Living The Dream Inspite Of The Nightmare

Amen. If you have your Bibles, turn with me to

the book of Genesis. Genesis 41. Genesis 41.

Be in prayer for Pastor Brian, Sister Erica.

They've taken a little hiatus this weekend, so

let's pray the Lord give them a break. You know,

we are blessed to have them. I mean, really,

really blessed. Amen. And I thank the Lord for

them. And everything they do. They pick up a

lot of slack for me. And I'm grateful for that.

Amen. And I tell them that as well. I'm getting

better as I get older at relaying those things.

Back early in the day, I didn't pat you on the

back. You just done your job. But I've since

learned better. Amen. Aren't you glad for a pastor

that learns? Amen. You realize why you succeed.

It's everybody around you. Them big eyes, they

go away really quick. Amen. When you wake up

one day and say, oh, now I know. Then you've

got to go back like I have. Tell people, I'm

sorry. I should have did this or that. Amen?

You ever had to do that? Oh, it's a bitter pill,

but it gets better after it goes down. You know,

that pride thing. You choke on it. You know?

It'll choke you. Pride will. It'll choke you.

But if you ever learn the lesson, man, life gets

good after that. Amen? So I tell you what, when

they get back in here next week, just go over

and above. Let them know how much you love them

and appreciate them. Amen? They're going to say,

oh, okay, thank you. It's just good to watch.

Amen? Have you found Genesis 41? Okay, let's

look. I want to read just a couple passages of

Scripture, just a couple verses. Then we're going

to touch on a few more. and to see what the Lord

has for us today. Amen? Verse 51 reads, And Joseph

called the name of the firstborn Manasseh. For

God said, He hath made me forget all my toil

and all my father's house. And the name of the

second called he Ephraim. For God hath caused

me to be fruitful in the land of my... I want

to preach this morning with the help of the Lord

on a thought. I preached this 12, 14 years ago.

And, man, it just leaped in my spirit yesterday.

And so I want to share it again with the help

of the Lord. I figure if it's worth preaching

once, it ought to be at least worth preaching

twice. Especially, especially if the Spirit of

the Lord stirs your heart on it. Amen? I want

to preach on this thought, living the dream in

spite of the nightmare. Living the dream in spite

of the nightmare. Amen. It makes me almost want

to shout right there with just the title. I'll

pray for you if you pray for me, and we'll pray

for each other. Father, as we're in the house

today, truly your presence is here with us. we

are experiencing and encountering the nearness

of your presence. So, Father, I pray you speak

to every heart and every mind today. Lord, and

truly, as is prayed throughout time, we that

have ears to hear, may we hear what the Spirit's

saying to us today. Speak to the church this

morning. Speak to our hearts today, Father God.

We'll be quick to praise you for all that we

hear, for we know, we know that you love us.

Father, touch me today as I surrender my heart,

myself to you this morning, that we would speak

what should be edifying, lifting up, encouraging

to the body of Christ. But Lord, may we speak

words that do damage to darkness and we defeat

the enemy in Christ's name. And the church says,

ask your neighbor, are you living the dream or

the nightmare? We use that statement, and it's

kindly been around for a little while. When you

talk to people, you ask them, say, well, how

you doing? And they'll say, man, just living

the dream, right? Just living the dream. Or sometimes

you'll get that little sarcastic response. They're

in a hole somewhere, you know. You come up beside

someone on the side of the road, man, what's

going on? And their car's broke down, and you

can see frustration on them, and they'll look

at you and say, oh, just living the dream. Same

phrase, different connotation, right? Some folks

are living the dream. Life is grand. Everything

is going according to plan. Matter of fact, it's

going better than the plan. Hello? Have you ever

had a time in your life when it was going better

than the plan? And someone asks you, well, how

you doing? And sincerely you say, man, we're

just living the dream. It couldn't be any better

than this. And then there's those other times,

right, when all hell's broke loose, right, when

everything you've got's broken down. The washer

won't run. Amen. The dryer's quit. It's on fritz.

The TV's quit. Amen. The car, it's on its last

leg. And somebody comes up who's living the dream,

and everything's good for them. And they look

at you and say, how's it going? And you look

at them and say, oh, just living the dream. Just

living the dream. Another day, you've heard it

said, another dollar, right? That's the way life

goes from time to time. You're living the dream

or you're living the dream, right? But I think

for a child of God, we can live the dream in

spite of the nightmare. Amen? Life itself is...

