Praying while sleeping
(week 17/08)
Olubi Johnson
Many times God speaks to us while we are sleeping:
Job 4:12-13 (KJV): “Now a word was brought to me stealthily; my ear received the whisper of it. (13) Amid thoughts from visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men,
Psalms 16:7(KJV): I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.
Why does God do this?
He does this because many times when we are awake and our minds are active, the un-renewed carnal part of our thinking, which is enmity against God, will not allow us to receive what God is saying to us.
So God waits until when we are sleeping: when the carnal parts of our minds are inactive to drop His thoughts into our minds which we can then receive when we wake up, before the devil, through the carnal parts of our minds can interfere.
It is instructive to note the expression ‘the carnal part of our minds’: our minds are where our thoughts are stored and processed.
Before we got born-again our minds only stored and processed physical or carnal information or thoughts.
After we get born-again we are to feed our minds with spiritual information from the Word of God and process our thoughts using the principles of God revealed in the Word. This process is called the renewing of the mind. As God shines more and more of the light and wisdom of His Word into our minds, our minds get more and more renewed.
Romans 12:2 (KJV): Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
2 Corinthians 4:6 (KJV): For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Since this is a process that takes place over time, there will still be parts of our thinking that has not yet been renewed: that will still be carnal and be in enmity to God. This un-renewed part of our minds is what Satan uses to cause us to reject God’s Word and counsel to us in areas we do not have the light of revelation on.
Ephesians 2:1-3 (KJV): And you were dead in the trespasses and sins (2) in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience– (3) among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
Romans 8:7 (KJV): because the mind of the flesh is enmity towards God; for it is not being subjected to the Law of God, for neither can it be.
To circumvent this God sometimes will speak to us while we are sleeping:
Job 33:14-16 (KJV): For in one way God may speak, and in a second, but one does not regard it. (15) In a dream, a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men; while they slumber on the bed, (16) then He opens the ear of men and seals their instruction,
A good example of this is God speaking to Joseph about Mary’s virgin conception. This is totally contrary to carnal or physical thinking so obviously Joseph did not believe Mary had not been unfaithful to him. However, while he thought on this, God during the night while he was sleeping was able to get the truth of God’s Word from Isaiah 7.14 in that situation over to him:
Mathew 1:18-24 (KJV): Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. (19) And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. (20) But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. (21) She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (22) All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: (23) “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). (24) When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife,
Now the more of the Word of God we put into our minds the easier it will be for God to speak to us even when we are sleeping:
Proverbs 6:20-22 (KJV): My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teaching. (21) Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck. (22) When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you.
So feed daily as a habit on the written Word, learn to get up early (Psalms 63.1; 5.2, Mark 1.35) in the morning to pray so you can receive whatever God has put into your mind while you were sleeping
