Big Dreams and Big Prayers

I spoke with John Ellis yesterday. John is a retired principal who ran his public school with Jesus at the centre. His testimony and stories were electric.

The talk with John Ellis yesterday got me excited to make the big dreams in my life into reality and he challenged me to pray about it, ask God for how he wants you to do this, and really pushed me to involve God in the decision to try to open a private Christian school. The Lord keeps sending me chapters to read, first it was 1 Timothy 1:4-7, “Their teaching only causes useless guessing games instead of faithfulness to God’s way of doing things. The Goal of instruction is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. Because they missed this goal, some people have been distracted by talk that doesn’t mean anything. They want to be teachers of Law without understanding either what they are saying or what they are talking about with such confidence.” I knew I needed to pursue my dreams harder, with Jesus leading. I’ve tried it my way, I’m not as successful as when I am walking with Jesus. I have wanted to create my own school and drop in center for years, and one day I started praying about it and opportunities and messages were given to me. The word Timothy kept showing up in places, I would see it on my Bible plans frequently. He was telling me I need to get into my playbook.

I still wasn’t done with Timothy. I kept praying and kept feeling the need to get deeper into Timothy. Here’s what 1 Timothy4:11-14 says, “Command and teach these things. Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you”.

Wow. It feels exactly like my situation. I want to run my own ministry, and my own school, and have 4 children and 2 dogs and a happy wife. Simple life right. I feel I was called by Jesus to do certain things in my life, and when I did it my way I didn’t budge my plan. When I put it in prayer and live faithfully, God provides.

I struggled with wage in the budget, but Paul in 1 Timothy 5:18 says, “The worker deserves his wages” so I budgeted appropriately for a higher wage to compete with the school board’s salary grid.

I had a feeling that I needed to do a fast, and I hadn’t thought about it until yesterday and I knew I would do very well doing it for Jesus. I’ve been in the word and then get the feeling to keep going with 2 Timothy 6 where Paul says, “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” The more I get into the Lord, the hotter my fire gets for Him.

So I keep going and that let me know I was on the right track was 2 Timothy 4:1-5 says, “I give you this charge; Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage- with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a number of teachers to say what they’re itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to mouths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.”

That sealed the deal for me. I know I need to devote my work to Jesus and ministry. And lastly today I looked up at the sign I made from 2 Corinthians 5:7 and saw “For we walk by faith, not by sight”. Even though I can’t see my dreams yet, I can trust that Jesus’ plan for me will play out as it should.

So, I start reading from 2 Corinthians 1:12 which says “We have done so not according to worldly wisdom but according to God’s grace. "

I pray to God many times a day and sometimes the answer is no. Most times the answer is no. But then when you start to feel pulled toward a verse or a chapter and feel as though a compulsion, I need to find out what God’s sending me today is awesome. It’s like a lottery ticket every day telling you that you win because you’re part of Jesus’ tribe.