God, Guide My Heart Toward a Dream That Requires Faith and Dependency Upon You to Achieve It

“A God-given dream is a vision, purpose, or calling placed in your heart by God, designed to fulfill His plan for your life and brings lasting impact.” God-given dreams coincide with humanity’s primary purpose of being created by God, which is to glorify Him. Examining our SHAPE, seeking God’s wisdom through prayer and studying God’s Word, determining our passions and burdens, and surrendering to God’s will are all essentials in determining our God-given dream. Achieving our God-given dreams involves being a good, faithful steward of all the talents, abilities, spiritual gifts, and resources God has given us, with the objective of fulfilling your God-given dream.

At some point in their life, every Christian, in search of purpose and meaning for their lives, has presumably pondered:

“Does my life matter?”
“What am I here for?”
“How has God made me?”
“What is He calling me to do?”
“How can my story be used for His purposes?”

“God is a dream-giving God. He’s given you and me dreams” (Louie Giglio).

“A God-given dream is a vision, purpose, or calling placed in your heart by God, designed to fulfill His plan for your life and brings lasting impact.”

Before we were born, God gave each of us a God-given dream, to make a difference in this world, for the good of people, to the glory of God.

God gave Nehemiah a dream “to rebuild the ruined walls of Jerusalem to restore dignity and safety to his people”; Abraham’s dream was to “become the father of a great nation that would bless all peoples of the earth”; God purposed Joseph to “become a leader who would eventually save his family and the people of Egypt from a famine”: “nothing happens unless first a dream”.

Modern examples of a God-given dream may potentially include: “a desire to start a community outreach program, food bank, or mentorship initiative for at-risk youth in your city”; “a vision to launch a medical mission organization or to create a Christian website”; “a dream to write books, produce films or create art” that glorifies God; “a calling to lead a corporate enterprise with exceptional integrity, using business success to fund global charities”; or possibly, “a vision to plant a new, thriving local church in an area spiritually devoid of gospel preaching.”

“You have to dream before your dreams can come true” (A.P.J. Abdul Kalam).

Here are three steps to follow to help determine what your God-given dream is:

Step 1: Conduct a Spiritual Inventory (Examine Your SHAPE)

Formulated by Rick Warren, SHAPE is an acronym, based upon biblical principles, to explain how God intentionally and methodically designed every person, perfectly created with a SHAPE to fulfill the God-given dream that God purposed them to achieve. The acronym of SHAPE stands for:

Spiritual Gifts: the unique, special abilities given by the Holy Spirit, geared toward serving others. (See 1 Corinthians 12).

Heart: “your passions, desires, interests, and the specific issues or people you care about most”.

Abilities: “your natural talents and skills that you were born with or developed over time”.

Personality: “your unique personality, how you are wired”. For example, “Are you introverted or extroverted, analytical or expressive, cautious or bold”. Personality influences how you express your spiritual gifts, heart, and abilities.

Experiences: your “spiritual experiences, educational background, relational dynamics, your painful trials”, in which God uses all this to perfectly shape you, in accordance to your dream.

God never gives a person a God-given dream which contradicts the SHAPE He gave you. Knowing your SHAPE gives you direction and clues to what your dream is.

Step 2: Seek God’s Wisdom Through Prayer and Scripture

With a yielding heart, seek God’s direction through prayer, asking God to reveal His dream for your life. Ask Him to help you know the difference between what is God’s will and a self-centered, fleeting desire that is contrary to His will. If your dream idea doesn’t glorify God, then it is not from Him.

Immersing yourself in God’s Word is important because God’s dream for your life will never contradict biblical principles and truths, and ultimately, God’s character.

Bible verses, related to seeking God’s wisdom to determine your God-given dream:

“I will guide you along the best pathway for your life” (Psalm 32:8).

“We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps” (Proverbs 16:9).

“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21).

Step 3: Evaluate your passions and burdens

God will eventually place a passion or burden in your heart to do something, often it is part of God’s leading you to your God-given dream. After you experience such an intense passion or dream, follow steps 1 and 2 again, to evaluate whether or not it is God’s dream or a fleeting pleasure.

Counting the cost and preparing for adversity

After you determine what your dream is, you must count the cost of chasing the dream and prepare for adversity. Every God-given dream will require faith, courage, perseverance, and sacrifice to achieve it. However, God will always provide in what He calls us to do. We must daily rely upon the Holy Spirit’s leading and empowerment to fulfill the dream.

Remember Philippians 4:13 every day: “I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me”. Not in our own strength and abilities alone should we chase the dream, but we should also rely upon the power of Christ, led by the Spirit, to empower and strengthen us daily.

Fulfilling our God-given dream finally requires us being a faithful steward daily

Stewardship is the “responsible management of all that God entrusts to us – our time, talents, resources, relationships, and opportunities – recognizing that they ultimately belong to Him”. Stewardship involves not just resource management, but also faithful obedience to God’s will, revealed through the Holy Spirit.

We are stewards of God’s dream for our lives; therefore, we should daily be focused upon glorifying God and on Kingdom purposes of the dream, not on self-centered ambitions to glorify self.

If we don’t properly manage our resources, or we don’t strive to chase our dream because of fear, consequences occur as our God-given dream fails to get achieved.

Patience, discipline, surrender, reliance upon the Spirit, and trust in God are all required to fulfill our dream. Striving to be a faithful steward through the leading and empowerment of Spirit molds these qualities in us, helping us to be a faithful steward which through the Spirit achieves their God-given dream.

As we prove to “be faithful in small things” in trying to be a faithful steward, God will expand our responsibilities, calling us to be faithful in increasingly greater responsibilities. When we continue to be a faithful steward throughout the entire process, according to His will, God will expand the size of your dream, requiring you to be even a more faithful steward as your dream grows and complicates. You will face greater challenges, but remember: you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. The question remains: “Are you going to depend upon Him and trust in Him daily throughout the entire stewardship process?”

We are called to bear fruit, to make a difference in the world, for the good of people, to the glory of God. By first discovering your God-given dream, and then choosing daily to pursue it, by being a faithful steward, through the leading and empowerment of the Spirit of the daily, we can used by God through our dream, to potentially make a significant change in this world, in the lives of people, according to God’s will.

Sources:

https://www.powerofpositivity.com/chasing-dreams-quotes

https://unanswered.io/guide/god-given-dreams-meaning

https://faithgateway.com/blogs/christian-books/discovering-god-s-dream-for-you