Pray in 2017- Day 14- Plan For The Year
Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him. (Psalm 32:6 ESV)
Day 14- Plans For The Year
- May he grant you your heart's desire and fulfill all your plans! (Psalm 20:4 ESV)
Now that we have prayed to line our heart’s desires up with the Lord’s, it is time to evaluate our plans in light of how Jesus shapes our hearts.
The way I tend to plan looks like this: come up with great ideas; figure out ways to make them happen; ask God to rubber-stamp them. But this year, I want to plan differently and put the Lord FIRST in the process, instead of last.
- Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"-- yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." (James 4:13-15 ESV)
I don’t know what the year holds, but the Lord does. I don’t believe God wants me to sit around doing nothing, waiting for His direction. Scripture does not support that. But recognizing He is in charge and submitting myself to His will, flips my current method on its head.
- The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps. (Proverbs 16:9 ESV)
The Lord is at work establishing my steps, even while I am busy planning. So the likelihood that I am wasting my time strategizing, before I ever receive heavenly marching orders, is pretty high. I need to learn to WAIT.
- From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him. (Isaiah 64:4 ESV)
I have no idea what the Lord wants to do this year or where He wants me to go, but I bet I think too small. Instead of fearing that I won’t get my way if I get off the planning throne, I might want to fear He wants to do more than I can ever imagine! He might want to put me somewhere I can only succeed if He works through me! But no matter what His plans, I know He acts FOR me.
- “For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
Yes, God has plans for me, and they are for my good. But the people He spoke the above words to in Jeremiah 29, were refugees on the run. Their future included seventy years away from their home. Their future and hope were secure, but the resolution of their problems was a long way off. Likewise, God’s ultimate plan of redemption in my life might involve difficulty and pain, but the result will be eternal fruitfulness. That is the future for which I hope.
So today I pray for God to establish every plan for 2017 so I can follow well, wherever He may take me.
Day 14 Prayer-
The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.
All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit.
Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.
(Proverbs 16:1-3 ESV)
Lord would you answer my heart, weigh my spirit, and establish my plans so they are lined up with Your will and empowered by Your Spirit.
This year Lord, may I trust in You, more than my plans and goals. I want to be wise, but I want to put You first, and love You most. This year please teach me the difference between wisely planning and trying to take control away from You.
Oh Lord, I know my heart is full of plans. I have lists and goals and strategies. And while I know this isn’t bad, I also know I have no idea what You have in store for 2017. So today I lay all my plans out on the table. What do You want me to do? Where do You want me to go? Who do You want me to serve?
Each task You give to me this year, I want to work with all my heart. Each person You place in my life, I want to serve with Your love.
I commit my work to You. May it build Your kingdom. May it proclaim Your name. May it preach salvation. May it free the captives. I love these goals, but I could never come up with a plan to accomplish them.
Thank You Lord that You do have a plan that can accomplish these and that You establish my steps. Please help me to follow hard after You, no matter where You lead me.
Amen
- May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners! May the LORD fulfill all your petitions! Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. (Psalm 20:5-7 ESV)
Standing with you and trusting the Lord to direct our paths this year!
- And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. (1 John 5:14-15 ESV)