Do you have any dreams from God that you have allowed to fall by the wayside? For some of you, it’s time to dream again. For some of you, it’s time to dust off your previous dreams. For some of you, it’s important to realize—God is not late, He’s always on time. For some of you, it’s important to recognize there is a shelf-life date of expiration for every dream. For some of you, it’s time to exercise your faith and believe once again. No matter which of these categories applies to you—it’s time to DREAM BIG!
“God gave me another dream!” seventeen-year-old Joseph exclaimed to his eleven brothers as they gathered in the early morning light before heading out to their day’s tasks. “Let me tell you about it.”
Many people have retold the story of the dreamer Joseph (you can review it by reading chapters 37–43 of the book of Genesis). God-inspired dreams influenced the direction of Joseph’s entire life. He went from pit to pinnacle, daring to trust that God was in charge of every dream-determined decision. And you can do the same.
So here are some lessons I have learned on creating and cultivating your own dream culture.
Pull Out Your Spiritual Antenna
Just as you must pull out your antenna to receive sound transmissions, you must pull out your spiritual antenna to tune in and receive God’s transmissions!
Get ready! Expect to receive!
The great British preacher Charles Spurgeon once received an entire sermon in a dream. He preached it aloud, and his wife, who was awake, copied it down. Later he preached the message from the pulpit to great effect. Get ready! Expect to receive!
4 Practical Tools of Application
1. The Power of Meditating on the Word!
“This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.” (Joshua 1:8)
Get Ready! Choose a Scripture and Pray-Read it! Expect to receive!
2. The Power of Praying in the Spirit
“Build yourself up in your faith by praying in the Holy Spirit.” (Jude 20) This is an amazing and underutilized gift! God promises to give us refreshment, stirring of our faith and an atmosphere where mysteries are spoken and revealed.
Get yourself ready! Strengthen your Spirit Man!
3. The Power of Worship and Singing Praises
“Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. The Levites, from the sons of the Kohathites and of the sons of the Korahites, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a very loud voice.“ They rose early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa; and when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, ‘Listen to me, O Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem, put your trust in the Lord your God and you will be established. Put your trust in His prophets and succeed.’ When he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who sang to the Lord and those who praised Him in holy attire, as they went out before the army and said, ‘Give thanks to the Lord, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.’ When they began singing and praising, the Lord set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; so they were routed.” (2 Chronicles 20:18–22)
Get your Praise On! Watch the Enemy Flee!
4. The Power of Applying the Blood of the Lamb
“… and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” (Hebrews 9:12)
Get Cleansed! Remove the Hindrances, in Jesus’ Name!
There Are a Diversity of Dreams
Dreams are as diverse as the many different languages we speak, the clothing we wear, and the food we eat. Dreams are a communications expression of the creative heart of God.
Dreams are expressions of creativity. Revelatory dreams naturally fall under the spiritual gift of prophecy. Dreams may also be an impartation of the gift of discerning of spirits. Just as there are no clear lines of demarcation between spiritual gifts (the word of wisdom blends into a word of knowledge; the gift of faith overlaps with the workings of miracles) so dreams may be an expression of multiple gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, Dreams are a combination of spiritual gifts blended together with the individual’s unique personality and history intertwined together to bring us brilliant displays of creativity.
Dream Language is a dynamic, living language of love. The primary difference between dreams and other revelatory expressions is that we receive dreams first in our subconscious and then later we become aware of them in the screens of conscious minds. Because of the divine nature of revelation, we depend on the Holy Spirit for understanding, retrieval, interpretation, and application.
Dreams Are Granted According to Your Sphere. This is an important key that is rarely emphasized or taught!
The Holy Spirit will give you dreams and other types of supernatural encounters, according to the calling of God on your life. You will receive revelation especially according to the sphere of influence you have been granted. You should expect to receive revelation within your domain. If you are a mother or father, you should expect divine guidance for your children. You should expect revelation for your job, your church, city, nation, etc.
This is referred to as your Delegated Sphere of Rule. Part of our creation mandate from God is to exercise dominion or authority over creation. We have been given stewardship to rule in the earth.
