How God Builds Your Faith as He Fulfills Your Dream (Part 1)

God wants to do great things through your ministry, and he wants to do it by developing your faith.

Jesus told a blind man he healed, “According to your faith let it be done to you” (Matthew 9:29 NIV). It was true for the blind man, and it’s true for us today: God works in our lives according to our faith. In other words, we get to choose how much God blesses us.  

That’s why faith is such an important part of ministry. God wants to build our faith so he can grow our ministries.

God’s faith-building process has six stages. I’ll share the first three this week and the second three next week. 

Stage 1 — God gives you a dream

Whenever God wants to do something in your life, he’ll start with a dream. He did it over and over in the Bible. God gave Noah the dream of building an ark. God gave Moses the dream of setting the slaves free. God gave Abraham the dream of building a new nation. God gave David the dream of becoming king.

Nothing happens until someone dreams. 

But how do you know your dream is from God? It’s simple. Any dream from God will require faith. When God gives you a dream, it’s big! It’s so big that in order for it to come true, you will need God 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).

Some of you are ready for this stage. You need to ask God to give you a dream for your ministry. God wants to do more than you can even “dare to ask.” Have the courage to ask him for that dream today.

Stage 2 — You make a decision

This is your moment of truth. It’s when you decide to go for it!

James says, “Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind” (James 1:6 NLT). Faith is a verb—it’s something you do.

When you decide to act on the dream God has given you, you’re deciding to make an investment—whether that’s of your money, your reputation, or your time. 

You’ll also need to let go of something. You can’t grab hold of a dream God has given you without letting go of something you’re hanging on to now. 

Stage 3 — You experience a delay

God doesn’t automatically fulfill your dreams; you’ll often experience a waiting period before he answers. You see it in the lives of many of the heroes of the faith in the Bible.

• Noah had to wait 120 years from the time he started building the ark until it rained.

• Abraham was 99 years old when Sarah gave birth to the child God had promised him. 

• Moses waited 40 years in the desert before God led him back to Egypt to free the Israelites. The stories go on and on.

You also will need to wait on God to complete the ministry dream he has given you. I’ve always liked this translation of Habakkuk 2:3—“These things I plan won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled” (TLB).

Slowly and steadily, God will bring his dream for you to fruition. You’ll need to be patient during these times of waiting. God will not leave you in Stage 3. Next week, I’ll share with you three more stages of how God grows your faith as you pursue his dream for your ministry.