Act Before NoonTake stock · Choose few

Articles

Prayer and goal setting: how to do both without faking either

By Cam Slater · 13 October 2026

Some Christians get uneasy about goal setting. It can feel like telling God what you want and then getting on with it yourself. Others pray hard about the year and never write anything down, so nothing much changes.

I don't think you have to choose. I think a written goal can be a prayer with legs.

Plans are not the problem

The Bible is not against planning. Proverbs 16:3 says "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans." Proverbs 21:5 says the plans of the diligent lead to profit. Jesus talks about the man who sits down first and counts the cost before he builds a tower (Luke 14:28).

What the Bible warns against is the plan that leaves God out. James 4:13-15 is blunt about the man who says "today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city" as if he owns tomorrow. The fix James gives is not "make no plans". It is "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."

So the question isn't whether to plan. It's who the plan answers to.

How the two fit together

Here's the pattern I use.

  1. Pray before you write. Ask what this year is for. Not what you want from it, what it's for.
  2. Write the goal down. Plainly, with a date. A vague prayer gets a vague answer because you can't tell when it's been answered.
  3. Hold it with an open hand. Write "if the Lord wills" at the top of the page if that helps. Mean it.
  4. Do the next step. Faith without works is dead (James 2:17). Praying for a job and not sending the CV isn't faith.
  5. Review it in prayer. Once a week, read the goal back to God. Thank him for progress. Ask about the bits that have stalled. Be willing to cross one out.

What changes when you pray over goals

Three things, in my experience.

  • You set fewer goals. Prayer is a good filter. Some goals don't survive being said out loud to God.
  • You set better ones. Goals start to line up with your values rather than with what looks good.
  • You hold them more loosely. If one fails, it isn't the end of you. It's information.

Start this week

Take one goal for the year. Pray over it for a few minutes. Write it on paper with a date. Write the first step underneath, one you can do before noon tomorrow. Then do it.

That's the whole idea behind the free companion book, Faith, Prayer & Goal Setting, which comes with Your Goal Setting Plan. The workbook gives you the pages; the companion gives you the reasons. See both books.