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Speaker 1: Hello friend, and happy New Year. Now. I know that
Speaker 1: we are already halfway through January and I'm still saying
Speaker 1: Happy New Year because after an amazing and RESTful break
Speaker 1: with my family over the holiday season, I am just
Speaker 1: taking my time getting into twenty twenty three. Are you.
Speaker 1: You know some people come into the year and they
Speaker 1: just hit the ground running on January first. However, I
Speaker 1: have a really good friend. Her name is Laura Casey,
Speaker 1: and she is the creator of powersheets from the company
Speaker 1: Cultivate What Matters. And one thing that she said, as
Speaker 1: a goal planning expert I would call her is that
Speaker 1: there is nothing special about January first. I also have
Speaker 1: another good friend. Her name is Leslie Lamarto, and she
Speaker 1: sent down an email at the end of last year
Speaker 1: explaining that November December time frame is usually when everybody
Speaker 1: is trying to set their goals. However, this is usually
Speaker 1: the worst time to try to set your goals, because
Speaker 1: you have Thanksgiving, you have Christmas, all the things that
Speaker 1: are going on. However, we rush trying to set our
Speaker 1: goals and think of our intentions for the year because
Speaker 1: we know that right after Christmas, right after this holiday season,
Speaker 1: January first is right around the corner. But as I
Speaker 1: said before from my friend Laura Casey, there's nothing special
Speaker 1: about January first. Any day is an excellent day to
Speaker 1: think about not only your goals for the year, but
Speaker 1: more importantly God's purpose for your life. And so that's
Speaker 1: what I want to talk about today. I want to
Speaker 1: share with you for scriptures and four different ways you
Speaker 1: can be praying for a purposeful twenty twenty three. Welcome back, friend.
Speaker 1: You are listening to the Teach Us to Pray podcast,
Speaker 1: where we teach believers practical and real life tips on
Speaker 1: how to grow your faith and relationship with God through
Speaker 1: the power of prayer. I'm Christina Patterson, host of the
Speaker 1: Teach Us to Pray podcast and founder of Beloved Women,
Speaker 1: where I encourage, equip and empower women in the love
Speaker 1: of Jesus Christ and the truth of God's Word. In
Speaker 1: the introduction of today's podcast, I shared with you some
Speaker 1: thoughts from my friend Leslie Lomarto that explained November December
Speaker 1: is really not the best time to try to be
Speaker 1: planning for the new year. She suggests actually waiting until
Speaker 1: January or February, after you've kind of come down your
Speaker 1: holiday high from November and December and have a clearer
Speaker 1: mind and schedule to really think about how you want
Speaker 1: to intentionally pursue God's purpose for your new year. If
Speaker 1: you're like me, like I also share, it's taken me
Speaker 1: a little bit of time to kind of ease into
Speaker 1: this new year. And so maybe you haven't set your
Speaker 1: goals yet or maybe you already have. Either way, here
Speaker 1: are some biblical principles I want us to be thinking
Speaker 1: about as we set our goals for the new year,
Speaker 1: and some scriptures to pray over as we pursue God's
Speaker 1: purpose in twenty twenty three. The first scripture that I
Speaker 1: want to share with you is Proverbs nineteen, verse twenty
Speaker 1: one that says many are the plans in a person's heart,
Speaker 1: but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails. And I
Speaker 1: absolutely love this scripture because I'm one of those people
Speaker 1: that has so many plans, so many ideas, so many dreams.
Speaker 1: I have lists and notebooks and digital planners and all
Speaker 1: the things to write down all my dreams. Now here's
Speaker 1: the thing about that. As exciting as it is to
Speaker 1: have ideas and dreams and things that you want to
Speaker 1: do for the new year, it can also be really
Speaker 1: overwhelming because then you start to think, well, how am
Speaker 1: I going to do all these things? And then you
Speaker 1: start to realize the limitation that you have in yourself,
Speaker 1: whether that be your resources, your energy, or your time,
Speaker 1: and you realize, wait a minute, I'm probably not going
Speaker 1: to be able to do all of this. Now that
Speaker 1: could discourage you, And honestly, I think that's one of
Speaker 1: the reasons why a lot of people don't even think
Speaker 1: about purposely setting goals, because there's this fear that I
Speaker 1: won't reach them. But this scripture encourages me so much
Speaker 1: for two reasons. One, it shares that it is completely
Speaker 1: natural to have many plans. It says many are the
Speaker 1: plans in a person's heart. That's a natural thing. Sometimes
Speaker 1: you might feel like, oh, I have all these ideas,
Speaker 1: I'm doing too much. But you're only doing too much
Speaker 1: if you actually try to pursue every single dream and
Speaker 1: plan that comes to your mind at the same time.
