How to ask God for a promise

Receiving vision for the future can be a supernatural, exhilarating experience. When you get multiple confirmations that a vision is from God, it can increase your expectancy and faith about a vision coming to pass.However, sometimes receiving the vision can be so supernatural that we assume that God will also work supernaturally to complete it.I am a visionary, and so I love the process of getting vision. Sometimes I will have a dream, get multiple words from others, and have a deep inner sense that the future will look a certain way. In my younger days, I would often assume that because the vision was so clear, that God would do everything for its fulfillment.But the reality is that vision-fulfillment doesn't always come as supernaturally as the initial receiving of the vision.God came and spoke to people, revealing His vision that they would live in a certain land. He would speak about the land in spiritual ways. There was a burning bush, the audible voice of God, and multiple encounters for God's leaders that confirmed that He would give them this land. But in the end of the day, entering the land involved multiple, laborious battles, and lots of hard work on the part of the Israelites.So what do we do? Do we get a vision from God and go out and make things happen with our best to-do list strategy? Or do we wait for the vision to be fulfilled and let God do all the work?It depends on what God has promised he will do.When God gives a vision of the future, he always attaches it to a promise of what he will do to accomplish the vision. When he met Moses at the burning bush, he told Moses that he would do signs and wonders. He essentially told him ahead of time about the 10 plagues that he would send. But he didn't tell him that he would go speak to Pharaoh in a dream. Moses theoretically could have sat and waited for God to speak to Pharaoh himself, but he might have ended up waiting forever. God didn't promise to do that.The first two steps in setting God-sized goals are asking God for a picture of the future, and then writing down a vision using the boundaries God has given you and the gift of creativity. The third step is asking God for a promise. It's important when we begin to form a vision about the future, that we press in to God and ask him for a promise. A promise can build our faith and hope in what God will do, but it can also help us clarify what God has not said he would do. Here's how to ask God for a promise for a certain area of your life:

1. As you consider the vision that you have created, ask God for a promise from the Word that specifically applies to your situation. You are looking to hear Him tell you something He will do to complete the vision. He can give you a reference or remind you of a story from the Word. Write down this Scripture and receive it as a promise over your vision.
2. Ask God to speak into the Scripture and begin to speak to you about his role in the fulfillment of the vision. He might remind you of the kind of help He has given you in the past or the kind of ways that He helped people in the Word. As you listen to Him, begin to write down what You sense that He is saying about His role in completing the vision.

Now that you have formulated a vision and begun to clarify what God has said He will do to partner towards the completion of the vision, you can begin to write God-sized goals. Next week, we will talk about how to do that.