15 Minutes to Pray through Your Dreams

Last week, I wrote about how God invites us to dream with him.

If I could sum up all of my thinking on this, it’s with this quote from last week’s devotional:

I believe that dreaming is essential in the life of following Jesus, but an underappreciated aspect of spiritual formation and discipleship.

I believe that dreaming with God is the way that we partner with him to bring heaven to earth.

For many of us, dreaming can feel like wishful thinking, a hopeless exercise, or like we might somehow be listening to our own flesh and desires rather than God’s Spirit.

Yet, I believe the story of the Bible is filled with dreamers like Abraham — who dreamed of descendants more numerous than the stars of the sky, like Joseph — who dreamed of kingdom influence far beyond his birth order, like Paul — who dreamed of kingdom impact all across the Roman empire, or like John — who dreamed of a new heavens and a new earth where every wrong thing is made right.

I believe God might be inviting some of us to shake off our unbelief, our unhealthy relationship with dreaming, and dream again — or maybe dream for the first time!

I would love to offer this simple 15-minute exercise to help activate dreaming in your life and heart. Consider setting a timer, taking some deep breaths, praying “Come, Holy Spirit,” and see what God does as you give him this space!

1. Reflect On Your Relationship with Dreaming

First, invite the Holy Spirit to speak to you about your relationship with dreaming. Consider reflecting on the following questions:

• What is your relationship with dreaming about the future? How did your family of origin think about dreaming, envisioning, and setting goals?

• Do you tend to fear the future or romanticize the future? What in your story or personality make-up lends to this posture?

• Are there any scripts or messages you are listening to that get in the way of your ability to dream freely? (i.e., “We have to be practical!” “How much will this cost?” “Your heart is deceitful — don’t trust it!”)

• What is one way you hope that God might heal, restore, or renew your relationship with dreaming about the future today? 

2. Activate Dreaming - 1, 2, 3, Go!

Next, we are going to invite the Holy Spirit to unlock the gift of dreaming in our hearts. Set a timer for 5 minutes, and list out 50 dreams you have for the future. These can be big dreams, small dreams, or somewhere in between. Try to dream in every area of your life – relationally, spiritually, financially, physically, intellectually, and vocationally. First, take a deep breath and then, don’t overthink it – just go!

3. Dream God’s Dreams

Now, go back over your list, and put a star or highlight any dream you suspect that God the Father might be dreaming for your life, too. How many did you highlight? What does this reveal to you about the nature and character of God?

4. Take the Next Step

Finally, ask the Holy Spirit to identify one dream that seems to be shimmering with the light of God for this season. Is there any way that you can take a practical step towards it this week? Who can you tell about this step?

I am praying for the beautiful gift of dreaming to be unlocked in your hearts this week. If I can serve you or pray for you in any way, please let me know!

Best,
Ryan

P.S. I am overjoyed to share that we have just released a brand new prayer resource — Come, Holy Spirit: 30 Days of Growing in Friendship with God. What would it feel like to live in a daily, interactive, conversational relationship with God the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit lives on the inside of us, and yet we can’t see him or hear him audibly. Audaciously, Jesus promises that it would be better if he leaves and the Holy Spirit comes! This 30-day devotional is based on 30 attributes of the Holy Spirit revealed throughout the storyline of Scripture to help us discover the treasure of friendship with God on the inside of us and grow in a daily, interactive relationship with him. Check it out at restlessheartsrestingplaces.com/store.