Silas
Beloved of All
Thank you for sharing your heart and your desire not to simply follow your own plans but to follow the Lord. That desire itself is good and honors God, and I am glad to pray with you about it.
The verse you mentioned is often understood as being about personal dreams or goals, but its meaning is a little different. In Proverbs 29:18 the word translated vision means prophetic revelation, the revealed Word and counsel of God. Where that revelation is absent, people cast off restraint and wander. The answer to not perishing or wandering is not necessarily a supernatural picture, but hearing and obeying what God has already revealed in Scripture. When we have His Word before us and obey it, we have direction that keeps us from simply living for ourselves.
That helps us understand what visions are in the Bible. A dream comes while a person is asleep, while a vision comes while a person is awake and conscious, yet in both God at times opens a person's eyes to see into the spiritual realm. We live in a physical, three dimensional world, but there is a real spiritual realm around us that we cannot see with natural eyes unless God opens our sight. When He does, a person steps in that moment into a timeless realm outside our normal time. That is why a vision can show things past, present, or future, as though they were happening now, and can even show things happening in other places, because space and time do not limit the Spirit.
Scripture shows God has spoken this way. He gave to a king a dream of world empires, and later gave to Daniel similar visions while he was awake that carried the same message and stretched far into the future, even to the time of the end. When Daniel saw the vision he sought for its meaning, and God sent the angel Gabriel to help him understand. The effect on Daniel was overwhelming. He was left with no strength, his face grew pale, he fell into a deep sleep, and afterward he was faint and sick for days. Others who were with him did not see the vision at all, but they sensed the presence of God so strongly that they trembled and fled. On the island of Patmos, John also was in the Spirit and received a vision of things to come. These accounts show that a true vision from God is weighty, holy, and given by His sovereign choice for His purposes, not something we can produce or demand.
God still can give such insight if He chooses, and it is right to be open to Him. At the same time, the normal and sure way He guides His people today is through His Word. His Word has power to accomplish the purpose for which He sends it and it will not return without effect. His eternal purpose in Christ will stand, and no one can annul what He has purposed. Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows, and He will faithfully fulfill what He has promised.
So my prayer for you is not simply that you would have an experience, but that God would give you clear revelation of His will through Scripture and make you sensitive to His leading by His Spirit, and that if He in His wisdom chooses to give you a dream or vision, He would also give you understanding and peace about it.
Heavenly Father, I thank You that You do not change and that Your Word is trustworthy. I thank You for this one who wants to follow You rather than personal ambition. Give clear direction through Your Word, open the eyes of the heart to understand it, and grant wisdom to discern Your will. Lead away from self chosen paths and establish each step according to Your eternal purpose in Christ. If it pleases You to give further insight by a dream or vision, do so according to Your perfect will and give understanding, humility, and obedience to respond rightly. Fill this heart with assurance that Your good gifts come from You, that Your promises will be fulfilled, and that to know Jesus and walk in fellowship with Him is the true purpose of life. I ask this in the mighty name of Jesus, amen.
The verse you mentioned is often understood as being about personal dreams or goals, but its meaning is a little different. In Proverbs 29:18 the word translated vision means prophetic revelation, the revealed Word and counsel of God. Where that revelation is absent, people cast off restraint and wander. The answer to not perishing or wandering is not necessarily a supernatural picture, but hearing and obeying what God has already revealed in Scripture. When we have His Word before us and obey it, we have direction that keeps us from simply living for ourselves.
That helps us understand what visions are in the Bible. A dream comes while a person is asleep, while a vision comes while a person is awake and conscious, yet in both God at times opens a person's eyes to see into the spiritual realm. We live in a physical, three dimensional world, but there is a real spiritual realm around us that we cannot see with natural eyes unless God opens our sight. When He does, a person steps in that moment into a timeless realm outside our normal time. That is why a vision can show things past, present, or future, as though they were happening now, and can even show things happening in other places, because space and time do not limit the Spirit.
Scripture shows God has spoken this way. He gave to a king a dream of world empires, and later gave to Daniel similar visions while he was awake that carried the same message and stretched far into the future, even to the time of the end. When Daniel saw the vision he sought for its meaning, and God sent the angel Gabriel to help him understand. The effect on Daniel was overwhelming. He was left with no strength, his face grew pale, he fell into a deep sleep, and afterward he was faint and sick for days. Others who were with him did not see the vision at all, but they sensed the presence of God so strongly that they trembled and fled. On the island of Patmos, John also was in the Spirit and received a vision of things to come. These accounts show that a true vision from God is weighty, holy, and given by His sovereign choice for His purposes, not something we can produce or demand.
God still can give such insight if He chooses, and it is right to be open to Him. At the same time, the normal and sure way He guides His people today is through His Word. His Word has power to accomplish the purpose for which He sends it and it will not return without effect. His eternal purpose in Christ will stand, and no one can annul what He has purposed. Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows, and He will faithfully fulfill what He has promised.
So my prayer for you is not simply that you would have an experience, but that God would give you clear revelation of His will through Scripture and make you sensitive to His leading by His Spirit, and that if He in His wisdom chooses to give you a dream or vision, He would also give you understanding and peace about it.
Heavenly Father, I thank You that You do not change and that Your Word is trustworthy. I thank You for this one who wants to follow You rather than personal ambition. Give clear direction through Your Word, open the eyes of the heart to understand it, and grant wisdom to discern Your will. Lead away from self chosen paths and establish each step according to Your eternal purpose in Christ. If it pleases You to give further insight by a dream or vision, do so according to Your perfect will and give understanding, humility, and obedience to respond rightly. Fill this heart with assurance that Your good gifts come from You, that Your promises will be fulfilled, and that to know Jesus and walk in fellowship with Him is the true purpose of life. I ask this in the mighty name of Jesus, amen.
