How to Dream Beyond Your Means
By Dr. Bridget E. Hilliard

Dreaming beyond your means is the key to living life at the next level. God wants you to dare to dream big and plan big. He wants us to dare to do things bigger than anyone has ever done before. You simply have to know how to tap into God’s potential for your life and get outside of that box.

I believe with all my heart that God puts dreams and desires in our hearts and is waiting on us to bring those dreams and desires to pass. Psalm 37:4 says:

Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

I like the way the verse reads in The Amplified Bible. It says:

Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord (roll and repose each care of your load on Him); trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass.

Don’t let anything on the inside of you die. I believe that God puts things in you for a purpose. He has a plan and purpose for your life, and you need to know how to tap into God’s plan and purpose so that He can bring your dreams to pass.

There are basically four types of dreams. The first is a human desire dream. This type of dream is the product of our desires and wants, and there is basically nothing wrong with it.

The second type of dream is a fleshly desire dream. A fleshly desire dream is not the kind of dream you want to have because it is the product of the evil intents of the flesh. These are dreams for things to show off or for things that you saw somebody else with that caused you to be envious.

The third type of dream is a satanic desire dream. This type of dream is the product of satanic thoughts. When you have this type of dream, the devil has control of your mind and he is trying to get you to do something that is totally outside the will of God.

The fourth type of dream is one in which we want to get involved. It is called a godly desire dream. These dreams are the products of god-inspired thoughts. Dreaming beyond your means and following God’s purpose for your life is the kind of dream you want to have. After doing everything that God wants you to do, you want to be able to say, “I’m getting the overflow of walking uprightly before God.” When your heart is right and your desire is to please God without any hidden agenda or any hidden motive, God will flood your life with abundance.

Our pastor has taught us to walk in truth from the Word of God, and there are four things that are required. The first thing we need is a revelation. A revelation is an understanding of the truth at the level of your comprehension.

The second thing we need to walk in truth is a role model. The role model can be either a contemporary role model or a biblical one. (I myself serve as a contemporary role model. I am living beyond what I have ever dreamed, imagined or thought.)

The third thing we need to walk in any truth is a regimen of faith, which is a systematic application of the truth in our lives.

The fourth thing needed to walk in any truth is a righteous resolve. We need to have a righteous reason to dream beyond our means. Our lives must glorify God.

We have to first understand the importance of a God-given dream. The Bible reveals to us that God uses dreams to communicate His purpose and plan to mankind and to usher His will into the earth. God’s order demands that He use a human vessel to legally operate in the earth. The Bible says in Ezekiel 22:30 that God sought for a man that would stand in the gap and He found none. I don’t want that to be God’s record of me. I want God to be able to say, “I was looking for someone to pour my blessings out upon and I found somebody whose heart was right.”

The second thing we must understand is that God needs our permission and our participation to function in the affairs of this world. God could not even bring the Savior into the world until He had Mary’s permission and participation. God is waiting on you to give Him permission to use your life to glorify Him. Think about it: Isn’t it a poor example for us to walk around, barely getting along, without our needs being met, trying to win somebody into the Kingdom of God? God needs to show off in us. The Bible tells us in 2 Chronicles 16:9 that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth so that he might find someone whose heart is perfect towards him so that he can show off in them.

When God wants something done in the earth, He is looking for a dreamer who will not limit himself to his present circumstances. We have been uniquely designed by God to function in concert with the way we see ourselves. If you see yourself as a person who is limited and does not have enough, or a person who can’t do anything, then that is the way you are going to function.

There are seven things I believe you must do in order to prepare your heart to dream beyond your means. The first thing is that you must believe and meditate on God’s desire for you to increase. Psalm 1:1-3 says:

According to the Word of God, you have to begin to believe and meditate on the fact that God wants you to increase. It doesn’t matter where you came from, who your mother is, or if you don’t even know your mother. God’s plan for you is to increase, and you have to begin to see that on the inside of your imagination. God wants to transform your thinking through meditation. Meditation is God’s plan to change your life.

Every time you think about lack, you should say, “Father, I thank you that I am blessed because I do not walk in the counsel of the ungodly; I do not stand in the way of sinners; I do not sit in the seat of the scornful. My delight is in you, and in you do I meditate day and night. Father, I thank you that you are causing me to be like a tree. I am planted by the rivers of waters. I bring forth my fruit in my season. My leaf does not wither, and whatever I do prospers.”

God is a God of abundance. John 10:10 says:

...I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

The Bible is saying that I should enjoy my life. It is my portion, and it is God’s gift for me to walk in wealth and riches. I receive that gift by meditating on it day and night. I say, “God, you want to give me the best in life. God, you want me to be wealthy. You want me to have abundance. You want me to walk in increase. You want me to be able to say, ‘I will take one of those and one of those and one of those.’ That is my portion.”

You are on God’s mind because God wants you to get outside of your limitations. He wants you to have a life of abundance and increase. You are not on God’s mind for any other reason than for Him to increase you because you are His child. He is looking for someone who will dare to dream big enough and plan big enough to let Him pour His blessings through their lives.

And God is not going to stop once He blesses you. He is going to bless your children and your children’s children, because your children are getting this Word also. They are going to teach it to their children and God is going to increase your grandchildren.

The second thing you must do if you are going to dream beyond your means is confess the knowledge and wisdom to dream beyond your means daily.

Every day when you wake up, you should say, “Father, I just want to thank you that I have the knowledge and wisdom necessary to dream outside my limitations. I believe you are giving me dreams and desires for my life on the canvas of my imagination. My heart is right and receptive and open to receive.” You can put into motion what you want to happen in your life by the words of your mouth. What you are saying out of your mouth can dictate what you want to be.

The third thing you must do if you are going to dream beyond your means is eliminate all sucker relationship that will drain you of your creativity, while resisting the temptation to despise those who are walking in the reality of their dreams.

It is worth getting away from suckers to have God’s best in your life. People drain your creativity by saying, “Girl, you can’t have that! You don’t have enough education.” Get away from those types of people.

The fourth thing you must do if you are going to dream beyond your means is to recognize that what you have in your hand right now is a seed.

You have enough right now to start the abundance process in your life. You can participate in God’s plan of sowing and reaping. You don’t have what you have by divine lottery, or because of osmosis. You have what you have because God has surveyed your life and has given you just enough to show Him that you can be trusted with more.

The fifth thing you must do if you are going to dream beyond your means is to allow God to use your life as a channel of supply. Proverbs 11:24-25 says:

You have to see yourself as a channel of God’s blessings to flow into the earth.

The sixth thing you must do if you are going to dream beyond your means is develop relationships with other dreamers. Hebrews 6:12 says that we should follow those who through faith and patience inherit the promise. You must begin to hang around dreamers. Just being in the atmosphere with other dreamers causes you to want to be better, to have better, and to do better.

The seventh thing you must do if you are going to dream beyond your means is not allow the lack of resources to keep you from dreaming and thinking big. It does not cost anything to dream.

The dream that is inside your heart is a seed, and several things are programmed inside a seed. The dream seed is a thought that comes to you when you hear the Word of God. The thought goes down into your heart and says, “That’s me.” That is the dream seed God is placing in your heart when you hear the Word.

This article is excerpted from the book, How to Dream Beyond Your Means, by Dr. Bridget E. Hilliard.