From the desk of Steve Shultz:
Cindy McGill is my friend, is very deep and anointed, and she is as real and down to earth as it gets. This is an excellent word on dreams. Many have been reporting an increase in dreams. Why not get Cindy McGill's brand new book on dreams called Night's Corridor for yourself and even others who want help understanding dreams. You'll be greatly encouraged and benefit from her book and her article below.
Please remember us in your giving this year. We are a FOR-PROFIT organization, therefore, your contribution will NOT be tax-deductible. What you are doing is helping us take the prophetic word around the world. Simply go to: https://www.elijahlist.com/donations/donation.php and make a quick and easy donation today.
Cindy McGill:
How To Reawaken Your Dreams
As we get closer to this holiday season, if you are like me, you may wish those days would just skip over us all together. Our family was shocked when my dad unexpectedly passed away on Christmas Eve in 2000. My parents had just returned home from a candlelight service at their church, and as my mom was making a snack for them before bed, my dad went to Heaven while sitting in his chair. Needless to say, that event has had an opportunity to dampen the holiday season for me every year. But like so many people who have faced these kinds of events around this season, a choice has to be made to not let the past dictate my future. As you read these words adapted from a chapter in my book Night's Corridor, you will find how to hold on to hope and let your faith soar for coming days.
Also consider giving Night's Corridor as a gift this year for anyone in your life who needs hope and encouragement. I wrote this book for literally anyone, and it has received fantastic reviews from non-Christian readers. Anyone you know will be encouraged as they read this book designed to lift the heart and spirit by understanding what God is saying to them through their dreams.
How To Reawaken Your Dreams
Opposition always arises for those who have a dream.
Some opposition can be very painful, so much so that people shut down their dreams. Other opposition to dreams can come in the form of distractions, busyness, opinions from others, or personal belief systems that are misguided. So many people get caught up in a mess and then jump through all kinds of hoops to find the truth they need to guide their life, when all along the truth is being communicated as they sleep.
No matter your past, you have a chance to dream again and really live as you were created.
I'd like for you to think of a dream you had while growing up or in your past that falls into one of these categories:
• The same dream recurring more than once.
• Different dreams that have a similar theme.
• Dreams that are so vivid you feel like you were there.
Now let's look at three steps to reawaken your dreams: Remember, Reawaken your heart, and Respond.
Step 1: Remember
From birth, everyone has something they've been wired or designed to do. Dreams remind and reawaken us. We're going to go back to your starting place. What took you off course? What got you moving in a direction that was not designed for you? It's never too late to get back on track.
Take a few minutes to record your responses to these questions.
• Write down a dream you had while growing up. What was the main content of this dream?
• What were you the most excited about after having the dream?
• When did this dream stop?
Continue to answer the questions below, but also think about any nightmares you had, or even dreams that left you with a negative feeling.
• What was going on in your life at that time?
• What were these dreams possibly trying to shut down in your life?
• How does this dream connect to what's happening in your life right now?
• What would it take to turn this dream into something extraordinary for you as an adult?
Step 2: Reawaken Your Heart
Sometimes we shut down parts of our hearts during a crisis or in response to pain just so we can cope and survive. However, this is not a good long-term strategy for happiness and success. To begin the process of reawakening your heart, I recommend the following:
Let Yourself Dream Again
You are given dreams for a reason, so shutting them down robs you from experiences and information you were meant to have. Remembering your past dreams will help to reawaken your heart, but you also have to give yourself permission to dream again. Maybe you just need to believe that your dreams are legitimate. Well, they are, and you don't need anyone's approval to dream or walk out your dreams. The Spirit of Truth who gives dreams is all the approval you need.
You can't always control what comes at you from the outside to hinder your dreams. But you can do something about what you believe on the inside. If you have shut down your dreams in any way, give yourself permission to dream again. This can be as simple as saying to yourself and to God, "I want to dream again."
Forgive, Let Go, and Heal
Maybe you've heard the statement, "Hurting people hurt people." When people hurt each other, the pain is often excruciating and can act like a bridge that is blown up on our life's path, creating a massive hindrance to advancing into a good future.
Let's face it. You can either be pitiful or powerful, but you can't be both. Healing will come as you forgive and let go of the residue of hurt (bitterness, anger, resentment, grief, etc.). Whether you are ever able to restore what has been lost, forgive and let go for your sake so that you can have a whole heart and not be held back from your dreams. The future is in front of you with vast open fields of opportunity and accomplishments that await you.