It's a series of wins and losses. Win some, lose

some. We say that old cliche, right? I win a

few, lose a few, right? That's the way life goes.

And there's no simple way to live life without

experiencing some type of loss. There's no way.

for you to go through life without experiencing

some kind of a loss. It may be a goldfish as

a child. You're going to have a loss of some

kind. As an adult, life can slip through our

fingers, as the old soap opera used to say, like

sands through the hourglass. Ladies, where you

at? Wave at me. Come on. And so are the... Days

of our life. You used to have to watch that in

the summer when my sister was home. We was all

home from school. So are the days of our lives.

The sand goes through the hourglass. Right? There's

no way to live victorious and triumphantly without

learning how to handle. loss and dealing with

grief and defeat from time to time. Because that's

the life in which we live. There's highs and

there's lows. Amen? When we think about the life

of Joseph, Joseph's life, as an example, speaks

very profoundly to where many of us may be today.

And where life, it just opens up a sense of relevance

to us. When you understand the life and the times

of Joseph. We think about Joseph as children

in Sunday school class. And we know the story

of the coat of many colors, right? And all that

good stuff. We know the good side of Joseph's

life. But Joseph's life had a lot of downturns

with it as well. It had a lot of low points.

We have him as a man who learned how to deal

with loss. Joseph learned how to deal with loss

at a very, very early age. Somebody said, well,

what did he lose? Well, first of all, he lost

his childhood. He lost his family. He lost his

home. He lost everything that he knew that existed

in his life that was worth having. He lost his

father's love because he was the favorite son.

Amen? He lost dignity. He was in prison. He was

falsely accused. He lost many things in his life.

That childhood was lost and never to be regained

again. So how do we think Joseph would feel?

going through all of this stuff. How do you think

he dealt with the dungeon? How do you think he

dealt with the hole in the ground that his brothers

put him in? How do you think he dealt with overhearing

the conversation of one of his older brothers

wanting to kill him and just tell daddy that

the lions tore him up? How do you think he dealt

with all that as a young man? He dealt with it

like any of us would. He dealt with it very harshly.

But in all that Joseph lost, you've got to understand

something. He never lost his trust and full confidence

in God, in his God. You've got to remember that

the thing the devil couldn't take from him and

cause him to lose was the dream that God had

given him. My, my, my, my. There's a lot of things

in life that came and went in Joseph's life.

But one thing that Joseph never lost hold on

was the dream that God gave him. He knew what

God had spoken into his life. He knew what he

had seen, and he knew what God was going to do.

And then in spite of all of the losses of life

and how things have transpired, Joseph had chosen

not to lose out on God. He understood in Egypt

that he was going to find... I don't know that

he fully understood what was going to transpire

in his life. There's no way that you can fully

understand that God is in control when your brothers

are trying to take your life and they throw you

in a hole in the ground. Then they sell you into

slavery. There's no way that you can just hold

on and have joy, feel every single day on a dream.

I tell you this morning, I think the enemy attacked

his dream. He never lost it, but I know that

doubt had to creep in from time to time. How

low that he was. this pit and then he gets sold

into slavery and then from slavery he gets falsely

accused by Potiphar's wife and he gets ended

up into prison and then in prison as he's there

he thinks he's got a way out and then the man

betrays him because of the answer that he's given

and he thought he had his escape and I'm telling

you how the enemy works in our mind and even

someone probably as positive as Joseph he had

to begin to think that the dream had turned into

a nightmare. There's no way. that life could

get any worse than what it is right now. I'm

talking to somebody this morning. You have lived

the dream, and now it appears as though the nightmare

is raising its ugly head, and you don't know

how to deal with the loss. You don't know how

to deal with the grief, and you can't put it

behind you. But I think there's something that

we can glean from the life of Joseph, some things

that will help us. First thing he understood,

that he was going to meet the God of restoration

in Egypt. God was going to call some restoration

to come in. a chosen life. I don't know about

you, but my dream needs a little bit of restoration.

I don't know about you, but I need God to stir

something up in the depths of my soul and let

me know that he's not forsaken me, that he's

not forgotten me, that God is still on my side.

I'm here to tell you, when life turns into a

nightmare, sometimes the enemy can cause you

to begin to wonder where God is. Well, just let

me reaffirm to you where God is at this morning.

He is the God of restoration. He is a God who

will restore you. David put it this way. He restores

my soul. Hallelujah. I'm here to tell you today

that you can trust God and depend on God. If

life has turned into a nightmare, hold on to

your dream because you can live the dream in

spite of the nightmare that the enemy is bringing

into your life. Holding on to the hope that we

have in God, knowing that God is the one who

restores. Joseph's about to come into contact

and encounter God in a way that he never had.

