We Plan, We Pray, and We Proceed
It’s funny how God works. In college I accidentally formed a weekly ministry with more participants than several “official” college groups I had been attending. It all came about from an idea. I thought, “There must be a sigma about the term ‘bible study.’ I know other students would be interested in learning more about what to believe if they didn’t think it was just religious propaganda.” So I started a “worldview study.”
At it’s height during the two semesters I led it, we had 20 students showing up to a nook with two couches in one of the dorms, watching videos about philosophy, and eating pizza. It was great!
The next year, I thought, “Wow! My idea was so great last time, what else? Let’s do a study on the untold depths of Bible stories, striping away the ‘kid’ stories we are familiar with and going deeper. I’ll call it ‘Milk to Meat.’” I sent a flyer to every single student on campus. Two people showed up. They didn’t even stay for the whole thing.
Many of you might be thinking, “Well it’s obvious why your second plan failed. You didn’t learn anything from the first. You called it a ‘bible study.’” And while, yes, that’s true, most of the people coming to the “worldview study” were not opposed to going to a Bible study. We ended up doing a fair amount of Bible studying in the “worldview study.” They just hadn’t found a study that made sense to them. So I tried to address the same issue:: perception. It just didn’t pan out the second time.
Why do some of our plans work great and others fail?
This is a much bigger question than simple ministry events we put on. But if we focus on why some events have great, long-lasting impact and others just don’t, I believe it comes down to three things:: planning, praying, and proceeding.
We Plan
Planning is never easy. There are so many variables to consider and many that we can neither know nor control when dealing with people.
Ministry is not a science. There is no formula for the perfect ministry event that anyone could follow and find amazing results, time after time. People all react differently to the same things. People change from one event to the next. This is expected, right!? People grow. That’s what we want.
So how do you plan when there is no sure course? Best guess.
That sounds like a copout, but it’s not. This is the same answer to all of these questions::
- What color will sell more soda drinks?
- Which famous athlete will appeal more to students opinions on sex or drugs?
- When will it next rain?
There are many questions in life that have no certain answer. We just do our best to get it right, to make our solutions most effective. And we learn from out mistakes.
Planning really comes down to three things:: maximizing past successes, minimizing past failures, and pursue future goals. Learn from the past and hope for the future.
We Pray
Second, you need to pray. Ministry is never accomplished simply through the works of any of us. The best event can’t hope to reach people and affect their hearts if the Holy Spirit is not involved.
Pray consistently from before the planning process through well after the event is over. Pray definitively that your goals will be realized, whether they be immediately or years down the road. And pray expectantly that God will be faithful, even if things don’t go as planned.
Praying won’t ensure that everything goes smoothly or that the plan is made perfect. Praying isn’t some magical spell that just makes things work. However, involving the Holy Spirit in this process keeps you grounded and ensures you remember that the “perfect event” doesn’t happen because of our planning and preparation, but because of the influence of God.
We don’t save. God does. We don’t change the world. God does. Praying helps us remember that.
We Proceed
Finally, just proceed. That’s it. You’ve done what you can. You planned the best you could and you’ve asked for the guidance and effectiveness of the Holy Spirit. You literally cannot do anything more than just do the event. There are logistics to consider, venue preparations to do, people to recruit, and participants to invite. All that’s left is to just do the work of the event.
One thing to remember in proceeding, stay in the moment. It is easy, especially when concerned with making the most effective events, to get caught up in planning the next event before the current one has finished. Make notes about changes for the future, but don’t dwell on everything that could be done next time. You’ll miss out on seeing God’s work happening all around you.
That’s it. Plan. Pray. And proceed. Some events will succeed and some will fail, but you will always have a strategy of where to go next.
