Faith Sounds Like: Imagine

If you're wondering, like, what kind of church is this? This is

what is going on? Man? They sang a song John Lennon wrote back

in nineteen seventy one, imagine and you're like, man, the first words

that song is imagine there's no heaven. I do not know what kind of

church. I was saying right now. No, it's great to have you

here. We're in this series called Faith Sounds like and this is our opportunity

we're having. Really, we're I'm a lot of fun. We've done this

a couple of times where we'll go through different decades of music, picking out

some of the famous songs from each decade and looking at the message behind the

lyrics. And like I said, John Lennon wrote this song in nineteen seventy

one, I was the ripe age of negative sixteen and remember it well,

remember it really well. But he's imagining a world that he does not see,

right, He's believing for it, but he cannot see it. He's

imagining something that goes beyond what his eyes can see, imagining for something different.

Now, I don't think I like the idea of imagining a world without

heaven. I personally think that there's a lot of benefits in heaven, so

you know, to each his own, John, But the world that he's

dreaming of seems almost too far off. It's like too far off into reality

for it to ever become a real thing that he's imagining, he says.

You may say that I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.

I'm not the only one believing for things to change from what they are to

what they could be. I'm not the only one believing that things could be

different, that things could be different from what the present reality says to what

I'm dreaming of or what I'm imagining could happen. Have you ever had a

dream that just seemed too far off to become a reality, A dream that

maybe at one point was all you thought of. It motivated you, it

brought you excitement every time you thought about it, and when God spoke it

to you, it was something that just like took all of your brain power,

and it was everything that you woke up for, and it was everything

that you were believing for, and it was everything that you were praying for.

And now the idea of that dream coming to fruition just seems far fetched.

Throughout Scripture, your alarms going off throughout Scripture and still today. God

uses dreams. He plants dreams and visions in people's lives. He gives them

purpose and plans and prayers to pray to move us into action. He uses

dreams to reveal a future and to help us believe for something bigger, something

greater, something more, something that our eyes cannot currently see. He uses

dreams like this all the time, all throughout Scripture. He gives people visions

all throughout the world. Today, visions are coming to people for things to

believe for and to pursue with their lives. But what do you do when

the dream that God planted in your heart, the vision that you were given,

the prayers that you've been faithfully praying, seemed too far off to ever

become a reality. What do you do today? I want to take a

look at the life of Abram better known as Abraham, who his name would

become, who had a dream. God gave him this vision. God gave

him a dream of a life that was completely different from the reality that he

was in. God speaks to Abram in Genesis chapter twelve, and he says,

Abram, I'm gonna make you the father of a great nation. Your

name will be great, your descendants will be blessed. Everyone will know who

you are because your line will be great, and there will be a nation

that comes from you. It was completely different than the reality of Abram's life

in that moment when God spoke it. But I want to look at what

Abram needed to experience in order to see God's given God's dream come to fruition.

And the scripture that we're going to key into is Genesis chapter fifteen,

verse one. If you have your Bibles, you can open that or the

words will be on the screen behind me. It's a simple verse, but

I believe that God wants to speak through it to some people's lives today.

It says, after these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram

in a vision. Fear not Abram. Some translation said I will protect you.

Says I am your shield. Your reward shall be very great. Would

you pray with me this morning? Father, God, We thank you so

much for your word that is alive. It's made to penetrate our heart.

God, not to just be words that we read, but God words that

shape the very way that we respond and live. When we hear them,

And so God, I pray that you would speak to us. God,

I know that this morning you want to encourage some people, people who are

hanging on to dreams that You've given. And Father, will pray that you

would be with us this morning and speak to us in Jesus name. And

everyone said, And then within this one verse are some things that I believe

that God wants to remind those who are hanging onto a dream. Four things

that every dreamer needs to remember when waiting. Are you with me this morning?

The first thing is this the first thing that you need to remember as

you hold on to the dreams that God has given you. You have to

realize and remember that your dreams will be tested. This first word in this

in this verse, pop it up verse chapter fifteen. This first word deserves

some intention. What does it say? After after after what? After?