He's going to encounter God as he restores. him.

And to restore means this, to bring something

back into existence, to bring into effect, to

bring back to a former or original condition.

Somebody needs to hear this this morning. Oh,

the Lord knows where we are. To reinstate or

to return. Remember David said he restores my

soul. Understand that God is wanting to bring

back. He has the power to bring things back into

existence, into order. That's the reason you

can live. Live the dream in spite of the nightmare

because you are encountering a God who is restoring

everything about you. He leads you beside the

still waters. He leads you into the green pastures.

And it is there that he restores. He's a restorer.

Jeremiah 30 and 17 says, but I will restore you

to health and heal your wounds. He is a restorer.

Nahum, the major minor prophet, the Lord will

restore the splendor of Jacob like the splendor

of Israel. Though destroyers have laid them waste

and have ruined their vines, he will restore.

Amen? Genesis 20, 14, Sarah. is restored to Abraham.

2 Kings 11, 17, Jehoiada restores worship. to

God. Mark 10 46, Jesus restores sight to Bartimaeus.

Can I get a witness this morning? He is the one

who brings restoration into our life. He is the

one that brings things back into existence. He

is the one who puts things back into order. Amen.

He is the one who causes things that are in distress

to come back into purpose. He is the one who

brings a nightmare into check and causes reality

again. to cause the dream that he has given to

live out in our everyday life. Somebody needs

to know it and hear it in the depth of your soul

this morning. Life has turned into a nightmare,

but I want you to know the God of heaven who

has given you a dream is able to restore your

dream. God gave Joseph. A two -fold restoration.

That he could say, first of all, he's made me

to forget. And he's caused me to be fruitful.

These two blessings are revealed through the

names of his two sons. Joseph, who's now chapter

41, he's out getting out of the prison. Beginning

of the chapter, Pharaoh has his dream. Long story

short, Joseph gives the interpretation. You remember

the dream, right? Seven fat cows, seven skinny

cows. I'm in the middle cow now. Huh. Yeah. Corn

stalks come up with seven ears, seven good ones,

and seven skinny ones. How many of you ever eat

on a big salad buffet and they got them little

bitty ears of corn that's pickled? Yeah, I call

that famine corn. That's what it reminds me of.

Every time I go to a salad bar and I see them

little bitty pickled corns, I think of Joseph.

I think how good God is. I call them little corns

famine corn. That's famine corn. Amen. Let's

get on past famine corn. Get down there to the

peaches and cream. Let's live the dream. He's

come. He's been brought out of the prison because

finally somebody remembered. Right? Oh, there's

an old boy in jail that got me out. Tell Pharaoh

he can tell him his dream. Right? So Joseph gets

brought before Pharaoh and he begins to tell

him, oh, that's an easy one. There's seven good

years coming and here's what you do. You store

up. You prepare. There's a famine on its way.

There's hard times coming. You build grain stores

and you fill them up. And not only are you going

to spare your people, but you're going to get

wealthy in the process. Right? Seven good years,

but then there's seven bad years coming. And

before the seven bad years come, because of Joseph's

faithfulness to Pharaoh, Pharaoh grants him a

wife. And in granting him a wife, Joseph begins

to have a family in the middle of Egypt. Here's

how God works for you, huh? Here's how God works

for you. This firstborn son, Joseph named him

Manasseh. Why? Because it has meaning. It has

purpose. Here is this first blessing in the midst

of what was supposed to be the nightmare of life.

But the dream is about to be restored. Come on,

somebody. Amen. The dream. One of these days,

the sun and the moon are going to bow before

me. And the brothers, you remember, got mad because

mom and dad's not going to bow before you. Who

do you think you are? Oh, I know your dad's favorite,

and you've got that coat. many colors, and I

know who you think you are, but we're not going

to stand for that. And then all of a sudden,

the dream turned into a nightmare, and the saga

of Joseph's life that you and I far remember

more than the dream. We remember the nightmare

more than we ever remember the dream, don't we?

We know that he was sold into slavery. We know

that he was falsely accused at Potiphar's house.

We know that he was cast into prison. We know

that he was falsely used in prison, but finally,

Finally, amen, the dream begins to be reality.

Finally, the God of restoration begins to move,

and we remember that there was a dream that came

back. to life in spite of the nightmare, understanding

that God will cause you to forget. And so when

he gets that firstborn baby son and it's placed

in his arm, we're calling this boy Manasseh.