Speaker 1: So our goal then isn't to try to do all
Speaker 1: the things all the time. Our goal is to and
Speaker 1: this is my second favorite part of this scripture, pursue
Speaker 1: God's purpose that will ultimately prevail. So we have a
Speaker 1: lot of plans for this year, but our plans don't
Speaker 1: have to be our sole focus, because some plans will
Speaker 1: come to pass and some won't. But what we can
Speaker 1: be sure of is that God's per this will prevail.
Speaker 1: And so that's why instead of setting traditional goals, I
Speaker 1: actually like to set what I call purposeful goals. Right,
Speaker 1: So a traditional goal would say, I want to lose
Speaker 1: twenty pounds by the end of the year. Okay, that's
Speaker 1: very limiting, actually, because what if you lose nineteen pounds
Speaker 1: by the end of the year, are you going to
Speaker 1: feel like a failure because you just didn't reach the mark.
Speaker 1: With traditional goals, there's often this focus on the goal
Speaker 1: itself or the plan itself, then the actual progression that
Speaker 1: we're making towards that goal throughout the entire year. You know,
Speaker 1: reaching a goal is just a moment in time, but
Speaker 1: the journey to get to that goal is what we
Speaker 1: should be focusing on, because that's what we're going to
Speaker 1: be spending a majority of our time doing throughout the year.
Speaker 1: So a purposeful goal would say, I want to be
Speaker 1: my most healthy self so I can have more energy
Speaker 1: to give attention to my children. Now, doesn't that sound
Speaker 1: a lot more flexible? Right? Doesn't that sound a lot
Speaker 1: more doable. It's not this rigid yes or no, I've
Speaker 1: achieved it or I didn't achieve it kind of goal.
Speaker 1: It's this, I'm aiming to be my most healthy self.
Speaker 1: Because here's the thing. What if you lose the twenty pounds, right,
Speaker 1: but you have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, or
Speaker 1: you're sick, right, you're just not healthy, Then losing twenty
Speaker 1: pounds in and of itself probably doesn't reach the end, destination,
Speaker 1: or outcome that you really wanted. But with a purposeful goal,
Speaker 1: not only is the goal flexible and more holistic, it
Speaker 1: is actually connected to why we want to do what
Speaker 1: we're aiming to do, because you want more energy to
Speaker 1: play with your kids. And when we connect purpose to
Speaker 1: our plans and our goals, we're more likely to achieve
Speaker 1: them because we're not trying to do something just to
Speaker 1: do it. We're trying to do it because there is
Speaker 1: a deeper meaning behind it. There's a reason why we
Speaker 1: want to do it. So we're connecting our plans to
Speaker 1: our purpose, and that's why I love the scripture. Again, Yes,
Speaker 1: have many plans, right, but make sure they're connected to purpose.
Speaker 1: Make sure they're connected to God's purpose. So let's pray
Speaker 1: for our purpose. This here really briefly, Dear Heavenly Father,
Speaker 1: we thank you for allowing us to enter a new year.
Speaker 1: Father God, I thank you that you've given us so
Speaker 1: many ideas, Lord, but that those plans and ideas that
Speaker 1: you've placed on our heart are connected to your ultimate purpose. Lord.
Speaker 1: I pray that you reveal that purpose to us, Lord,
Speaker 1: and let that be our focus for twenty twenty three.
Speaker 1: The next scripture that I want to share with you
Speaker 1: that we can be praying over for twenty twenty three
Speaker 1: is Proverbs sixteen nine that says we can make our plans,
Speaker 1: but the Lord determines our steps. So here we go
Speaker 1: another scripture expressing that we have plans right, and we
Speaker 1: can make those plans, but God has the ultimate say
Speaker 1: in how things end, and our previous verse God's purpose prevailed.
Speaker 1: In this verse. It explains that God is the one
Speaker 1: that will determine the steps that we take. And so
Speaker 1: we want to start with purpose, like I just previously
Speaker 1: shared with you, but then we also want to focus
Speaker 1: on those steps to get to that purpose. I call
Speaker 1: these achievements. They are the result of your purpose lived out. Right.
Speaker 1: So if the purposeful goal, again is to be your
Speaker 1: healthiest self, there are certain achievements that you will reach
Speaker 1: along the way. So maybe you do lose the ten pounds, right,
Speaker 1: maybe you are able to run one mile without stopping.
Speaker 1: These would be achievements. Now, a lot of people what
Speaker 1: they do is they confuse achievements with their end goal.
