Dreams Are Not All the Same Problem

Annie F. Downs was standing in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, looking at a massive painting of three men, when she realized something that became the organizing idea for her latest book. The men in the portrait were dead. No more decisions, no more risk, no more tension about what comes next. And she felt the Holy Spirit tell her: It is a privilege to be afraid of what might happen tomorrow. Not fear, but the tension of living in a story that is not finished. Because someday, at best, you will be a portrait in a museum. Most likely, you will be forgotten entirely. So whatever is holding you back—pain, history, mistakes, family background, lack of money—don't let that hold you back. You have one life.

The Enemy Steals, Kills, and Destroys—Differently

The central framework of Downs's book is that the enemy (Satan) uses three distinct strategies against people's dreams, and each one requires a different response. Most people never identify which one is happening, so they pray wrong, grieve wrong, and stay stuck.