A big part of my personal testimony is a result of when God taught me about the power of imagination and not limiting Him. I got born again when I was eight years old. As an adult in 1968, I had an encounter with the Lord that made me realise what a religious hypocrite I was, and I repented. I expected God’s wrath and judgment, but instead He showered me with supernatural love for four and a half months.
During that time, I felt God telling me to share with others what I learned about identity and grace. So, I started heading in that direction, but there was a lot of frustration. It wasn’t God causing the frustration; it was all of the junk that was inside of me that was hindering the Lord from flowing through me.
In 2000, God told me to go on TV, and things started to improve. By 2002, the ministry had doubled in size, so I was on the right path. But then the Lord spoke to me through Psalm 78, which is a retelling of what God did with the Israelites when they left Egypt and how they just constantly turned around and rebelled at Him.
How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert! Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.
Psalm 78:40–41
God had nothing but good plans for the Israelites (Jer 29:11) and wanted to bring them out of Egypt and into the land He had promised them, but they just wouldn’t cooperate. Every time they ran into a hard place, they’d start complaining and talking about dying in the wilderness and wishing they could go back to Egypt.
God was trying to bring them into something better, but they just constantly hindered what He wanted them to do. Notice that it says they often provoked Him, and turned back and tempted the Holy One of Israel.
On January 31, 2002, the Lord spoke Psalm 78:41 to me, and it’s probably the second-most- important encounter I’ve ever had with the Lord as far as the results that it made in my ministry. He told me, “You’re limiting what I can do through you with your small thinking.” Even though I knew what God wanted for my life and believed I’d reach people worldwide, I realised I was limiting Him in many ways. The biggest way was that I knew His plan, but I couldn’t picture it or see myself doing those things.
After years of rejection, I’d gotten used to people not liking me. Surprisingly, in the last decade, things changed, and I started being accepted by the same people who used to reject me. It felt really weird because I wasn’t used to it. But after decades of thinking small and not imagining the big things God was giving me vision for, I knew I had to confront it, but I was fearful of seeming proud.
Those past rejections made me keep my dreams quiet, even from Jamie. It was hard for me to see myself reaching a lot of people, but I knew God wanted my ministry to be huge. So, I had to stop limiting what God could do in my life and start seeing the big picture He had in mind for me. And the events that unfolded as a result are nothing short of miraculous.
In 2002, we had 25 staff, and now we have a team of around 1,200. That’s a forty-eight-fold increase! Our income has increased by fifty-one times, reaching over $100 million per year in the U.S. alone, with an additional $30 million supporting our twenty-two global offices. All this
incredible growth unfolded in just twenty-one years. It’s truly been an explosive journey.
The turning point wasn’t that all of a sudden God started moving. God was moving all along. My own limited thinking and fear of judgment had created a dam in my life because I had been holding back, hesitant to express what God had placed in my heart. But once I broke free from that small mindset, it was like a dam breaking, unleashing the flood of God’s intended blessings. And one of the major catalysts to this was using my imagination.
You cannot see anything happen on the outside that you haven’t seen happen on the inside. That’s a big statement right there. You might be praying for your marriage to be restored, for your body to be healed, or for financial prosperity, but you need to meditate on the Word and let it paint a picture on the inside of you. Then whatever you’re believing for will come to pass. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The point I’m making is that you can’t function without an imagination. Very few people allow the Word of God and His promises to dominate their thinking. Most people have a negative, fearful mindset and limit what God can do. But God has so much more for each and every one of us.
Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
2 Corinthians 2:14
If you’re living in a way that shrinks what God can do in and through you, you’ve got to read the living Word of God and allow Him to speak to you through it. And then at some point you’ve got to move beyond just reading to visualising the manifestation through your imagination. You’ve got to see yourself healthy and prosperous. Your life is a reflection of your vision!
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.
Proverbs 23:7a
Imagination is our spiritual womb, and the conception process is as crucial, if not more so, than the birth. For more in-depth teaching, go to my website at awme.net/imagination where you can get The Power of Imagination book, CD or DVD series, USB, and introductory booklet Believing Is Seeing, or call our UK Helpline at +44(0)1922 473300.
God’s got a plan for your life that exceeds your own abilities. I pray this message has stirred up hope within you and inspired you to take the limits off God and start believing Him for big things.
God’s got a plan for your life that exceeds your own abilities. I pray this message has stirred up hope within you and inspired you to take the limits off God and start believing Him for big things.
We love you,
Andrew and Jamie
The Power of Imagination
In Andrew Wommack’s teaching Believing Is Seeing, learn how to use your imagination to discover all that God has for you.
View all products for The Power of Imagination