What will To really realize what God is talking about in Abram's life, we

have to go back to chapter twelve when when God speaks to Abram that you

will be the father of a great nation. We have to go back because

what Abram has been experiencing in the last three chapters will help us to better

understand why God is speaking right now. In chapter twelve, God calls Abram

to leave his home at the age of seventy five seventy five? Can I

just if you are seventy five or older, you don't deserve anybody to tell

you what to do. You have earned the right to do whatever you want,

maybe except if God speaks right seventy five years old. God speaks to

him and says, you will be the father of a great nation. I'm

sending you out to a land that you have no idea where you're going.

And Abram gets up and makes out, picking up all his possessions, picking

up his livestock, his family, taking everything with him, going to a

place that he has never been before. And shortly after he you know,

the first thing that happens in this great journey to become the father of a

great nation, the first thing that comes after Abraham's giving this dream. You

know what happens. Abram is stuck in the middle of a famine. Do

you think that as a seventy five year old man who has the faith encouraged

to pick up everything that he owns and goes on this journey with God,

do you think that the first thing that he was planning on having to deal

with was a famine for his family and livestock. He is stuck in the

middle of this famine and it forces his family and his servants, and his

flocks and his herds to go into the land of Egypt. Now, while

he's in Egypt, something happens in this relationship with Pharaoh. He feels like

he needs to lie to protect himself. He's worried that Pharaoh will kill him

if he finds out that Sarah is his wife. Pharaoh takes notice of Sarah,

and because Abram tells the lion says that no, this woman isn't my

wife, she's my sister. Because he lies, Pharaoh takes Sarah to be

his concubine. But in the midst of Abram telling this lie and potentially putting

Sarah's life in danger, God protects Sarah in spite of Abram's lie, and

she is returned to Abram untouched. Can I just say Abram didn't need to

lie, but he was convinced that if he didn't lie, something worse would

happen. Can I just tell you that as the foundation of every lie ever

told. Well, if I if I don't lie about this who things could

get really bad. If I don't lie about this, then they'll find out

the truth. If I don't lie about this, then this will happen.

And here's the bottom line. This was a character flaw in Abram. The

Bible doesn't sugarcoat character flaws and people. It tells it like it is.

And this was a sin. Abram lied, And in a sense, there

is failure on Abram's part. He lied, and yet God protects them even

in spite of Abram's failures. Can I just tell you that God protects his

people even in spite of their failures. I feel like somebody maybe just needed

to hear that this morning? Can I? Can? I also tell you

what stands out to me from Abram's failure is that Abram's failure didn't keep him

from continuing on to pursue God's dream for his life. That that him reaching

his dream wasn't dictated on if he lived a perfect life. It was dictated

on him not giving up even in spite of his failure. So in Genesis

twelve, already Abram his dream was tested by famine and by his own personal

failure. So when we get to chapter thirteen, Abram and his nephew Lot,

who's been with him from the beginning, traveling with him and his family,

they're forced to separate. They're forced to take their livestock and go different

ways because their livestock has become too much. They're grazing in the same fields

and there's not enough for their livestock to survive if they stay together, so

they separate. Abrams says, Lot, I will give you first pick of

the land that you want to go to, and so Lot picks the really

nice grass. Right. He's like, all right, dude, don't take

this good stuff. But what he doesn't recognize is that the city of Sodom

is nearby. And as Lot goes out, he inches closer and closer and

closer into this land, and Lot finds himself and his family captive to the

Babylonians in the land that they move into. So in chapter thirteen, Abram's

dream is tested by conflict. Now he's got family issues. Now his family

is in trouble. Now there's things going on in his family that are overwhelming

his mind and that he's worried about. And then when we get to chapter

fourteen, Lot and his family are made slaves and sodom So. Uncle Abram,

good old Uncle Abram puts together an army of his servants, mighty men

with pitchforks, and they go to battle, and they rescue Lot and his

family from sodom So. In just a few short chapters. From the moment

that God gave Abram this great dream, this great vision of being father of

a great nation, Abram's dream was tested. It was tested by famine,

it was tested by failure, it was tested by conflict, it was tested

by warfare. That's the stuff that comes before the after that we read about

in chapter fifteen. Chapter fifteen that says that after all of this that's been

taking place in his life, the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision.

