5 Keys to Steward Your Visions and Dreams

Let’s be clear on the understanding of the word steward.

The definition of steward according to Merriam-Webster is “one employed or tasked to manage domestic concerns; one appointed to supervise the provision and distribution in an institution; one who actively directs affairs.” It is essential we learn to steward a vision or dream until the next step becomes very clear for us to take. Here are a few important keys to unlocking the power of your encounters with the Lord:

1. Avoid Isolation!

We must steward visions and dreams by constantly giving ourselves permission to see the bigger picture unfolding in the Spirit. Generally, the Lord is not going to share the entire scope of the vision or dream. Invariably there will be events that both precede and follow the encounter. We must learn to see the big picture and steward well by not letting a single encounter become the entire story.

2. Allow Involvement!

We must understand that usually others are involved in some way with the encounter either directly or indirectly. In this angelic encounter and the events that followed, there were numerous people involved to either position me or prepare me in ways they could not have known. My wife, Jennifer, gave me the journal before departing the United States on our initial flight. I had never journaled before, but I have faithfully ever since. She gave me a word to “watch out for Tuesday—something big is going to happen.” Without that word I may have missed that morning session because it was advertised as a “women’s meeting,” and I was unclear whether men were to attend. Our journey will always include interaction with others who often unknowingly are used by the Lord to help prepare us or position us for a wonderful encounter. We learn to steward visions and dreams by allowing others to have access to our journey.

3. Always Journal!

It cannot be overstated that one of the most significant keys to stewarding visions and dreams is to be firmly committed to journaling your own encounters. When we record the unfolding of visions and dreams at the time of the encounter, the accuracy is preserved, and a path begins to form that becomes easy to follow as you move on to the discovery of this and other encounters that lay ahead.

4. Avoid Exposure!

One of the keys to stewarding visions and dreams is to avoid the natural tendency to want to share the vision or dream too soon or even with the wrong people. We can prematurely and unnecessarily expose the vision or dream to harsh criticism and scrutiny, causing us to become doubtful about its validity. I will often encourage people to not share a vision or dream at all until it has been accurately recorded without the influence of others.

5. Ask Questions!

Do not be afraid as you pray and seek to process the vision or dream. The questions that you ask yourself, bring before the Lord in your prayer time. I have found it very beneficial to ask questions of those around me so that I might learn what they were sensing from the Lord at the time of the encounter.

Though the vision tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come—it will not tarry (see Hab. 2:3 KJV). God is the giver of visions. When God gives a vision, ours is to obey and enter into that vision. God will bring it to pass in His time and His way.