Set Goals, Pray and Pursue them

Your goals are destination indicators. They are desire you wish to attain by pursuing them within the period so set for their attainment.

For those who are already comfortable with goal setting, most likely you are also familiar with the acronym SMART which stands for goals being Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic and Time bound. See picture attached as a quick reminder.

credit: Google

Also, don't just set goals for projects and a fee major things you want to achieve. But also set goals in the area of your spiritual life, health, family, relationships, career, business, finance, personal development and any other area of importance you. Even if it's two or three goals in each area.

And in the same breath, for those who are not used to setting goals, or maybe they used to but have stopped. I want to deal with three general reasons people do not set goals at all or only set partial goals.

First, is a belief system that what will be will be. So they just live each day as it comes. They believe they don't have any active part in what happens to them. And so they either never set any goals or even if they do, they are not committed to it.

But the truth is, life is not designed to be lived by mere chance ot whatever comes.  If anything will change, there has to be a deliberate step towards it. Food doesn't cook itself, cars don't drive themselves. Even self driving cars must be programed. Houses don't build themselves. Babies don't just pop out from nowhere. Money don't spend themselves and and so on.

So everyone, even if incidentally, skeletally and subconsciously make plans and move towards such plans and they eventually get some done. 

And life will be better when these subconscious plans are done intentionally and deliberately. And goal setting is one of those ways to achieve this.

The second reason some people don't set goals is because of their past disappointments and the pain of broken expectations. 

Some persons made plans and followed through as much as possible but they did not achieve their target. So, they got discouraged and deeply disappointed. Some found it difficult to recover from the disappointment. They are weary of going through that process again.

To those of us in this category, you need to do a proper review of that period when you were committed and followed through your plans and goals. You may not have achieve the main goal, but you would have achieved something else that you will never have attained if you didn't have the great goals you were pursuing. 

As the saying goes, aim for the sun, if you miss, you might land on the moon or one of the stars. But if you never aimed for the sun, merely climbing any height at all may seem like a big deal even if it's the second floor.

So lighten up. I cannot promise you that you get everything this time, but I can promise you that the general overview of your life will be much better if you set goals and follow through with those goals.

The third category of people who do not set goals are those who assume that they have goals already. But what they have are not goals at all.

This can happen in different ways. 

For some persons, they have a vague foggy idea of what they want but it fall short of the SMART rules of setting goals - they only have wishes. 

For some, they hold on to one desire to the detriment of every other. And they don't care if they lose their faith, integrity, health, family and so on to get it. This is called desperation and desperation makes you less intelligent and vulnerable. Set goals instead and follow through with commitment. And ensure to balance it with other areas of your life. You don't want to succeed and then be lonely because you have run over every relationship to get the success.

Then, there are also some who just want to outdo someone or prove a point - this is pressure, competition, jealousy and/or envy. It is ok to be inspired by others. But it is very dangerous to get into a path of pressure, competition,  jealousy and/or envy.  All kinds of evil follow this kind of desires.

Then, there are also some who assume they have goals because they genuinely want something. The problem is they have no road map to attaining it - they are just hoping for a miracle to happen.

Now, I believe in miracles, I believe in all kinds of miracles including money miracles. I absolutely do. But some persons are merely presumptions and not acting in faith at all. Faith without instructions or works is dead. Set goals.

As Christians, it is very important to set goals?

The first reason is that we ought to know what we want before we go to God in prayers. So, goal setting comes before prayer. 

Bible said in Mark11:24 "Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray..."

You determine what you want before you kneel down. And your desires are clarified in the place of goal setting. Then you take it to God and say; Lord, these are the things I desire, help me. I believe it, I receive and I will have it in Jesus name, amen!

Some have said; "But, God knows what we need..." Yes, God knows, but He still said we should ask. Because God gave us a will and ability to choose. And even when He bring surprises, it is in form of gifts, we can accept or reject. 

Also, when Bible was teaching about God knowing what we need before we ask, it is so that we should avoid vain repetitions. Vain repetition - like saying; "Do it, do it, do it!" 30 times. 

Now it is possible to pray a particular prayer and same words multiple times, Jesus prayed same prayer three times and He was saying the same thing for an hour each time. But each time, it was heart felt. Not mindless repetitions.

Next point 

It is also biblical to align with the SMART Rules of goal setting. Bible says write the vision, make it plain - why? So that they that run will run with the correct version.

"Then the Lord said to me, “Write my answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to others."

Habakkuk 2:2 NLT

Also, we see in many part of the Bible that God has His plans but He also expects us to plan. So God said His plans are higher than ours. He expect us to have plans. In Proverbs 16:9 Bible says; 

"A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps."

(NKJV)

So if God plans and He expects us to plan then it is wise to plan and unwise not to plan.

Getting the best from Goals:

During the holiday, the atmosphere for everybody and on everyside was hopeful - on radio, tv, WhatsApp, social media - everyone is sending messages of hope of a great and wonderful year.

And so our deepest desires are allow to find expression without criticism or fears even if just for a few moment of feeling good.

And either deliberately or subconsciously, we make new year resolutions and wish this and wish that.

But most times, a few days into the year and all that hope is jetisoned to "face reality".

But I believe the good feelings and decisions we stirred up at the beginning of the year represents our true intentions and genuine desires to see growth, advancement and transformation in our lives.

And it is possible to achieve them.

Yes, those feelings are like day dreaming and building castles in the air. But some persons woke up and lived that dream. They looked for foundations and placed it under the castles they built in the air.

Additionally,

God is not against such desires. In fact, God always uses such desires and resolutions to make us move higher in life. 

And in Philippians 2:13 in the New Living Translation says "For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power...."

So ladies and gentle, people that have the Spirit of God and love God like you do, should not joke with their desires at all

And so I want to share with you three things that can help achieve these desires.

The first is - Write everything down. As many as you can think. As many as you can imagine and remember. Write it.

A few areas might occupy your mind but once you write it, you free up space for more.

Once they are written, then edit and ensure they meet up with the SMART rules of goal setting. 

Again, this is in line with the Bible. Many times the instruction to write it was given. In Revelation 1:19 Bible says; "Write therefore the things you see, what they are [and signify] and what is to take place hereafter.

Secondly, pray about it. God expects you to pray about your desires. in Mark 11:24, Bible says anything you desire, "when" you pray, not "if" you pray. When.

Not bringing God in, makes you prone to the 50-50 probability of life. That is when you realized that indeed, the race is not to the fastest or dreams to those that can write it.

So pray generally and also pray specifically about your desire?

Finally, Get ready to get to work and execute. Build daily activities, habits and routines that will help you achieve those desires at the end of the year. 

Most goals die because there is no planned action to back it up or they did not follow through the actions.

It shouldn't be too difficult or dramatic actions. Don't perform magic in one day. The year has 365 days to achieve just these goals.

So, if you have goals set already - ensure they are SMART. And make sure they cover every major area. And if you haven't, I hope you will start typing them on your notepad right away.

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Thank you for staying with me, till next time,

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Keep walking on the path of wisdom,

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And God bless you. _Amen!_

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#pastorjosh