Our measure of delegated rule is determined by three elements:
- Sphere of faith: This is the degree of God confidence with which we move in our gift with authority. See Romans 12:3.
- Sphere of gift: This is the specific level or degree of grace gifting we have received from the Holy Spirit. See 1 Corinthians 12:4–6.
- Sphere of authority: This comprises our functional position and sphere of influence. See 2 Corinthians 10:13.
Be Aware of Dream Snatchers
There are many reasons why dreams appear to be lost after they have been caught. According to John 10:10, we have an enemy waiting to snatch away and steal the revelation that the Holy Spirit brings. Let’s keep things simple and clear.
4 Scriptures about the thief coming:
- From Matthew 24:43, “But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.”
- From Luke 12:39, “But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into.”
- From John 10:1, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber.”
- From John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
We must realize that throughout the ages the devil and the powers of darkness have made an assault against believers to snuff out the gifts of the Spirit and the revelatory realms of God. The thief has been at work to steal the true power of the Holy Spirit and to raise a counterpart move under the influence of the occult. But Jesus has, is, and will prevail through His people, and the thief shall be identified, caught, and be made to repay!
The thief can and must be caught. “But when he [the thief] is found, he must repay sevenfold. He must give all the substance of his house.” (Proverbs 6:31)
It is time to move into a higher dimension of the gifting of discerning of spirits and thus identify and capture the thief. Then we enter judicial intercession in a courtroom hearing and call forth retribution where judgment is released, and God’s justice occurs. (For more on this subject, see my books Strike the Mark and Praying with God’s Heart.)
The thief must flee. “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) This involves three simple components:
- Submit to God
- Resist the devil
- He runs in terror from you!
3 Potential Drains to Your Dreaming
1. Church Culture and Worldview
Wrong traditions, theology, and worldview have stolen the relevance of dreaming.
We have erred and moved away from our Hebraic foundation and shifted into a Greek mindset. There is literally no place for dreams in materialistic and logical scientism that almost completely replaced the original paradigm of apostolic Christianity. This philosophy produces the analytical mindset of “then why pay attention to them at all?”
2. Are You Personally at Peace?
Are you personally at rest or are you striving? What is the condition of your soul?
“One hand full of rest is better than two fists full of labor and striving after wind.” (Ecclesiastes 4:6)
“For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said, ‘In repentance and rest you will be saved. In quietness and trust is your strength.” (Isaiah 30:15)
One day the Holy Spirit whispered to me, “Rest is the incubation bed of revelation.”
3. Is Your Heart Pure?
Is your personal receptor clean?
“Be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.” (Ephesians 4:23–27)
Keep yourself clean from these five things:
- Worry—Psalm 37:8
- Anger—Ephesians 4:26
- Lust—Romans 13:10–14
- Excess and addictions—Ephesians 5:18
- Bitterness—Hebrews 12:15
Our spirits must be able to receive. We must not give place to the devil. We must not grieve the Holy Spirit! Remember, this is a Psalm 24 revival!
Dream Busters—the Four “D’s”
1. Distraction
If you are having a phone conversation with someone while trying to do three other things, chances are you won’t absorb all that was intended in that call. There are many good things to do. But if we want to receive and retain revelation, then we will have to weed the garden of “distractions.” This is one of the primary reasons why we are exhorted by Scripture to set our minds on things above and not on things of this earth.
TIP: If you can capture the little foxes that spoil the vine, we will be amazed at what God has to speak to you!
2. Disinformation
What does God have to say in His Word? Does God still speak today? Or has the false teaching of “cessationism” distorted your view? Too often, as Christians, we are looking to institutions, denominations, and uninformed people to get our theology rather than basing it on the Word of God. Therefore many people do not believe God speaks to them today—not because of anything the Bible says, but what others wrongly say it says!
Remember, Hosea 4:6 states, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”
TIP: Wrong information and lack of information is a culture that allows the doubt of darkness to breed and remain!
3. Disbelief
Many cannot and will not hear the voice of the Holy Spirit in their lives because they simply do not believe God wants to speak to them! Disbelief can filter out God’s love, care, revelation, and at times His empowering. We must remember that we serve an all-powerful, all-knowing God who has spoken, is speaking, and will continue to speak to His people.
