What Faith Does to Your Dreams

CURRENT TEACHING SERIES Daring Faith

What Faith Does to Your Dreams By Rick Warren — Dec 28, 2015 “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 turns God-given dreams into reality. Nothing happens until somebody starts dreaming! The Bible is full of people who had God-given dreams. Abraham dreamed of being the father of a great nation. Moses dreamed of setting God’s people free. Joseph dreamed of saving a nation and his own family. Throughout Scripture, there are all kinds of people who were inspiring dreamers, like Daniel and Paul and David. Ephesians 3:20 says, “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). Now, if there were ever a “blank check” verse in the Bible, that’s it. God is able to do far more than we would dare to ask. What are you afraid to ask God for? He is able to do far more than we could even dream of. I don’t know about you, but I’m a pretty big dreamer. I can think of some pretty big dreams I’ve had in my lifetime. God says, “Warren, think of the greatest thing you could ever dream of, the greatest thing you think I could do in your life. Guess what? I can top that.” If there were tears in Heaven, it would simply be because we would get there and realize all the things that we could have done if we had just believed God a little bit more. To me that would be Hell! Hell for me would be being shown everything I could have accomplished and become as a husband, a father, and a pastor if I had just believed God a little bit more. But there aren’t any tears in Heaven, and God gives you everything you need right now to accomplish what he has planned for you. I want to challenge you to dream big about your relationships, your marriage, your family, and your career. Your faith can turn those dreams into reality, because God is able to do far more than we would dare to ask or even dream of. PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >> Talk It Over How do you know if your dreams are from God? What does it mean practically to apply faith to your dreams? Why don’t all of our dreams turn into reality? Today’s Scripture “After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, ‘Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.’” (John 6:12, NLT) SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS Nothing Wasted The Bible tells of a time when Jesus fed a crowd of five thousand families with only five loaves of bread and two fish. That day, everyone had more than enough to eat, and there were still twelve baskets full of bread leftover. That’s because we serve a God of abundance! When Jesus told the disciples to collect all of the leftovers, He said to do it “so that nothing is wasted.” With God, nothing is ever wasted. He’ll never waste an experience; He’ll never waste a hurt; He’ll never waste a dream; He’ll never waste even a single piece of bread. If you’ve felt like you’ve wasted years of your life in the wrong job, hanging around the wrong people, doing the wrong things, God will gather those years and restore them back to you. He’ll take those experiences that the enemy meant for your harm and turn them around for your good. He’ll make you stronger, wiser and better off than you were before. He can launch you further into your destiny than before. Be encouraged today because with God, all things are possible and nothing is ever wasted! A Prayer for Today “Father, I give You every bit of my life, my past, my present and my future. Thank You for taking every experience in my life and turning it around for my good. I know that with You, nothing is ever wasted in Jesus’ name. Amen.”