In the Bible, many prophets and great men saw visions from God. In the New Testament, God gave a vision to Peter on the roof and he understood God's will in it. Moreover, the mission involved the gate to Gentile, which was opened through him. Similarly, the Apostle John recorded the visions he saw on the island of Patmos and the word heard was written in the book of Revelation, the last book in the Bible.
Even today, some believers claim that they saw visions while in prayer. God is true and alive, who reveals Himself to His children in various ways. But the question is that how to identity the source of the vision --- is it from God or just a picture imagined in your brain?
Preacher Chen from a church in Henan shares his view on how to identify visions: he believes that a vision appears under certain circumstances like in prayer or meditation, etc. He also cites that not all the pictures emerging in your brain are visions, but maybe it is the effect of one's imagination for people see many things or scenes from the television, movies or surrounding environment.
Visions need to qualify these requirement below:
1. You're clear-headed.
The Bible tells that the prophet Isaiah and the Apostle Peter stayed very quiet and conscious rather than in chaos when they saw visions, both knowing that God was giving them a revelation at that point.
2. Visions are clear.
God gave Peter three same visions which were very clear: "...heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air." (Acts 10:11-12) Look, the details were very clear.
3. You can interpret visions.
A visions from God is always connected with the person or the current situation and will be fulfilled in the future even though it may be not accomplished at present. You should interpret the vision you see and know clearly what God wants to reveal to you through it.
Preacher Chen holds that men cannot see visions or heal diseases by himself. For example, it's God's decision to display his power that cannot be controlled by human to heal the sick through this man or not. Vision are message or instructions from God. If a man often sees visions, it may tell that he is more active psychically than normal people.
So follow these principles when you see visions:
1. Guard your lips.
People look at some who claim that he or she can see visions once or twice marvelously. But if he always says so, people regard him as unnormal. For one thing, people may wonder if he wants to honor himself with the ability to "seeing visions". For another thing, they may consider the visions he often sees only as pictures drawing in his brain.
2. Have actions.
Peter, who understood God's will after having seen the visions, preached the Gospel to the Gentiles. Paul converted to the Lord and started his evangelist life after having seen the light falling from the heaven and heard the voice of Jesus.
Visions that contain God's will will propel people to act accordingly.
