Her dream began with me and several others she recognized coming out of meeting in which we had been discussing the finances of IHOP-NW and our possible move into a larger facility. I was standing outside the door talking to her about our financial concerns when I begin to smile. In her dream she could see that my teeth and roots were rotten and this was because of my constant worry and anxiety about finances. But the good news was that I had a retainer in my mouth and we knew that meant that the Lord was correcting this. The Lord showed her and Gary that this was causing me not to be able to chew and digest the Word of God properly.

After she shared the dream I confessed that I recently had not been able to focus in the Bible and even when I read something I did not retain it for long and this really was grieving me. Also, for some time I had not had any dreams that were significant. Having this dream shared with me was embarrassing and I told no one, but the dream was so convicting that I was really humbled. I immediately went into repentance asking the Lord to forgive me. I confessed my fear and worry and asked God to release peace, which He did.

A couple of days later, I clearly heard the Lord say to me “Isaiah 57,” and I sensed that there was a connection to this dream. As I read Isaiah 57:3-13 I had revelation that the Lord was speaking to all of us about setting aside our idols. “When you cry out for help let your collection of idols, save you! The wind will carry all of them off; a mere breath will blow them away.” As I reflected on the idols the Lord brought to my mind how I had been fearful about money and that’s where I had put my trust. He started bringing to mind how I was worrying about the finances of our country and what the future was going to bring. He showed me how people were beginning to be my resource and not Him. I knew that this was the reason I was not getting the revelation and breakthrough that I had been crying out for and so I asked for forgiveness. All this happened during our recent forty day fast which was about to end.

That night I had a powerful dream. I was standing near the edge of a shallow bay and I was looking into the water. The water was beautiful and I could see to the bottom. I knew that if I drank the water it would be pure and fill me with great health. I turned to my right to see a man on all fours lifting his leg side ways in the air to exercise. Floating over him on all fours was a trainer with very large muscles. As the man lifted his leg, the trainer was lifting His directly above the man’s as if to be supernaturally causing him to build his muscles. All of a sudden I saw someone throwing big logs into the water and I was alarmed that it would stop the flow of the water and dam it up. But, the trainer – Who I now knew was the Lord – said, “Do not be worried about that person because I will take care of it, you just be concerned about building your muscle.”

I knew the Lord was saying to me and to others to stay in the Word, praying and interceding for our strength to endure what is coming and He will ensure for us that the flow of the Holy Spirit will not be stopped or hampered by the enemy. Then I woke up.

The following night I had another dream. All of the people at IHOP were in a building and we were having lots of fun. I looked outside and I saw a horrible storm like I had never seen in my lifetime. I knew it was a life and death storm and I remembered that my dog Lucy, whom I dearly love, was outside and I had to get her. There was a great body of water like an ocean and not far out I could see a very large ship like a freighter and I knew it was an international ship. Along the bank of the water was a large dock and I noticed that my dog Lucy had just been swept over into the water and was drowning. I quickly grabbed her leash as she went under. I struggled for some time to pull her up and then all of a sudden just her leash and collar appeared. I was terrified and so sad that I went inside crying and screaming for help. And then I woke up.

After praying and speaking to Gary about these dreams we both came to the same interpretation. Lucy represented things that were not eternal and we are not to hope or hang onto them because a great storm which is possibly international is coming. The Lord is saying that we must build our strength and let go of our idols, whether it be Fox News, money, our home, shopping, food, etc. The Lord will show us.

Isaiah 57:13-15 says, “But the man who makes me his refuge will inherit the land and posses my holy mountain. Build up, Build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people. For this is what the high and lofty One says he who lives forever, whose name is holy: I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.”

Shortly after the revelation on this word, Gary and I were watching the DVD The Finger of God. Bill Johnson was speaking about the Lord multiplying the food for thousands twice and then shortly afterwards His disciples were in the boat complaining that they had no food. Jesus says in Mark 8:17 “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember?

Bill Johnson said we do not have “Kingdom reasoning” because we cannot see things by spiritual discernment because of our idols that we do not even know exist and inhibit our reasoning. This should really concern us because I believe the Lord revealed to me a storm is coming and we cannot be passive or asleep. But the good news is, remember in my dream those that were in prayer and worshipping together were not harmed by the storm and in fact did not seem that concerned about what was going on outside.

After a couple of weeks I finally had the courage to tell the whole story on a Friday evening at IHOP-NW Encountering God Service. I realized as I told the story how the Lord had healed and humbled me because it felt good to real this to others and to help them. The following Monday I received a call from Pastor Troy Green from Elma, WA. This was significant because he was part one of two things that the Lord had done to multiple money for us as we begun IHOP-NW and had almost no money. Well over a year ago when we needed $17,000 to purchase sound equipment he came to us and said the Lord told him to seed into IHOP and give us the money. His church is very small and in a low income area, this was miraculous.

The reason he called last Monday was to tell me about his major encounter with God as he stepped up to the pulpit to preach Sunday on the First Commandment. As he was about to speak the Lord said, “Troy your assignment is building a 24/7 prayer movement, but your passion and calling is to love Me. As he began to preach this the whole church broke down in repentance and weeping and they did not leave the church until 2:00PM.

As he told me the story I began to see the connection of my dreams, the leaders dream, Isaiah 57, Mark 8. The Lord is saying “Love me, just have a passion for me and I will add all the rest. I will take care of the logs the enemy is throwing at you.”

The stock market is up, homes are selling and people are beginning to shop again but do not be fooled by all of this. Do not be afraid either but instead do as I did. Get on your knees and pray for forgiveness and ask the Lord for revelation on what is coming and how to prepare the way. Ask the Lord for dreams and visions, but most of all begin to tell the Lord how much He means to you and how much you love Him. Tell him you cannot live without Him and nothing means anything without revelation and muscle building from Him. Let Him be in control of everything in your life. It is much more exciting and rewarding.

Download notes here