Why? Because God has caused me to forget my father's

house and everything that caused me bitterness.

He has caused me to remember the nightmare no

more. Come on, somebody. You need to know that

God is able to restore your dream. He'll cause

you to forget. Forget all of the past and all

of the former things. And it won't matter because

you know that you can live the dream in spite

of the nightmare. I don't even think about that

stuff anymore. It's what he's saying. I've forgotten

about the dysfunction. Hello, some of you. Raised

in very dysfunctional situations. Hello? This

dysfunctional family. Brothers who couldn't stand

him. A father whom he thought loved him more

than the rest until it got down to it. And even

Isaac didn't fully support him in the giving

of the dream before his brothers. So can you

imagine this young man, how he's feeling and

the defunction that's going on around him? And

how that God could just, we begin to think, God,

how can you do this to me? Right? How can you

allow this to happen to me? Hmm? Isn't that the

trick the enemy begins to play in our mind? If

God loves you, he would not have allowed that

to happen to you. God loves you in spite of what

happened to you. Oh, come on, somebody. Life's

not always joy -filled. Sometimes life is a nightmare.

Are you hearing me? Sometimes life is a nightmare,

and it's despicable, and the devil calls his

people to do despicable things to each other.

It's the enemy. It's not God. It's God who has

spared you to bring you back to restore your

dream. Oh, it's God who delivers you. It's God.

who will love you. It's God who delivered Joseph

from all of that dysfunction. Crisis. A young

man in crisis. A teenage boy in crisis. You know

what? I'm discovering that some of the crisis

today that our young people go through are actually

worse than some of the things that we've dealt

with. Yeah. The enemy has intensified. The mental

warfare game. Oh, it's always been bad, right?

The nightmare gets more real. We never was allowed

to watch horror movies at our house. Never was

allowed to watch that stuff. I remember one of

the first ones that I watched, and it happened

to be Nightmare on Elm Street with old Freddy.

Kathy's mother and stepdad so happened to live

on Elm Street. I saw my dream turn into a nightmare.

But back to a dream again. Moving on. I remember

how scared I got watching that. That made me

feel, right? And then I saw a documentary on

it. And now I'm no longer afraid of Freddy. Hello?

The reality of how all that's made. Now it's

kind of comical. You know, you watch it and you

actually see how all that works. I can't believe

I was afraid of that. Like he was going to come

do something anyway. But isn't that the way the

enemy does us? He causes real fright over things

that he cannot bring into pass in our lives.

And we become frozen by the nightmare that he

presents to us. When we should be released because

God is about to cause us to forget some things.

It wasn't that he could no longer recall the

past. It was the fact that the past that he recalled

no longer caused him pain. Because he's realized

that the nightmare was simply the journey to

get to the fulfillment of the dream. Hallelujah!

Joseph had no idea that God was going to use

him to spare a whole nation. Realize that the

nightmare and the journey that he was walking

out was going to be the fulfillment of the dream

for countless millions of people who are still

living that. They're still living the dream because

he walked out the nightmare. How many folks around

you are going to live the dream because you walk

out the nightmare? Why? Because God has started

something in you. He set you on a journey. Can

I tell you the steps of a good man are ordered

of the Lord. Can I tell you those steps may take

you through a nightmare or two in the journey

of life? Can I tell you that there's going to

be hard days, but there's going to be more good

days coming to you? Can I tell you just hang

in there during the nightmare because the reality

of the fact is that God has brought you into

it and God is going to bring you out. Well, I

really wish he wouldn't take me to these places.

I've said that. I felt like old brother Job.

I thought, God, I wish you didn't love me so

much. Hello, I wish you didn't trust me so much.

Huh? Could you trust somebody else a while? Huh?

The Lord knows I love him. He knew Joseph's heart,

and he knew that the nightmare would not keep

him from the restorative work that he was going

to do. And so in the middle of his night, can

I tell you, he didn't take him out of the nightmare.

He was still in Egypt, but God blessed him in

the middle of it in spite of it. My God, you're

going to live the dream in spite of the nightmare.

He don't have to get you out to bless you. He

can bless you right in the middle of it. And

where do I need a blessing? I need the blessing

right in the middle of my nightmare. I need the

dawn of the day to come up. I need the sun to

shine. I need the light to move into my darkness.

He didn't erase his memory. He erased his pain.