Speaker 1: And so what you have to realize is, I'm not
Speaker 1: saying don't have goals. I'm not saying don't say, hey,
Speaker 1: I do want to lose ten pounds or I do
Speaker 1: want to write a book, right, But those achievements occur
Speaker 1: as we focus on our ultimate purpose. So we start
Speaker 1: with our purpose and then we think about the steps
Speaker 1: or achievements that we will reach on the path to
Speaker 1: that purpose. And so each achievement serves as a stepping
Speaker 1: stone on our journey towards the purpose that God has
Speaker 1: for our life. And so God shares with us us
Speaker 1: what those steps are. He's the one that's directing our steps.
Speaker 1: What we have to realize is that our life isn't
Speaker 1: just about checking off plans and achievements, but enjoying the
Speaker 1: journey of discovering God's purpose for our life, one step,
Speaker 1: one achievement at a time. Let's pray about those steps.
Speaker 1: Dear God, again, we thank you for the plans that
Speaker 1: you give us. Lord. We thank you that they're connected
Speaker 1: to your purpose. Lord, but we also thank you that
Speaker 1: you provide the steps for us to take along the way.
Speaker 1: I pray Lord that you direct our steps. Lord, guide
Speaker 1: our steps and lead us in the direction of your purpose.
Speaker 1: And Jesus name, we pray Amen. The next scripture that
Speaker 1: I want to share with you is Proverbs twenty one
Speaker 1: to five that says the plans of the legent leads
Speaker 1: surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only
Speaker 1: to poverty. And I pulled this scripture out because, like
Speaker 1: I was sharing with you, with traditional goals, we often
Speaker 1: make them so strict. I have to do this in
Speaker 1: this little amount of time, right, And if we're honest
Speaker 1: with ourselves, the amount of time that we usually give
Speaker 1: to a particular plan or goal isn't long enough. Because
Speaker 1: we're anxious and we want to see those plans come
Speaker 1: to pass as soon as possible. But when we do this,
Speaker 1: we actually end up burning ourselves out and it doesn't
Speaker 1: end up giving us the results that we want it.
Speaker 1: And so this scripture really reminds me that just because
Speaker 1: you get something done fast doesn't mean that it's going
Speaker 1: to be done well, and that there's actual great significance
Speaker 1: in taking your time when it comes to your when
Speaker 1: it comes to the day to day activities that you
Speaker 1: do to reach those achievements that lead to the purpose
Speaker 1: that God has for you. And so we just take
Speaker 1: it one step at a time, and we do so
Speaker 1: one task at a time so that we can see results. Now,
Speaker 1: this is where a lot of people get stuck because
Speaker 1: it's exciting to think of our goals and achievements and
Speaker 1: all the things that we want to reach, but the
Speaker 1: steps to get there are not always that glamorous, those
Speaker 1: day to day steps that you have to do to
Speaker 1: get there. Still, it's the day to day activities that
Speaker 1: are necessary if we want to reach our goals. If
Speaker 1: you want to write a book, guess what you probably
Speaker 1: need to get up in the morning and write for
Speaker 1: thirty minutes to an hour every single day. If you
Speaker 1: want to lose weight, you probably need to get up
Speaker 1: and walk around your neighborhood consistently a few times out
Speaker 1: the week. If you want to have a home that
Speaker 1: is a sanctuary to your family, you're going to have
Speaker 1: to fall the clothes and wash the dishes, and make
Speaker 1: sure you do the day to day activities that keeps
Speaker 1: a house in order. Some of these tasks will be mundane,
Speaker 1: but when we realize that they are necessary to reach
Speaker 1: our purpose, we can then enjoy them for the glory
Speaker 1: of God. Instead of looking at them as boring tasks
Speaker 1: that are taking away from our purpose, we can look
Speaker 1: at them as purposeful day to day tasks that actually
Speaker 1: lead to the purpose that we desire and that God
Speaker 1: desires for us. First Corinthians ten, verse thirty one says,
Speaker 1: so whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do,
Speaker 1: do all to the glory of God. Again, the purpose
Speaker 1: our plans go back to God. Even our day to
Speaker 1: day tasks go back to giving God glory. And when
Speaker 1: we have this mindset, it makes it easy for us
Speaker 1: to take those day to day steps through those day
Speaker 1: to days a task to reach our purposeful goals. Let
Speaker 1: us pray, Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for
Speaker 1: the life in our bodies that we woke up today, Lord,
Speaker 1: to be able to do the task that you have
Speaker 1: assigned to us. Lord, no matter how grand we feel
Speaker 1: these tasks are, or how mundane they may feel. Lord,
Speaker 1: we pray for a heart that desires to give you
Speaker 1: glory and all that we do. The final scripture that
Speaker 1: I want to share for you as you pray about
Speaker 1: the new year is proverb sixteen to three that says,
Speaker 1: commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will
Speaker 1: be established. Commit your work to the Lord and your
Speaker 1: plans will be established. You know, many people fail at
Speaker 1: reaching their goals because they see goals as a one
Speaker 1: time accomplishment, right, and they don't see setting goals and
Speaker 1: intention as a lifestyle commitment. In these proverbs, it's saying
Speaker 1: we should be committing our work to God. That's not
Speaker 1: a one time thing that you do and then just say, Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm finished, I'm gonna sit down now. No, it's a lifestyle.
