Dreaming with God: How to Overcome Fear & Unlock Your Supernatural Calling
Excerpted from Unseen.
During my first week at Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry (BSSM), I participated in an activation that would forever change my life.
The instructor said, “Today, we are going to practice dreaming with God without any limitations. Most people do not know how to dream with God, especially without any limits, so here are three points to help you remove limitations.” She wrote the following list on the whiteboard as she read it out loud:
If money was no limitation.
You could not fail at what you tried.
You had no fear. What would you like to see God do through your life?
She continued, “Lack of finances, fear of failure, or fear of man will try to stop you from reaching your full potential in God. This exercise will help you to practice dreaming with God apart from these supposed limits.”
She said that God had created each of us with unique gifts and talents to serve our generation. This exercise could help us discover these special gifts God had placed inside us. She emphasized that we were not to dream apart from God, but to allow the Holy Spirit to search our hearts to find what God had hidden inside us when He created us.
With the three-point list, the instructor gave us ten minutes to dream with God and journal our thoughts. She reminded us to center our God-dreams for His glory, not our own. “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures” (James 4:3 NIV).
So I let my imagination run wild, or at least it felt wilder than I had ever allowed myself to dream before. I started thinking about some Todd White YouTube videos I had seen. I wrote down, “I want to see someone healed in public some- day when I pray for the person.”
Then I remembered a story about two BSSM graduates, Joaquin and Chad. One night they had a spontaneous heal- ing service in a Denny’s restaurant. They prayed for a server, and she was instantly healed of a back issue. She told her coworkers about the healing, and soon more servers came to Joaquin and Chad’s table for prayer. They were eating pancakes, and in between food bites, they were praying for healing. The servers were healed, and the news quickly spread of what was happening in the restaurant.
Many were healed, and many accepted Jesus as their Savior in that restaurant that night!
Other diners in the restaurant started to leave their tables and stand in line to receive prayer. Many were healed, and many accepted Jesus as their Savior in that restaurant that night! These healing stories fueled my daydreaming with God even further. I wrote in my journal, “I don’t just want to see one person healed someday; I want to see a spontaneous miracle healing service happen in public, just like with Chad and Joaquin!”
“Time’s up!” the instructor said but encouraged us to continue to practice dreaming with God in our personal prayer times. So at home in my prayer room, I continued this exercise and pictured incredible healing revivals happening through my life in public places.
God was teaching me it was all right to dream BIG God-dreams.
God said that with every minute I spend with Him in the secret place of prayer, I was adding more ice to the underside of the iceberg. At that time in my life, if you viewed the top of the iceberg, there were no perceptible indications of revival. But in the submerged realm, I was constructing and adding ice. God was teaching me it was all right to dream BIG God- dreams in my prayer room despite nothing happening above the water…yet.
I also began to host make-believe healing meetings in my prayer room. One time, when my kids were not home, I grabbed all their pillows and the couch cushions, and I stood them on end in my room. I pictured each pillow as a per- son, and I had a miracle service. I called out specific words of knowledge for healing. I declared, “Somebody here has had a right knee issue for over eight years—who is that?” Then I would point to a pillow and say, “That’s you,” and lay hands on the knee for healing. Once, I even said, “Fire!” and knocked all the pillows over, and I smiled and stated, “Just like with Benny Hinn.” God showed me these pretend moments were not fake, worthless moments but were actually part of my preparation time. I was constructing spiritual building blocks toward faith.
God said an important part of the envisioning was to allow my emotions to connect to the vision.
In my prayer room in the secret place, I was becoming quite the anointed healing revivalist. But in the natural realm, there wasn’t much to look at. God also told me it was good to allow my emotions to match what I envisioned. If I internally saw someone healed of cancer, I was to jump and shout as if it really happened. God said an important part of the envisioning was to allow my emotions to connect to the vision. It would be strange to envision someone raised from the dead and not even be smiling in the natural. That would be weird.
Baby Steps
In the natural, I had recently overcome skipping several weeks of outreach because of fear and was now paying my youngest son, Brandon, to go with me to share Jesus with others. I desperately wanted to see miracles happen in my daily life but was so afraid to make the initial approach and talk with strangers. My 12-year-old son, Brandon, was fear- less, so I did what any desperate dad would do with a courageous son. I offered to pay him $1 each time he would walk up to strangers and start a conversation for me.
He would approach people with a huge freckled grin, “Hello, my name is Brandon; we are out talking with people about Jesus, and my dad has something to say to you. Okay, Dad, now go ahead, it’s your turn.” Then, I would slip him a rolled-up $1 bill and continue the conversation. Yes, I hired my 12-year-old son to be the “hello” guy to help me along on my supernatural journey. I was happy I was moving forward in God, and Brandon was happy he was rolling in the dough.
With my iceberg below the water, I was going wild, dreaming with God, and above the water’s surface, I was deter- mined to make progress. God told me that it was OK to take “baby steps” as long as I was moving in the right direction.
In my book, Love Says Go, I share my complete journey of overcoming the fear of man through God’s love and taking baby steps into a supernatural lifestyle. I train to hear God’s voice, heal the sick, and share our faith with others. If you would like step-by-step supernatural training, I highly recommend that book.
One day, as I was dreaming with God, I thought, What would be the most fun place on earth to have a miracle ser- vice? All at once, Disneyland came to mind. I uttered, “That’s it! God, I choose Disneyland! Someday, I’d love to be part of a miracle service in Disneyland!” My conclusion was, if we attempted to pray for people to be healed and it did not work, at least we could go on rides and have a blast—it would still be a great day!
I began pondering and envisioning what a Disneyland revival might look like. This captivated my thoughts greatly during my first year at BSSM.
“But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lust- fully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28 NIV). From this verse, we notice that the secret imagined things in a person’s heart were as if that person actually committed the act. It’s a spiritual law, and in this instance, it’s negative; but it remains true for the positive too. “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7 NKJV). Imagined things have real power, and it is important we use our imagination for God’s glory.
Delight Yourself in the Lord
During my early days of spending time with God in my prayer room, something unusual began to happen. God started to answer the thoughts of my heart—not my vocalized prayers but my thoughts.
God started to answer the thoughts of my heart.
For example, one day in my room, my mind drifted, It would be so cool to evangelize on the streets with Chris Overstreet (Bethel’s main evangelist). I could learn so much from him. Then, continuing my thoughts, Hmm, someday I would really like to go on a ministry trip with Pastor Kevin Dedmon. He sees so many miracles. Again, I was not praying to God; I was just thinking these thoughts in my head.
That same week, Chris Overstreet approached me, “Hey, you’re Jason, right? I heard about you. How about you join us on the streets to evangelize? Would you like that?” The same week, I received an email from Pastor Kevin Dedmon, “Hello Jason, I want to invite you to join me on my next ministry trip.” I was in awe of what was happening! God was now answering my internal thoughts and desires, not just my prayers to Him!
I said out loud, “God, what are You doing?” I heard a whisper in my heart, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4 ESV). God was answering my heart’s desire as I was delighting in God and getting to know Him. Wow, that’s profound!
Later, a well-known prophet called me out in a meeting, “God says Psalm 37:4 over your life, ‘Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.’” He continued, “Your home address or your phone number has the number 374 to confirm this is a word from God to you.” At that time, my phone number ended with 374!