Well, we need the memory. We just don't need

the pain. My Lord, somebody about took a lap

right there. I just don't need the pain. I don't

need the hurt. I don't need the wounds that it

leaves behind. Hello? I don't need to close my

eyes and see Freddie's little fingers and that

little grin and his little hat. Hello? But what

happened is this. When he restores you and he

blesses you in the midst of the mess and of the

nightmare, you will close your eyes and chuckle

at Freddie. Because you'll realize Freddie ain't

got nothing on you. Hello, or Jason, or any of

the others. Huh? Any of that other garbage. There's

a real spook in this world, and he's trying to

steal, to kill, and to destroy. But what I'm

here to tell you is if God has given you a dream

and you feel like you're in the middle of a nightmare,

he's going to restore your dream. You may have

to live out another saga or two. You may have

to make your way through another image. But what

he will do is bless you in the middle of your

mess. And he can cause you to forget the pain

of it all. He didn't need to forget that his

brothers done that. Why? Because there was a

day coming when his brothers would be bowed down

before him. And all of that hate and all that

anger that he had bottled up for you, When the

time come for him to take his reproof on them,

he had to turn his back and cry because he remembered

the dream. Oh, my God. He remembered. You'll

never forget the dream. He didn't forget it.

He just forgot the pain of it because God caused

him to forget. All that happened at daddy's house.

Some of you need to forget it. Huh? Some of you

need the pain of it all to be removed. And he

can do that right in the middle of it. What was

it Paul said? He said, brethren, I have not yet

apprehended that which has apprehended me. I

haven't got a good grip on what's got a good

grip on me just yet. And he said, but I am endeavoring

to acquire that. And he said, and this one thing

I do, forgetting those things which are behind,

I press toward the mark. for the prize of the

high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Somebody

needs to start pressing forward and leaving behind,

behind. Somebody needs to forget the nightmare

that keeps dragging you down in the reality of

your today and keeping you from living the dream,

honey. You can live the dream in spite of the

nightmare because God will bless you in the middle

of your mess, in the middle of the saga. He will

come in right where you are, and he will cause

you to be blessed. Where do I need a blessing?

I need a blessing in the middle of my mess. I

need him to show up in the dark and let me know

and cause me to forget. So now his brothers are

there. He has opportunity. He can do whatever

he wills over their life. They're before him

begging. They're starving. Isaac can send them

in. With money. Go buy us grain. I hear there's

grain. I hear there's corn. I hear there's food

in Egypt. Go that we be sustained. Now, Joseph

got just a little bit spiteful. Didn't he? He

messed with him a little bit. As brothers would.

But eventually, he said, I can't do you harm.

Because I know that you meant evil toward me.

But I can't return evil toward you. Because the

dream. The dream was for me to be here because

God knew the famine was on its way. God knew

that he was going to need. Dad and all y 'all

spared. God knew it. And so he's positioned me.

And by virtue of being positioned, he has this

second son. After he's caused the pain to go

away, he has this second son whose name is Ephraim,

which means doubly fruitful. I've been blessed

twice. It's what Joseph said, I am double fruitful.

Can I tell you in the midst of the dark places,

God can give you a double portion blessing. Can

I tell you not to give up? Don't abandon just

yet in the midst of a nightmare because God can

show up. Amen. And he'll cause you to forget.

And then after he causes you to forget the pain

of it, he'll bless you one more time. Just to

double up and let you know that he understands

your plight and he understands your situation.

After all is restored and all is well. Dad and

everybody's in the land of Goshen. Joseph tells

them, says, the dream, one of these days, God's

going to get us out of here. And when he does,

please take my bones with you. 430 odd years

later. The dream goes on. The nightmarish saga

of life goes on. The taskmaster's whip becomes

more severe as the decades and the centuries

roll by. But the dream was still going on. The

dream. was still in play. Oh, the nightmare still

circles. The cycle was still playing out. 400

years we make our way and here's old Moses. Here's

old Moses coming on the scene. The deliverer

had been born in the middle of the nightmare.

Oh, there's a Pharaoh who's come up many now

who forgot who Joseph was. Who forgot who these

Israelites are. Far removed, but who hasn't forgotten?

God hasn't forgotten. Oh, you may have forgotten,

but he's not forgotten. He remembers you. He

remembers a promise he made to your great, great,

great, great granny concerning you. If he made

them one, he's mindful of it. So here's old Moses,

comes on the scene in the middle of the nightmare.