Take a few minutes and tell God, "I turn over these hurts to You (be specific about them if you can). I ask that You would make these things right. I am choosing to forgive and let go of ___. Heal my heart and awaken it again to the dreams You give to me."
Stay Encouraged – You're Not Alone
Life tries us and can be wearisome. Most want to escape the process. Ways to overcome are often narrow and restricted by pressure. But narrow pathways cause us to drop the baggage we just don't need in the places we are headed. So as you are going through it, do not become discouraged or consider it strange when you face difficulty. It's a part of the journey. Dreams from God are promises and an invitation to partner with Him.
If you are going to reach your destiny, you also need others who will remind you of the future and hope that is set before you. They will need for you to do that for them too, especially since there is so much coming at all of us that is in opposition to the truth. We must come alongside of each other and continually call people to a reality of the truth about themselves, their connection to God, and God's future for them.
Step 3: Respond
There are a few practical things you can do to reawaken your dreams.
Make Your Dreams A Priority
The Raramuri people of Northern Mexico make their sleeping arrangements so that they can wake during the night to discuss their dreams with one another. I'm not suggesting that you need to change your bedroom around, but there are a few things that you can do to make your dreams a priority:
• Before you go to bed, ask the Spirit of Truth to guide you into all truth through a dream. As the saying goes, "Ask and you shall receive." And if you don't receive right away, keep on asking!
• When you wake up, lie in bed peacefully for a minute or two without starting to think about the day. I mentioned in the first chapter (of my book) that typically within five minutes of waking up, you've forgotten half of your dream. Within ten minutes, 90 percent is gone. So taking a few moments of reflection after a night's sleep will go a long way to helping you remember your dreams.
• Keep a dream journal or notebook next to your bed. If you wake up in the middle of the night and remember a dream you just had, write it down. When you wake up in the morning, write down any dreams you remember. If you're in the shower and remember a dream you had, write it down. The key? Capture the moment you remember your dreams and write them down as soon as you can.
Listen to the Message
Recently I had a television interview on a major news station where the reporter did not believe dreams were real or for today. It's really too bad. I felt sorry for her. Here she dreams every night – as does every viewer – yet she was discounting the reality and importance of messages we receive during our sleeping hours through our dreams.
On a recent radio interview call-in program, the phone lines lit up and emails came pouring in as we asked listeners to give us their dreams for interpretation. People are very hungry to know what messages are being spoken to them while they sleep. But it's hard to listen to something you don't believe in. The scientifically proven facts are in: You dream... every night. So believe and listen. You'll be glad you did.
Do Something with the Message
Throughout this book Night's Corridor, I've given a number of recommendations about what to do with certain dreams. For example, if you have a dream about your teeth falling out, get the facts and take a deeper look at the situation before acting. If you have a falling dream, consider if you're a person who just needs to be in control all the time. Maybe the chaos is bringing about positive change for a new kind of order in your life. Or maybe you need to take some strategic action to set things in order.
Be cautious that you do not act impulsively on information you may receive in a dream. Some dreams come to a person simply for contemplation or prayer and nothing else. But regardless of your dream, use it for your good. Explore the possibilities and make the most of the information you've been given.
Go to the Spirit of Truth to Get the Truth
In chapter 3 I gave you Seven Guides for Interpretation. The last one was to connect the dream with the Giver of the dream. Connecting with the Giver of Life, the One who made you, will cause the lights to go on in your heart, and your life will begin to make sense. Dreams can speak right to your spirit and cause you to awaken spiritually.
God is the Author of Life and is very active in trying to communicate with us. He gives dreams, has given you a life to live, and wants to help you live it to the full. Don't let religion bog down your thinking about what God is like. God is way too big to fit into your mind, and He's much better and much different than you presently think.
He will do exceedingly abundantly above all that you could ask or imagine. Wow! I think that's awesome. It's time to reawaken your dreams and dream again!
Cindy McGill
Hope for the Harvest
Email: dreaminslc@hotmail.com
Cindy McGill is founder of "Hope for the Harvest Ministries." As an ordained minister with the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, she holds an international license and currently co-pastors at the Salt Lake City Foursquare Church with her husband, Tim. They have been involved in pastoring, evangelism, and church planting since 1978.
Cindy travels internationally helping churches raise up evangelism teams, teaching on godly character and ministering in prophecy, dream interpretation, and word of knowledge. Her passion is leading teams of ordinary people, who love Jesus, into the streets, hospitals, pubs, new age arenas and anywhere the Lord directs. Using dream interpretation and prophetic evangelism, the door has been opened to share the Gospel to multitudes of people, who might not otherwise have heard the message.
