I'd like to hear from anyone who has visions and dreams or what you believe about them.
I have had hundreds of visions and dreams. Most of them are about things I will do or will see. There are times when I hear Father talking to me early in the morning as I am waking up. Sometimes I will be studying something in the Word and I can't understand it, or I'll have a dream or vision I don't understand. Then something will happen that explains it and I hear Him say, "See?" One time I had a vision that I was on a stage in front of a large crowd of very small people. They all looked like dark shadows. I was playing my guitar and singing for them and we were all singing together. A year later I was asked to lead worship at a place called The Potter's House in the town where I lived. I went there and was asked to sing on the porch of the house where the meeting was being held. The front yard of the place was full of black children who lived there in the projects. I started singing and I heard a sweet voice say, "See?" Sometimes I hear Father talking to me early in the morning as I am waking up. There's a lot more but I'll stop.
I want to hear what some you have experienced or believe.
I have had an incident similar to your hotel room experience. I had not been a Christian very long only a few months. All of this spiritual stuff was very new to me. I believe God was taking me on a journey to teach me about Himself.
I also traveled with my job. I was in Charleston, SC staying at an Embassy Suites. I was sitting on the sofa in the living room portion of the suite with my Bible on my lap. I was reading the Word and then started praying. I had my eyes closed and all of a sudden I heard a heavy demonic breathing in the corner of the room. I was very frightened for a couple minutes. I was afraid to open my eyes because I thought for certain I would see a demon there.
Then all of a sudden I realized that it was really just a sound. I laughed out loud. As soon as I laughed the sound stopped and the fear left. I thought, "satan, you are pitiful. you can't touch me. All you can do is make noise."
I honestly believe this is an indication of the spiritual activity that is present in hotel rooms. River's experience seems to confirm this also.
I was staying down in Portland 13 years ago around New Year's for this Christian youth conference. And I was really struggling because the topic of the conference brought up some yucky stuff from my childhood. I felt like I was drowning in all of this emotional muck...
Anyway, there was an afternoon where I ended up in the shared hotel room all by myself and I was doing a lot of thinking and writing and just trying to sort through all the stuff in my head. And the phone suddenly rang. And I assumed it was someone else from our group, so I picked it up... And there was music playing on the other end and it was this awful satanic music that I really don't even know how to describe. But it was very creepy and it just kept going and I kept waiting for whoever was on the other end to say something. And then it was like I suddenly realized that it more than just a prank and that there was something really demonic going on...
So I hung the phone up and I started hearing this crazy, evil laughter. And so I started checking under the beds and looking out on the balcony and looking in the closets and shower to see if someone was there, but there wasn't anyone there. And I was really scared and almost just was going to run out of the hotel room and try to find someone to talk to. But then I decided to pray, and I dropped to my knees by the bed and just kept praying until I felt this peace and protection.
But I still don't like hotel rooms!! I've only stayed in one twice since then, and I've had bad experiences both of those times... Different than what I described, but really bad... It's weird and I wonder why it happens... Like if it's some kind of spirit lingering from other people who were in that room before, or what? If I ever get married, though, I don't want to spend my honeymoon night at a hotel. I want to just go right home =)
RE: visions and dreams
I don't know if this really qualifies, but so many people have told me that I'm psychic. And I'm not... Not in the sense that I'm tapping into satanic power. But I do seem to get this sixth sense or foreshadowing of things that are going to happen. But it's not in a dream or a vision where I can actually see "pictures" of what's going to happen. And I like practically never tell anyone this and always downplay it when people bring it up because I've always felt a little bit like a freak because of it. But it's not an evil thing. It feels like God prompting me.
The thing is, I'm never sure what to do with it because sometimes the feelings are vague, so it'd not like a can forewarn anybody really. Like, a few days before 9/11, I started getting thoughts and feelings that something was going to happen, but it wasn't specific. It was like this sensation that the sky was going to fall. And I was thinking that it was probably going to be like a natural disaster. And then when 9/11 happened, I knew that's what I sensing.
Is that just totally weird? And what do I do with it? I mean, it always makes me more aware of things and I pray about what I'm sensing, but I don't what to do beyond that.
Oh, and one time, I had this friend who ran away from home. We were in youth group together and everyone was really frantic because they weren't sure if she'd run off or if there'd been foul play. And I wasn't that close to this girl and she hadn't given me any clue whatsoever about where she might be. But I just knew. I had this sense that she in this particular wooded area by this one bay. And so somebody went to search for her in that spot I said I thought she was and she was actually there.
And it was almost like people were afraid of me after that... People usually think of that kind of "psychic" thing as being demonic, but it's really not like that. Like I said, it's more like this prompting from God.
People do strange things in hotel rooms. Adultery, fornicate, call forth the dead (saiance) all kinds of stuff has been done in the rooms before we got there. I think when we are carriers of God's glory, the enemy gets intimidated and well, tries to scare us. I stopped watching scary movies about 2 years ago. He uses lots of different things in our every day life to put fear into our minds/hearts. I stopped watching 48 hours, the news and other shows because of it. I refuse to live in fear of what may happen. I rebuke that, it's ugly and he gets control when we succumb to the fear.
re: anointing
Like Isaiah said he was anointed and qualified (amp) to preach the gospel.
the anointing comes from the Godhead, he consecrates those He anoints.
pertaining to anointing oil, the oil is prayed over and considered pure. I use it for lots of things. It all depends what it means to YOU. Just like everything else in christianity, it's faith based. I dab it on my fingers and rub my hands together and place my head in my hands and pray over my mind, pray over my eyes and heart and everything actually.
I want my 5 senses to be used by God. I pray over those too. I see in the spirutal realm too. Sometimes good things and sometimes bad things. I used to get scared but once I got it in my head/heart that he has a big scary bark but no teeth, and the Lord kept reminding me that I have authority over it now I'm ok.
Pixy, you should seek that out. So many people put down the giftings of the Lord when it comes to prophecy. It's because they dont understand it and it's out of ignorance that it's made out to be bad or for the prophets only.
There is a man named Graham Cooke and i would recommend that you purchase his book on prophetic gifting. You will see that your not alone :)
GraceGrace: I think you have an incredible authority in the spiritual realm and should seek it out. If I could recommend an author for you it would be Cindy Jacobs. She's this awesome prophetic intercessor that I think you could relate with.
The journey is really fun, diving in is mind blowing as to what Father God is going to do with your gifts :)
dont forget, the gifts of the spirit are for others, usually for encouragement. Give them out :)
"Anointing" is symbolic, isn't it? I always thought it represented a request that the Holy Spirit be poured out on someone/something.
The dreams I used to have were about the last plagues right before Jesus comes, or the actual second coming. They always scared me, like I wasn't "ready". This was when I was fairly young though, 13-14 years old. I would see huge swarms of insects/towering waves of fire/clouds of disease/brightness in the sky from Christ's coming...always in the distance or on the horizon...and the dream would always end before they got there because I would panic and wake up. In the most recent ones that I've had(within the last several years), it's like I have no fear. The "plagues" rush toward me and surround me, but I'm not afraid and nothing happens to me. There are usually other people with me, and it's like the peace that I have spreads to them too. I don't know if that's a vision or not, but it's just quite a comfort to me to feel so safe and calm where I once had such fear. I have never been able to count any "dream" I have while I'm asleep as "from God" though, even if they are about God. None have been clear enough, or have had any real messages to them. I do think that some people do have these gifts, they just don't know what it is or what to do with it. I would be careful about sensationalizing it though...some people may imagine that they have the same gifts and cause a lot of problems for others. Which is pretty apparent by the fact that it's very hard for people to believe someone that has "visions" because there are so many weirdos with Kool-aid out there that have "the gift".
hi.. I do believe that God uses visions and dreams for some of His People yet I am not sure if my dreams are from Him... some dreams are expressions to relieve stress and I think my dreams are more about that... I do love when Gods Spirits Discerns something to me but I am awake so perhaps I get visions of things... my fav author, not in the bible, is Ellen G White.. God used her in a mighty way through endless visions and dreams... her works are Masterpieces that I can not stop reading...she is known for her medical insights as well, some 150 yrs later her works are being noted by the medical establishment and they are astounded at her knowledge of things...Ellen had only studied up to the 3rd grade as a child so her wisdom is Spirit based... maybe God has Spoken to me in dreams but nothing seems clear enough or stands out enough for me to be certain.... blessings
"I would be careful about sensationalizing it though...some people may imagine that they have the same gifts and cause a lot of problems for others. Which is pretty apparent by the fact that it's very hard for people to believe someone that has "visions" because there are so many weirdos with Kool-aid out there that have "the gift"."
That's very true, Mark. When I was a child, I would say little things to my mom about stuff I thought was going to happen and after the stuff actually happened a few times in a row, she kinda flipped out a little. My dad said it was just that I was super intelligent and that I was able to pick up on things quicker than other people. But that wasn't it.
At any rate... I learned quickly to not go babbling on about my "gift" around people because it tends to just discredit a person, unfortunately. So, if I do sense something, like what I described above with my friend who ran away, I just try to offer it up as a possibility... Like, "Do you think Jane maybe went to...?" rather than, "I know Jane is there because I have this psychic feeling from God that told me."
And even then, people get all trippy about it... But they at least listen to you initially. It's when they find out that you're right that they get all weird.
