Thankful for wisdom from friends on the journey like Pastor Todd Mullins. He recently challenged us to dream even bigger in 2017, to “enlarge our tent” (Isaiah 54:2) with a powerful word he brought to our staff last week. ~Rob
God has given us big dreams. To accomplish them, we’ll need to pray even bigger prayers this year — prayers that, to the world, will make us look crazy!
[Tweet “”How you pray says a lot about what you think about God” – @jtoddmullins”]Pastor Todd shared a fresh perspective on a familiar passage of Scripture — the Israelites’ crossing of the Jordan in Joshua chapter 1.
If God is calling you to step into new lands this year, here are five incredible insights to ensure that faith is fueling your vision:
- Pray big prayers. Dream big for the new land God is preparing for you. We risk missing the amazing things God has for us because we do not ask for them. Leave the old behind and step into the new land that has been promised.
- Remove what’s hindering you from entering the new territory. The Israelites’ lack of faith kept them in the desert a long time, falling back into familiar patterns of behavior and literally retracing their steps. If we keep doing what we have been doing, we’ll stay stuck wandering where we are. What in our lives is holding us back from the future God has called us to? Let’s declare this a year of freedom and embrace the situations we need to overcome in order to be the overcomers Scripture says we are!
- Exchange fear and self-doubt for strength and courage. God tells Joshua three times to “be strong and courageous,” and by the end of the chapter the people are telling him this also. It stands to reason that there was a legitimate cause for Joshua’s fear! Fear isn’t simply an emotion. The Bible tells us it’s a spirit from the enemy (2 Timothy 1:7). Fear and faith cannot co-exist. Likewise, strength and courage are not just feelings. They are actions to be taken. We are to meditate on God’s Word, be careful to do what it says, and then we will have success (Joshua 1:7-9). God has not called us to something he has not equipped us for.
- Prepare for the crossing into the new land. This is not just about physical planning, but also spiritual preparation. God’s Word is the most effective guard against fear. His law is what we are to meditate on day and night — it’s what we should have stuck on repeat in our head. It’s also the very thing the enemy would like to see missing from our lives. Wouldn’t the enemy love to see the people who gather around a plan of giving God’s Word to every child forsake the Word in our own lives?[Tweet ““God’s Word is the most effective guard against fear” preach @jtoddmullins! “]
- Position God’s presence to guide your life. You can’t take the land until God takes the lead. The Israelites possessed the Ark of the Covenant — the very presence of God. In order to cross the Jordan into the Promised Land, they had to position that presence out in front of them. We need to soak ourselves in God’s Word because we can’t follow what we don’t know! Continually walk in His presence and let that be what leads and precedes you into new territory.
In the next few years we are going to be bringing the Gospel to places that have no context for it. We have to pray those crazy prayers. We have to let faith – not fear – forecast our future.
The Bible has a lot to say about how your faith forecasts your future. When Jesus healed the blind men, He said “according to your faith, may it be done to you” (Matthew 9:29).
I am grateful Todd brought these powerful reminders as we think about OneHope’s goals for 2017 and beyond to Vision 2030. If we want to see what we’ve not seen before, we have to do what we’ve not done before.