TIP: If we have fallen into unbelief, then our first step is to cry out, “I do believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)
4. Downward Spiral
Satan always will attempt to thwart God’s plans. Such as the case of the Israelites. When they were coming out of Babylon, they received a revelation from the Lord (see Jeremiah 29:10). The Israelites knew God’s will for them was to return and rebuild the destroyed temple of the Lord. They had heard clearly from God! As the people gave into the enemy’s schemes, three things began to happen:
- They fell into discouragement.
- They fell into disillusionment.
- They fell into disinterest.
The progression of events is often a pattern for what can happen in our lives. It takes an act of our own will to choose God’s plan for possessing our inheritance.
TIP: You can reverse the trend and end the downward spiral, create upward movement, and come up higher than you ever have before!
4 Keys to Dream Bigger
1. Pray to Be a Dreamer!
This is my testimony. I was not a dreamer. I prayed to be one. I became one. I became associated with the best of them. My wife was not one. She had an explosion of dreams that steered us. We ran with the best. Today, I am an older brother among the best of the best in the world today.
You have not because you ask not. (See James 4:2.) Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full. (See John 16:24.) Ask bigger to dream bigger!
2. Go On a Greater Adventure with the Holy Spirit!
Receive the spirit of revelation and expect to be a dreamer! Step out on a limb of faith and do something for Jesus’ sake! Remember, God is the one who promised to pour out His Spirit on all flesh in the time of the Last Days. It is His will to give dreams and visions and revelation. (See Joel 2:28 and Acts 2:17,18.) Believe! Receive and obey the Word of the Lord! Dreams are our Last Days’ inheritance!
3. Receive Your Father’s Dreams – My Personal Life Experience
Recently, later in my life’s journey, I have become a recording artist in Nashville, Tennessee. I have released two professional albums, Never Alone and Christmas Wonderland and I am making plans for my third one. I have had the honor of being coached by some of the top vocal coaches in both the Christian and secular world and worked with some of the top producers, sound engineers, background singers, and song writers in the industry.
While preparing to record Miracle Hymn with live strings and a 24-voice choir at the infamous Ocean Way Studio A on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee, I suddenly realized that this was beyond my own dream. I was fulfilling a childhood dream that was my earthly father’s desire for my life. He spoke it over me when I was a child and told me, “When you grow up, I want you to be a singer in Nashville, Tennessee.” Those words must have been placed deep within me when I was growing up in rural Missouri in a town of 259 people in the middle of nowhere.
Well, 70 years old, I guess I just grew up and my Father’s Dream for my life has come to pass. I am here to tell you, “You are never too old to dream again! You can dream again! And you can dream bigger than ever before!”
And if that is what my earthly father let and said, then just think what our Heavenly Father has to say! “Dream Big! Dream Bigger! Dream Even Bigger!”
4. Dare to Be Like Joseph!
As it was in his relationship with his brothers, so it can be in your relationships with others in your life and spheres of influence. They mocked him and then they sought him. According to Genesis 31:19 they declared, “Behold, here comes the dreamer!”
Now, let it also be said of you, “Behold, here comes another Dreamer!”
Prayer to Dream Big!
Holy God, I want to Dream Big! Expand my heart. Expand my mind! Expand my faith! I expect to receive an increase of dreams and revelations that are according to my sphere. Your Word states that in the Last Days You will pour out Your Spirit on all flesh and that dreams and visions are an expression of that Latter Rain. Here I am! I expect to grow in the spirit of wisdom and revelation for the glory of God. Amen and amen!
Blessings!
James W. Goll
If you want to learn more about cultivating, interpreting, and stewarding the revelation you receive from God in your sleep, then you’ll love James and Michal Ann Goll’s Dream Language 13 Message Class Set in 13 CD’s or 7 DVD’s! For a limited time you’ll receive 50% Off this set along with other select CD’s and DVD’s from God Encounters Ministries (while supplies last)! Order your class set today and begin to dream big and grow in the spirit of wisdom and revelation!
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