What To Do When You Have a Nightmare

What To Do When You Have a Nightmare

If you are like most people, you probably have nightmares, and maybe even recurring ones.

Between the ages of 12 and 19 years old, I had a recurring nightmare where I would be dreaming and suddenly there would be a strong evil presence. Gripped with fear, I tried to run but would be stuck or only able to move in slow motion. I would find myself actually running through my house screaming at the top of my lungs.

Living with me was interesting!

I realized later, after I had my breakthrough, that it was actually a calling from God on my life and a destiny that Satan did not want me to see.

It is important to understand this principle. When something negative is coming against you, it really does mean that you have something positive to fulfill in life. This goes for your children’s nightmares, too.

How to flip the negative to the positive
I have trained myself to recognize that when I see nightmares or negative things, I quickly understand it is not God’s will. God’s ultimate plan is usually the opposite of what you see in the bad dream.

I have seen the greatest changes happen in my life and those around me when I practice a strategy that I call flipping.

Flipping means taking a negative situation and flipping it into a positive Kingdom perspective. It is the ability to recognize negative things, turn them around, and interject God’s positive will and destiny for your life.

This will positively affect our dreams. When the powers of darkness realize that you are no longer negatively affected by nightmares, you will see them less and less in your life. Of course, it may also require changing negative behaviors in your life as well.

There is a balance
There is balance to flipping the negative because, at the same time, we do not want to miss an opportunity to respond to something that God is trying to point out to us.

Let’s say you have a dream that you are at school, and you just took a test and failed. Then in the dream you go out to your car and you have a flat tire. The dream would indicate that God has been trying to get you to advance but you have been failing the tests. Flat tires represent the need for more of the Holy Spirit in your life.

Yes, this still indicates that you have something positive to fulfill and Satan wants to stop you. But first you will need to ask God to reveal to you what it is He is trying to teach you. Then, you can take steps and work hand-in-hand with God so that you can move on to a new level of maturity in your life.

Many dreams are given to us to help change our lives, and once you recognize this, you can change your life with almost any type of dream, even a negative one. My philosophy is if you see something negative, then you need to flip it—and flip it good!

6 steps to flip a negative dream:
1. Write the dream down or record it in a journal.
2. Pray about the meaning and ask God to show you if there is anything you need to change in your life.
3. Look at possible opposite meanings to the negative message of the dream.
4. Make a list of the positive and keep it someplace so you can see and pray over it often.
5. Take positive action on what you hear from God—like get deeper healing, forgive someone, get prayer, face fears, etc.
6. Come back to this dream later and make notes on your progress or new revelation you may have received.

Want to learn more about your dreams? You can use the interpretive process described in my book, Understand Your Dreams Now: Spiritual Dream Interpretation.

Remember: Flip it and flip it good!

A quick note from Doug’s team: Doug originally wrote this blog years ago. We, his team at InLight Connection, dusted it off from the archives and freshened it up, just for you. If you have not heard, Doug is currently in Germany on a healing sabbatical.

Want to accelerate your ability to interpret your dreams? You may want to consider going through the Dream Crash Course.