Interpretation, Understanding and Timing

When God gives us prophetic dreams and visions, they must be interpreted before they are applied. Whatever dream or vision the Lord gave you, it is now also an invitation to dialogue with Him about it. We see this over and over throughout Scripture. Daniel, David, Amos and Habakkuk, to name a few, became proficient in inquiring of the Lord and waiting for His answer before acting on what they saw or heard.

Remembering that all interpretations comes from the Lord is a key that will cause us to not take it upon ourselves to see something fulfilled in our own strength, or limit what the Lord is releasing.

Waiting on the Lord for understanding is also extremely important, especially if there is a warning involved. If you are one that gets warning dreams or visions, don't go around telling everyone and releasing fear into hearts because you do not have the understanding or interpretation. Instead, set your heart to watch and wait on the Lord for the strategic answer of what He's doing and what He wants you release.

Not everything that you hear and see from the Lord is supposed to be spoken out loud to others. Oftentimes what the Lord shows you is actually for you to pray into and partner with God in changing the outcome. If you get the go ahead from the Lord to prophesy what He's given you, then start speaking and aligning hearts to the life-giving, strategic answer instead of to fear.

Sometimes the timing for the release of a dream/vision/word has not arrived and we must wait on the Lord for the appointed time of the release and not speak until He says so. The right prophetic word spoken at the wrong time is still a wrong word.

Be especially aware, when bringing dreams and visions before those in authority, to summarize and bring it with a hopeful and life-giving release, for no matter how negative a thing you see, the Lord's heart is always redemptive and loving in nature and He always has an overcoming strategy because He has already won the victory!

Habakkuk 2:1-3 NKJV, "I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected. Then the LORD answered me and said: 'Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.'"

Zechariah 5:2 NKJV, "And he said to me, 'What do you see?' So I answered, 'I see a flying scroll. Its length is twenty cubits and its width ten cubits.'"

2 Samuel 2:1 NKJV, "It happened after this that David inquired of the LORD, saying, 'Shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah?' And the LORD said to him, 'Go up.' David said, 'Where shall I go up?' And He said, 'To Hebron.'"

Daniel 12:8 NKJV, "Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, 'My lord, what shall be the end of these things?'