Do you see the pattern? Friends, After Abram stepped out by faith and

from left his homeland, after he'd been through the famine, after he'd embarrassed

himself by lying to Pharaoh, after his family had gone through conflact, I

think it said Afflac, after his family had gone through conflict, after he'd

fought to free his family. After all these tests, God appears to him

and gives him this vision in chapter fifteen. Can I just say a lot

of us would have given up after having gone through one of those tests.

God, You've given me this great dream, But man, I did not

think that I was gonna have to deal with this. God, you have

given me this great dream and so much to believe for. But God,

I didn't anticipate that that going in this direction and moving in this way and

believing for this thing would mean that I would have to face this. A

lot of us would have given up after that first test. And can I

just say, I think the reason that we see so many God given dreams

never materialize in the hands of man is because we give up too soon.

Our dreams have to be tested. And when we realize that our dreams must

be tested, this new perspective that we have, this new perspective, reveals

that it's in the tension of testing. It is an essential part of us

reaching our dreams. It is in the tension and the things that happen within

the testing that help us to reach our dreams. Those who see their God

given dreams fulfilled are the ones who persevere through tough times. There are the

people who refuse to quit. Their tenacity and perseverance went out. They're like

Jacob wrestling with God, refusing to quit until they get the blessing that God

had promised them. I learned this principle of perseverance playing soccer at a young

age. I know this sounds anticlimactic, but I did not want to play

soccer. My dad made me play soccer. Also, this is not a

soccer body. Yeah, nothing about this is agile. Okay, this is

a football body, probably slightly breakable, but football. Maybe a preaching body.

I'm not sure about that song. But what happened is that I actually

got good at soccer. Not because I was the most skilled, not because

I was the most talented. But you know what, I just did not

give up. I would try harder on that field than all the other kids.

I would run until I dropped. I would play more physical than every

other kid on that field. I would give it everything that I had to

make up the difference for what I didn't have. I would not refuse to

be the guy who was not good. I would not give in. Can

I just remind some people here today, Often the people who fulfill their God

given dreams are not the most brilliant. They are not the most talented,

They are not always the most skilled. They don't always have the best resources

at their disposable They they don't always grow up in the family with with with

the name, and and and and the the the pooh wow, what am

I trying to say? The name, and and and the prestige? Right?

They don't always grow up with those things. They're just people who refuse

to give up on their dreams. They will be people who do not let

their dream die. Now, some people will ask, why do I have

to be tested to realize God's dream? Can I just share with you what

I think? I think it's because God can't give his dreams to people whose

minds are distracted by other things. He needs our undivided attention to be able

to move to the places where He is calling us to go our tests and

trials. Can I just tell you, friends, they're not meant to discourage

you. The things that you and I go through that so easily discourage us,

they're not meant to discourage us. Can I tell you what they're meant

to do. They're actually meant to draw us closer to the very God that

we need, the God who planted that dream in our heart, the God

who knows what it's going to take to get from where we are currently to

the thing that we cannot see in our lives. It is actually meant to

draw us closer to the God that we desperately need in our life. Pastor

and author aw Tozer said this. He said, it's doubtful God can use

any man greatly until he hurts him deeply. Now that quote kind of confused

me at first, because I'm like, God doesn't hurt people. But you

know what, I do believe. I believe that God will allow people to

go through painful things. You see, tests can be God's pruning shears,

can't they. I have a small orchard in my backyard. I'm not thankful

for it. It happens to be one of the most inconvenient things in my

life, second to my dog. If you're looking for a dog, let

me know. But pruning pruning fruit trees is among the weirdest nonsensical things I've

ever been a part of in my life. Every year, these trees grow

and grow and grow and grow. And every year I go out and I'm

shocked how much I have to cut off these trees. I am shocked how

many sticks are now on the ground. I'm shocked how long this process takes

nothing about it seems right. When I started studying how to properly prune fruit

