Dream Big by Rick Warren

“Now glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of — infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes” (Ephesians 3:20 TLB).

Faith is choosing and believing God’s dream for your life. Nothing starts happening in your life until you start dreaming. God gave you the ability to dream, to create, to imagine. Dreaming is an act of faith. Everything you see on this planet started as a dream.

So, how do you get God’s dream for your life? You do three things:

First, you dare to ask for it. Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of — infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes” (TLB).

If you want God’s blessing on your life this year, you must dare to ask for it. You must say, “God, what’s your dream for my life? What do you want me to do?” Then you ask yourself, “What would I attempt for God if I knew I couldn’t fail?” Let that expand your vision.

Second, you believe God’s promises. The Bible says in Jeremiah 32:27, “I am the Lord, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me?” (NLT, second edition)

Never let an impossible situation intimidate you. Let it motivate you to pray more, believe more, trust more, experience more, learn more, and grow more. Faith always works in the realm of the impossible.

Hudson Taylor said there are three stages to God’s will in your life: impossible, possible, and done.

Third, you dream big. “Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession” (Psalm 2:8 NIV).

The size of your God should determine the size of your goal. You haven’t really believed God until you’ve attempted something that can’t be done in the power of the flesh. If you want to know how big your dream should be, ask yourself two questions: How much time do you have to give to it? If it’s a dream you can give the rest of your life to, then you can really dream big.

Second, what are you shaped to do? What are your spiritual gifts, heart, abilities, personality, and experiences — the five things that make you you. What do you love to do? What are you gifted to do?

Dream great dreams for God. It’s the first step in your walk of faith.


Talk It Over

Have you been waiting on God to make your dream happen? What have you asked of him concerning your dream?
What is the seemingly impossible thing you would attempt if you knew you wouldn’t fail?
How do your dreams reflect the amount of faith you have in God?