Speaker 1: It's our commitment to the habits that it takes to
Speaker 1: reach our goals. You know why everybody has goals, but
Speaker 1: not everybody reaches them. It's what you do consistently that
Speaker 1: separates those that have goals and have goals and actually
Speaker 1: reach those goals. It's not just about saying I want
Speaker 1: to write a book. It's about saying I want to
Speaker 1: be an author who actually completes a book. It's not
Speaker 1: about saying, oh, I just want to lose ten pounds.
Speaker 1: It's saying I want to be someone who is healthy.
Speaker 1: It's not about saying, oh, I just want more well
Speaker 1: wealth for my family. It's about saying, I want to
Speaker 1: be the type of person that has habits and financial
Speaker 1: responsibility that makes me a wealthy person. So when we're
Speaker 1: more focused on just doing, just accomplishing, just checking things
Speaker 1: off of the list, and not becoming the type of
Speaker 1: person that reaches those purposeful goals, we just revert back
Speaker 1: to our old way of living. But living intentionally with
Speaker 1: purpose is more than just checking off items on it
Speaker 1: to do list. It's a consistent and faithful lifestyle composed
Speaker 1: of daily, monthly, and yearly habits that make us the
Speaker 1: purposeful believers in God that he created us to be.
Speaker 1: Let us pray, dear Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you for
Speaker 1: the plans that you've placed on my heart, the purpose, Lord,
Speaker 1: that you have given me, the step that you've ordered
Speaker 1: for me to take. This Here, Lord, I commit this
Speaker 1: work to you for your glory, and I pray and
Speaker 1: trust that these plans will be established in Jesus Christ,
Speaker 1: and we pray Amen. I hope that this episode has
Speaker 1: given you some biblical perspective on how to set purposeful goals.
Speaker 1: If you want to go even further with this biblical
Speaker 1: method for planning, I want you to know that if
Speaker 1: you join the Beloved Women app as a member, you
Speaker 1: will receive a digital version of my Beloved Planner for
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three. This planner further walks you through my
Speaker 1: purposeful planning process to actually help you reflect on last
Speaker 1: year what your purposeful goals can be for this year,
Speaker 1: choosing a word and scripture for the year, and planning
Speaker 1: pages for the entire year as you focus on God's
Speaker 1: ultimate purpose for your life. This is a weekly layout
Speaker 1: planner with planning pages, purposeful goal pages to outline all
Speaker 1: your purposeful goals for the year, and monthly and weekly
Speaker 1: layouts to set you up for your most purposeful year.
Speaker 1: Yet again, anyone who signs up as a Beloved Women
Speaker 1: member at Belovedwomen dot Tv for a limited amount of time,
Speaker 1: will receive my twenty twenty three Beloved Planner to help
Speaker 1: you plan a life that is guided by grace, fueled
Speaker 1: by faith, and led by love. Again, you can sign
Speaker 1: up as a Beloved Member at Belovedwomen dot tv. It
Speaker 1: is my hope that today's episode has provided you with
Speaker 1: insight and helpful tips on how you can pray. We
Speaker 1: have so much more to talk of when it comes
Speaker 1: to prayer, so I hope that if you were encouraged
Speaker 1: by today's episode, you will share it with a friend
Speaker 1: and subscribe so you don't miss any future episodes of
Speaker 1: the Teach Us to Pray Podcast, where we will continue
Speaker 1: to learn how, just like breathing, prayer can become a natural, consistent,
Speaker 1: and life giving part of our everyday lives. Until then,
Speaker 1: be sure to connect with me at Beloved Women dot
Speaker 1: org and join me on the Beloved Women app for
Speaker 1: unlimited videos to grow your faith, learn God's word, and
Speaker 1: encourage your soul. Available now in the Apple and Google
Speaker 1: play stores or at Belovedwomen dot tv. Thank you so
Speaker 1: much for taking time to listen today. God bless you
Speaker 1: and I'll talk to you in the next episode. Teach
Speaker 1: Us to Pray is a production of Life Audio and
Speaker 1: Salem Media. If you like what you heard today, please
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