trees, I thought for sure I was killing these things. I was cutting

away huge parts of these trees, cutting away parts that were fully alive,

in fact, cutting parts away branches off that I knew that the year before

had fruit hanging off of them. In fact, I just got done pruning

them two months ago, and Nicole looked at me and she's like, I

think you somebody killed it this time. She has no faith. But you

know what I had to learn. I had to learn that part of continually

producing the best fruit for the tree was that healthy fruit isn't necessarily the result

of healthy branches. Healthy fruit is the result of a healthy tree, and

a healthy tree requires caring for it in ways that in the moment seem painful

and wrong. Nothing about it makes sense to me, so that it can

produce something even greater than it has had before. Do you hear me?

There is something painful and wrong about it in the moment. But God is

using these tests, and he's using these pruning opportunities as ways to focus our

attention to what is even greater. On the other side, John fifteen,

Jesus said to disciples, I am the true grapevine, and my father is

the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn't produce fruit.

We all are good with that part. We're like, yeah, cut off

the dead branches. But look at what he says. And he also prunes

the branches that do bear fruit so that they produce even more friends. The

tests of life in pursuing and believing for God dreams in our life remind us

that we desperately need God. It focuses our attention not to what is simply

good, but to what is best for our life. It was after,

it was after the testing. It was after the pruning where God could say,

Abram, I want to talk to you about something, and Abram was

prepared to listen because he had taken the time, he had walked through faithfully,

He had persevered through the tests. He had been pushed closer to God

through them. The first thing that you and I need to be reminded to

reach our God given dream is we have to realize that our tests are our

dreams are going to be tested. And maybe you're there right now. Maybe

you're there right now experiencing what is painful and feels wrong. In the moment,

you are wondering, God, why am I going through this? If

this is where you said I was going to be, why am I experiencing

this right now? Friends, we have to realize that our dreams are going

to be tested. And then what does it say Chapter fifteen, It says,

after these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a

vision. Can I just tell you the second thing that you're going to have

to realize is that to see your dreams fulfilled, is that you are going

to have to remember that God offers reassurance. God offers reassurance. There was

two verses that came to mind as I was trying to think of what Abram

is thinking in this moment. First, John four twelve says no one has

ever seen God with their eyes. John four twenty four says God is spirit.

He is not contained by a physical body, right except of course,

when Jesus took on flesh to become human form. So when God spoke to

the people in the Old Testament scriptures that we read, he often spoke to

them through a vision. He allowed them to see and be reassured by God's

presence in their life through these vision visions. Not to mention there wasn't a

Bible available to Abram. Abram couldn't just get discouraged and go pick up his

Bible and flip through creation and check out what happened to Noah to be encouraged

right there, Well, there wasn't a Bible there available for him. He

couldn't turn to the Book of Genesis. So God speaks to him as in

a vision, as a sense of reassurance. Church, don't ever forget how

much God desires to communicate with you. Did you know he desires to communicate

with you. I think many of our faiths are founded on this idea that

we have to we have to to claw and grab and do everything that we

can to hear from God. And friends, let me just tell you God

desires to communicate with you. He communicates. Paul says in Romans that he

communicates through the Word of God, both written and living. Think about this.

He speaks through creation and he speaks through consciousness. I'm gonna be real

honest with you. I think there's maybe only been once in my life where

God has given me what I believe was a clear vision of something that God

wanted to do in my life. And I have met people who will say

that they can't be visionaries because God hasn't spoken to them the way that they

did that God did to Abram, or God hasn't spoken of them the way

that they do to other great leaders or other visionaries, that they know that

they don't receive from God that way? Friends, do you realize that you

have it so much better than Abram ever did? God will speak to you

every single day if you will read his word, if you will open up

the pages and you will read of the reassurance from generation to generation to generation

to generation, if you will read of the dreams and the visions handed from

generation to generation to generation. Do you realize that we have it better than

Abraham ever did? And what will happen when you hear from God? Will

a lot of things will happen? Get ready, buckle up. But if

the many things that will happen when you hear from the word of God from

you here, when you hear the voice of God, is that you will

be able to face your fears. I believe that fear is among the greatest

killers of dreams. Fear is an absolute dream killer. That's why God's reassurance

to Abraham included this reminder in verse fifteen, do not be afraid. I

will protect you. We have to remember that God offers reassurance, and then

with his reassurance, you know what we have to do. It's time for

us to act. For us to see the God given dreams in our life

fulfilled. We have to not only remember his reassurance, but we have to

replace fear with faith. You want to see your God given dreams come to

life, friends, We have to replace the fear that we have with faith

and believing what God could do. What would Abram be afraid of at this

point in his life. Maybe he was afraid of the Babylonian kings that he

had a defeat coming back for his head after rescuing his nephew Lot. Maybe

it was Pharaoh who was still upset about him lying this guy lying about his

wife. No, no, Abram had already survived those tests. You know

what the greatest test of Abram's life was is the test of his faith.

God had promised to make him a great and mighty nation, that he would

be the head of this great nation. You know what the problem was?

Abram and Sarah, we're old. Not only were they old, but they

were childless. There was there was no thought or no way as of right

now for them to even have descendants to be blessed. How could God possibly

hope to fulfill his promise to Abram. Now, it's not that Abram didn't

believe God when he said it to him and when he gave him that vision.

But you have to believe that when Abram laid down at night and he

was alone with his thoughts and he was recounting on the great vision and dreams

that God gave him that he would be the father of a great nation,

and that him and his descendants names would be great, and that they would

be blessed people. You have to believe that when Abram laid his head down

on the bed at night, and when he thought about that dream, that

vision that God gave him, that at the same time he was like,

but God, how I got like, It's not that I don't believe in

what you spoke to me, but I don't understand how this is even possible.

How do we know that he wondered these things well? Because he started

to try to make his own plans. Friends, the moment that you and

I start making our own plans to see the dreams that God has given us

come to fruition, it's probably the moment that we've given up on God's plans

for our life. You know, I've tried this before. I've tried to

do this thing where where I hear what God wants me to do. I

believe I know what God wants to do. I know that what God wants

me to do. And and you know what I've found the more that I

try to make plans on what God has planted as dreams in my life,

is that my plans are rarely founded in faith. They're always founded in fear.

Fear of what if God doesn't come through, what if it doesn't actually

come out the way that I thought it was going to come out. But

Church, God wanted Abram's child to be a child of faith, not fear.

I almost imagine God whispering to Abram, Abram, don't be afraid.

Just because it is humanly impossible doesn't mean it's divinely impossible. Jesus said in

Matthew seventeen. If you have faith even as small as a mustard, see,

you could say to this mountain move and it would go from here to

there. Nothing would be impossible. Church, don't put a box around what

God is capable of doing in and through your life. There is no box

big enough to fit around what He is capable of doing in your in my

life. If we have the faith to trust, you and I have to

replace the fears that we have with faith faith that God could actually do what

he said he was going to do. The last thing that you and I

need to do to see our God given dreams come to reality is that we

have to remember that there is a great reward for those who have faith.

Chapter fifteen, the Lord speaks to Abram in this vision, Fear not,

Abram, I will protect you. I am your shield. Your reward shall

be very great. Now, I think that when we think of a shield,

it's easy and obvious for us to think of a shield that protects us

from like a war. Right, Like, that's that's what I always think

of. I think of like immediately go to braveheart. Right, we always

think of the shield that that protects us from from the physical battle. But

but when God spoke this dream to Abram, and he said, You're gonna

be the father of a great nation. God knew that he wouldn't need physical

protection. The thing that he would need protection of more than anything, was

spiritual protection. God knew that when he spoke that dream over Abram, he

knew what the enemy was gonna do. Long before we even get to chapter

fifteen, God knew that when he spoke this to Abram, the enemy was

gonna come for him, and that he was gonna begin to speak lies over

his life. He was gonna say, Abram, did you really think that

you were gonna be the father of a great nation? Seventy five? Bro

sent five? You got no kids. Even your wife is making different plans.

Abram was so out of plans that he decided to make a plan and

say, hey, I got this, I got I got this. This

guy named Eliason, he's awesome. What if he became my heir? Like

God, would that work? Would would would that work in this situation?

Like if we just did that through him? And the Enemy's like yeah,

yeah, I don't. Sarah was making some crazy plans too. You know

what Sarah said? She was even crazier than Abraham. Sarah was like,

it ain't happening, bro, it ain't happening. But your servant Hagar.

You could sleep with her, and she could give you the children that you

desire for making their own plans. And the whole time, the enemy is

like, Yeah, there's no way, there's no way. You really thought

that this would happen. You really thought that this was gonna go the way

that you thought. You really thought that when God spoke these things to you.

Really you've been praying these things for years and years and years and years

and years. You really thought that God was hearing you. You really thought

that God was gonna pull through for you. This is what the enemy does,

friends, This is what he does. He convinces us that it could

never happen. He convinces us that we're not worthy. He convinces us that

we were were we're dumb, and that are that our prayers are fruitless.

He convinces us that nobody hears us, that nobody's behind us. He convinces

us that what we heard was just our imagination. He vinces us that it

will never happen. But the battle that God wanted to protect Abram from wasn't

a spiritual It wasn't a physical battle. It was a spiritual battle. What

does Paul saying a Phesian six he says, we're not fighting against humans.

We're fighting against forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and power in the

spiritual world. What do's to say? So put on the armor that God

gives, and what is the shield of our God given armor? Look at

what a Phesian six sixteen says. Let your what faith be like a shild.

Let your faith be like a shild. Let your faith be like a

shield, so that when the enemy does try to convince you, your faith

will say no, no, no, I know what I'm Gon said.

When you're when when when? When the enemy comes, and when he says

he says no, no, no, no no, he could never happen.

God doesn't hear him. No no, You're faith says no, no

no. I remember what my God said. I know who my God said

that I would be. I know what God said my destiny would be.

I know what God said about my family. I know what God said about

my wife. I know what God has said about my job. I know

what God has said about me. Let your faith be like a shield.

In order to win the spiritual battle of believing for our God given dreams,

we will have to believe what we cannot currently see. What does Paul say

about faith and Hebrews eleven, He says, faith is the substance of things

hopeful, the evidence of things not see. Just a few verses later in

the book of Hebrews eleven, Paul's recounting the great people of faith over the

years and over the generations, and he says, by an act of Abram

lived in a country promised to him, lived as a stranger, camping intense.

Abram did it by keeping his eye on an unseen city with real eternal

foundations, the city designed and built by God himself. Can I translate this

free? Friends? Abram was a man of faith who believed in the dream

that God had implanted on his heart and his faith one out, even when

he could not see it, even when he had all the troubles and all

the tests and all the trials in front of him, even when there was

suffering, even when there was conflict, even when there's family and trouble,

even when there was there was all these things that could have provided all the

excuses faith one out. Abram would not allow the dream that God gave him

to be something that the enemy could convince him wasn't actually from God. People

who have the faith to believe for what they cannot currently see, but trust

in God's dreams get to see what others could never imagine. Abraham was one

of these people. But what about you? Can you need to be reminded

of some things this morning? Do you need to be reminded of the dreams

that God had planted in your life? The things that God has spoken over

you, the things that God said to be praying for and to be believing

for. And you've been holding onto these things and they feel like they're slipping

out of your hand. Do you need to be reminded of some things this

morning? Maybe you need to be reminded that in the middle of your trials

and your tests, this was to be expected. That your test is not

to discourage you, but it's to push you closer to the God that you

desperately. Maybe you're being tested right now and you're like, this is not

right. God. I didn't know that I would have to go through this

to get to this place. I didn't know that I would have to face

this to get to that place. Maybe you need to be reminded that your

dreams are going to be tested. Maybe you need to be reminded that God

offers you his reassurance. Can I just speak to somebody in this room.

You're not alone, You're not alone. You're not alone. He's with you,

He said to Abraham, I see you. I'm your protection, I'm

your shield. Maybe this morning you have so many fears that are tied to

the dreams that you have, and maybe this morning it's time to lay down

those fears and allow God to breathe faith into your life. Faith that what

God spoke could actually happen. Faith that the dream that God gave you could

actually be true. Faith that God could be bigger than all the fears that

you've been carrying around that are attached to that dream. Maybe you need to

be reminded that there is a great reward that awaits those who have the faith

to believe. What dream has God given you? Friends? What dream is

like slipping from your hand? I felt this week God God put it was

like God put a specific word for each service on my heart, and it

was this service that I really believe that God wanted me to remind some people

in here that the dream of a child may seem humanly impossible. But it

is not divinely impossible. I don't know who you are, but God wants

to remind you to hold on your dream, to lay down all the fear,

no hold on of faith, and believe what God said could happen.

Never stopped dreaming. Do you long for family and friends to come to know

Christ? I know I do. Keep dreaming. Can you see God helping

you overcome the brokeness in your family and your marriages, and your in your

marriage and your financial problems? Do you have education dreams for yourself? Do

you have dreams for your children? Is there a dream for your job that

is unfulfilled? Maybe you're you're waiting and you're dreaming for a spouse to come

into your life. Do you dream of God using you in bigger ways?

What's the dream? What's God spoken to you? I want you to be

encouraged. But the same words that God gave to Abram and his vision,

these words are from God for you this morning. Don't be afraid. I

will protect you. I am your shield and your reward would be very great.

I'm want to pray for you this morning. Did you bow your head

and close your eyes this morning? If you're here and you would just say,

maybe God is just rekindling some dreams. He's reminding you of things that

He's spoken to you to be believing for, and you're being reminded of those

things. And if you were just to be honest, you would say,

Morgan, I need I need to be reminded that God is with me in

this dream, that this dream was not by accident. Maybe you're here and

you need to be reminded that that God is your reassurance. Maybe you need

to be reminded in the middle of your test that that there is a great

reward that comes for those who stand with faith, for those who persevere.

Maybe this morning you need to lay down some fears that you've been holding onto

that have that have kind of like overarched the dreams that God planted in your

life. If that's you here this morning and you just want me to include

you in this prayer, would you just do me a favor and just lift

your hand up just so I know I'm praying for them. Yeah, thank

you, thank you, thank you, hands up all over this room.

Would you just leave your hand up really quick, because I think there's something

powerful about this where we acknowledge the things that God has spoken to us,

and we say, God, you see this hand. It's not just a

hand that is raised. This hand representsive dream that I am still believing for.

So Father, God, you see every hand raised in this place.

God, and I thank you Father that as you speak to them this morning,

God, you are reminding them that you are a real God who sees

them and knows them. God, you don't speak on accident. God.

The words and the visions and the dreams that were implanted on hearts. God,

I pray that they would have deep roots and they would be firmly planted

in our life. God. Father, I pray right now for the people

who are experiencing tests in the walk to the Dream. God, I pray

right now God that they would be reminded that their tests are not meant to

discourage them, but God, they are meant to draw them closer to You.

And so God, as they are drawn closer to You, God,

would you give them a spirit of severance God, a spirit of strength.

God. Let a spirit of strength rise up within them. God that gives

them the confidence to stand what it would be easier to bow. God.

Father, I pray right now for the people who need reassurance. God,

remind them that you see them, that they are not alone in believing for

this thing. God, that you see them. You know their anxious thoughts.

God, you know all the worries and the fears that they have.

And God, I pray that you would remind them that your presence is with

them. And Lord, I pray for those who who are literally have fear

that has overmasked the dream that you gave them in the name of Jesus.

I pray God that you would squash every fear, every lie, every doubt,

every discouragement that has come over their life. And God, I pray

that you would fill them with your spirit of faith. God, God overflow

in their life so that they can stand and believe. And God, remind

us God that there is a great reward for those who stand with faith.

God, we love you, we trust you, and we believe in what

you speak to our lives in Jesus Mighty name. And everyone said