Abraham Lincoln was one of the greatest presidents of the United States. The story is told that on one of Lincoln’s birthdays, a cartoon was printed in a newspaper. It was a picture of a small log cabin that was situated at the base of a mountain. The White House was at the top of the mountain.

by Rev. Jack Richards on April 15, 2020

SCRIPTURE

“Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.” For I was cupbearer to the king.” Nehemiah 1:11

SPOTLIGHT

Abraham Lincoln was one of the greatest presidents of the United States. The story is told that on one of Lincoln’s birthdays, a cartoon was printed in a newspaper. It was a picture of a small log cabin that was situated at the base of a mountain. The White House was at the top of the mountain. There was a ladder that connected the log cabin to the White House. At the bottom of the cartoon were these words: “The ladder is still there!” To climb the ladder, however, will require prayer and planning along with hard work.

Are you a planner? Do you plan your day’s activities? Can you tell me your week’s schedule? Do you have any sense of what you want to accomplish with your life this year? Or do you “wing it,” and “fly by the seat of your pants,” because you claim to be a spontaneous and creative person? Such people may argue that planning takes the fun out of something. They may feel their creativity is stilted and life becomes too stiff, artificial or informal.

Nehemiah was a planner. We meet him in the book that he authored and is named after him. He was a man of prayer who worked with Pastor Ezra to gather the Jewish people together to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah’s first prayer is in chapter 1. Prayer and planning were his strong points. Because of that God gave him success.

The old maxim continues to be proven time and time again. Fail to plan and you plan to fail. The lack of planning has always led people to wish there were more hours in the day. Some people get so bogged down that facing another day is drudgery. Failing to plan can also lead to loneliness. What teenager hasn’t wished he or she had better thought through the weekend’s activities? And then there is the elderly person who sits alone wishing he/she had expanded his friendship circle rather than just limiting it to the now deceased spouse.

Mark it down! God wants you to plan! God is organized. Just look at creation. Things go better when you plan like God did when He created the world. Just be flexible enough to adjust or change your plans if you are required. Why not plan a family meal schedule for a week, or a month? How about planning a regular date with your spouse?

Remember that planning involves:
1. Prayerful deliberation
2. Purposeful discussion
3. Positive decision-making

Planning will protect you from:
1. The philosophy, “Oh leave it to so-in-so.”
2. The problem, “What shall we do next?”
3. The post-mortem, “If we had it to do over again, we would do things differently.”

SOMETHING TO DO

Get yourself a plan by praying and pondering. Make sure that it is a Godly one…one for your life…one for this year…one for this week...and one for today! Be sure to work it. Remain flexible enough to change it. You will make life easier on yourself and others too!

SOUL TIME PRAYER

Heavenly Father, my desire is to know the plans You would have me follow for my life. I’m asking that You would guide me as I set goals and make plans. AMEN!

Tags: pray, plan, nehemiah, and


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