And it hadn't gotten any better. It had gotten

worse. Don't give up just because it's getting

worse before it gets better. You can live it

out. And the fruitfulness and the blessing of

God. And he will cause you to forget but be doubly

blessed. The pain goes. The recollection is there

because we don't need to forget. The Israelites

hadn't forgotten. God sent Moses to lead them

out. Stand with me today. You'll be blessed in

the middle of your mess. Twice fruitful in the

land of my suffering is what the name Ephraim

means. Twice fruitful in the land of my suffering.

You may be suffering. Life. isn't always grand.

Sometimes the reality of a nightmare raises its

ugly head. Other days we feel like we're living

the dream. But the reality is God hasn't forgotten

you whether you're in the dream or the nightmare.

He's faithful. Isaac was blessed because he's

sown in the time of famine. And he was blessed

a hundredfold. Job was blessed after he prayed

for his friends. Blessings can come into our

way. Blessings can make their way into our lives.

Naomi says, call me no more pleasant. Call me

Mara, for I'm bitter. Life has dealt bitterly

with me. The nightmare is real. So don't call

me Naomi, call me Mara. But God remembered her

in the middle of the nightmare. He blessed her

in Moab. He didn't wait until she got back to

Jerusalem. He blessed her in Moab. Well, how

is that? He blessed her with Ruth. Remember Ruth

who said, your God's going to be my God. I'm

not going home. Your God will be my God. Your

home will be my home. Where you goes, where I'm

going. Where you lives, where I'm going to live.

Where you dies, where I'm going to die and be

buried. I am not. Forsaking you. That was Naomi's

blessing in the middle of the nightmare. Boaz

was just the second blessing. That double portion.

God's not going to forsake you in the midst of

your nightmare. Heads bowed all over the house.

If you feel like you're living in the nightmare

and the dream has escaped you, the Lord sent

you a word today. He can cause you to forget

the pain of it and bless you in spite of it right

where you are. He can bring you a double portion

in the land of your suffering. He can bless you

abundantly in the place where the suffering is

going on. Are you living the dream? Or are you?

Just live in the dream. You can live the dream

in the middle of the nightmare. Simple invitation

today. If you feel like you're in the nightmare

and you're looking for the blessing and you need

the Lord to touch you, come on down. I'm going

to pray over you. I want to pray for you. Not

going to take a lot of time. I'm not going to

beg you. I'm not going to plead you. You know

where you're living. You know if you feel like

it's the nightmare. You know if you need to forget

some stuff. If there's some pain that needs to

be rooted out. Loss. Loss comes in a lot of different

ways. It comes in things. Amen. Comes in peace,

peace of mind. We lose that. Grief. When we lose

loved ones, the weight of that loss really gets

overwhelming. And a lot of times we won't ask

God to help us because we don't want to forget.

We don't want to forget them. That's not what's

going to happen. You're not going to forget them.

You're going to forget the pain of losing them.

That sting of death. He's able to take that away.

And what am I left with? The joy of the dream?

Absent the pain of the suffering? Some of us

need the absence of the suffering. Anybody else?

We're about to go to the Lord in prayer. Are

you living in the nightmare? If you are, come

on. No shame in it. It happens to all of us.

I've been in my own little slice of a nightmare.

Hello? But God's blessing in spite of it, right

in the middle of it. He's doing miraculous things.

It's not that I won't recollect. But just knowing

that he's in it with me makes it hurt just a

little bit less. Because he's got a plan. I don't

know what it is. He's got a plan. Stretch your

hand this way. Let's pray over these that are

here today. Father God, in the name of Jesus.

Oh, Lord. Here we stand today. Here we stand

today, Lord. And the nightmare of life, the saga

of life is circling. But, Lord, I have that dream.

The dream of goodness, the dream of grace, the

dream of happiness, Lord. The joy -filled thoughts

that you have given. Lord, I know what you have

spoken. Lord, I know what you have declared.

I know what you have declared, Lord. I may be

going through the journey of the nightmare, but

it's going to pass. It's going to pass. It's

going to be over. Oh, Lord, help me forget the

pain of the pit. Help me forget the pain of the

false accusations, Lord. Help me forget the hurt

of disgrace and distress. Help me, Lord. Help

me get over it. Help me, Father God, in the name

of Jesus. Help me, Lord. I come to you, Lord.

Restore my dream. You are the restorer of my

soul. You are the restorer of my life and my

heart and the joy of my being, Lord. You are

the one who restores all. of my joy, all of my

hope, and all of my peace. You're the one who

restores today, Father.