Islaam, being the natural way, recognises the innate human need for help in making decisions and has protected the faith of its followers from corruption and given them a sense of contentment and peace in their daily lives by providing guidance in this regard. That guidance consists of clear instructions to the believers to put their trust ultimately in Allah whenever decisions are to be taken. When trust is placed in the divine decree, a sense of contentment and happiness is sure to follow. Jaabir (RA) said, "The Prophet (SAW) taught us to make the prayer seeking good in all affairs the way that he taught us a chapter from the Quran. He (SAW) said,
"If any of you decides on a matter, he should pray two units of voluntary prayer then say:
Allãhumma 'innee 'astakheeruka bi`ilmika, wa 'astaqdiruka biqudratika, wa 'as'aluka min fadhlikal-`atheemi, fa'innaka taqdiru wa lã 'aqdiru, wa ta`lamu wa lã 'a`lamu, wa 'anta `allãmul-ghuyoobi, 'allãhumma 'in kunta ta`lamu 'anna hãthal 'amra - and [here] you name it [the affair] by its name - khayrun lee fee deenee wa ma`ãshee wa `ãqibati 'amree, wa`ãjilihi wa'ãjilihi, faqdurhu lee wa yassirhu lee, thumma bãriklee feeh, wa 'in kunta ta`lamu 'anna hãthal-'amra sharrun lee fee deenee wa ma'ãshee wa `ãqibati 'amree, wa`ãjilihi wa'ãjilihi, fasrifhu `annee wasrifnee `anhu, waqdurlee 'al-khayra haythu kãna, thumma radh-dhinee bihi'. (Sahih Bukhari)
(O' Allah, I ask your guidance due to your knowledge, and I ask your help due to your ability. For You are able and I'm not able, You know and I don't Know, and You are the one that knows the hidden matters. O' Allah if You know that this affair -and you name it by its name- is better for me in my faith, my livelihood, the aftermath of my affair, its short term, and its long term, then decree it for me, make it easy for me, and bestow blessings for me in it; and if You know that this affair is bad for me in my faith, my livelihood, the aftermath of my affair, its short term, and its long term, then turn it away from me, and turn me away from it; and decree for me the good where ever it is, and then content me with it.)
In keeping with the instructions of the Prophet (SAW), given in the above mentioned hadith, when faced with a choice between two or more halal (permissible) actions (Ibn Abee Jamrah quoted in Fat-hul-Baari), a decision should be arrived upon using one's intellect and knowledge of Islaam. Having done this, one should then seek Allah's guidance as to the choice that has been made by making a two unit prayer [at a permissible time (the five prohibited times are after the morning prayer (Salaatul-Fajr) until sunrise, while the sun is rising, when the sun reaches the meridian, after the afternoon prayer (Salaatul-Asr) until the setting of the sun, and while the sun is setting.)], after which the aforementioned supplication called du'a al-Istikhaarah should be said.
Unfortunately, contrary to the instructions of the Prophet (SAW), Muslims today depend entirely on the prayer to make their decisions for them. That is, they make the prayer and supplication prior to making any decision, and rely on dreams to provide the answers for them. It is even common for people to ask others to make istikhaarah on their behalf. The prayer is often repeated, prior to sleeping, for a set number of days and dream books are consulted to interpret the symbols in their dreams. All of this has NO basis in the methodology taught by the Prophet (SAW). However, this is not to say that a good dream may not be acted upon as confirmation of a decision, about which istikhaarah was made.
Information From
Dream Interpretation According to the Qur'aan and Sunnah
By Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips