How Do You Know If Your Dream is a "God Dream"?

When I was a teenager, I had a purple hardcover notebook in which I recorded quotes and excerpts from books and other random sources. I remember thinking that this notebook would be such a treasure later on in life. I’d be able to look back and remember certain ideas, thoughts, and feelings that were important to me as an angsty 16 year old.

I’m not sure where that notebook is now, and I have very little recollection of what exactly I thought was important enough to have written in it. But, I DO remember there were a couple pages in the notebook that I set aside for tracking my dreams—the things I wanted to do and accomplish in my life.

Admittedly, I don’t remember all the dreams I had at that age. I’m certain many of those dreams remain unfulfilled and mostly forgotten, but there are a couple that I have carried with me all these years. Dreams that I just haven’t been able to shake. Dreams that I am now convinced are more than token “teenage dreams” but are actual “God dreams” for my life.

Have you ever wondered if your dream is more than a mere dream or desire, if maybe it is something God has placed inside you for a greater purpose than you could ever imagine?

Here is where it begins for me: We have to take an honest look at our lives. Are we delighting in, spending time with, investing in our relationship with God?

“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

Psalm 37:4 reveals to us that as we delight in Him, He gives us the desires of our hearts. The first step is clear: delighting in Him. In order to delight in something or someone, we must first know that thing or person. How do we get to know someone? By spending time with them. Period.

How do we delight in God? We spend time with Him, getting to know Him through His Word and prayer. That can and often does look differently for everyone. It could be reading one verse a day, or one chapter of a book of the Bible. It could be taking 5 minutes out of your day—maybe in the shower—to pray and talk with your Heavenly Father.

It’s not a complicated thing, but it should be a consistent thing. The more we know Him and the more time we spend with Him, the greater joy and delight we will have in doing so.

I’ve noticed in my life as I am faithful to spend time with Him regularly, my desires and dreams do one of two things. They either diminish and become less pronounced in my mind and heart. Or the dreams stay—they don’t go away. They persist. It’s those dreams that have lasted, that just never seem to fall to the wayside, that I have learned to pay attention to. It’s those dreams that I want to see fulfilled.

As we learn more of God and spend more time with Him, our hearts begin to align with His. We become more like Him—at least that’s the goal. If that’s the case, the desires of our hearts, too, will be in alignment with His, because they are from the same source. 

As we delight in the Lord, I think we should expect not only for God to grant us our own desires, but we should expect Him to actually place new desires and dreams in our hearts. Desires and dreams straight from His heart.

God is in the creating business. He created the heavens and the earth out of nothing. So it shouldn’t be hard to believe that He can actually create new desires in us. When we consistently and faithfully give Him space in our lives, I believe He will do what we know He can do—create new, beautiful dreams within us. 

When I find myself questioning a certain dream or desire, my learned response is now to assess my relationship with Him. If I have been spending time with Him and putting Him first, then I can be reasonably assured that that particular dream is a good thing. And if I have a dream I have been nurturing and carrying along with me for an extended period of time while being faithful in my relationship with God, then chances are that that dream has a God-given purpose. 

One distinctly important detail I would like for you to take note of: in all of this, our focus should be on the Dream-Giver and Dream-Fulfiller—not on the dream itself. Our dreams and desires being met is the result of our delighting in Him, of our hearts being turned and focused on Him. Let’s never be confused about that. 

Do you have dreams that may actually be “God dreams”? Dreams that God may be placing and igniting in you for His glory and the good of those around you? I believe you do. I may not know you, but I know your Father. And I know He has gifted you and called you for something specific and distinct to who you are and the people over whom you have influence. 

Make this prayer yours:

Lord, I ask that You place in me the desire to delight in You, the desire to know You more. I trust that as I look to You and draw near to You, You will draw near to me. The more I know you, the more I love you. Thank you for giving me the desires of my heart, even if that means You replace old desires and dreams that were not meant to be with new desires and dreams that are meant to be, that are in alignment with Your will. In the name of Jesus, amen.