You hear us when we pray according to Your will.
Continue to come as a little child, fully persuaded that God is able to fulfill what He has promised, abiding in prayer and in the Word, and trusting the intercession of Christ for you both. May you be filled with His Spirit, and may He by His Spirit guide you, strengthen you, and help you.
