If every Senior Pastor reading this would…
- Seek God’s face for next year’s ministry
- Write down what they believe God wants them to do
- Translate those dreams into SMART goals
- Turn those annual goals into daily prayer affirmations
- And storm the throne room of God every day until they become a reality
…the impact for the Kingdom of God would be staggering.
I want to make you a promise.
If you’ve been a reader of mine for any length of time, you know that I rarely make promises. When I do, it stems from something I have been doing for a long, long time, have seen consistent results in my own life, have led the people I coach to experience the same results, and that tactic has become part of my ministry DNA.
So here it is…
I promise you that if you do what I’m about to tell you—exactly as I tell you to do it—you will look back upon next year as the most impactful 365 days you have ever spent on this earth. Period.
Here’s how…
1. Get Out of the Office and Dream
Whenever I force those I coach to get out of the weeds and walk with me through the dreams God has put on their heart for next year, the first thing I notice is God hasn’t put any dreams on their heart. It’s like they just stopped dreaming. Or worse, if they have dreams, they have no conceivable plan for making them happen anytime soon.
As the point leader, you must routinely take off the “execution mode” hat, leave the daily grind, put on your “dreamer” hat, and hightail it to Mt. Sinai to meet with God. Then, just as important, you must come back with a plan written on stone, ready to execute with a vengeance.
I completely understand that it feels like you simply don’t have the time to do this, but you do. And you must.
As my leadership mentor, Warren Bennis reminds us,
“I really believe that the best leaders I’ve met and known over the years have been reflective practitioners, that they both think and act” (Reinventing Leadership, p. 27).
Elsewhere, Bennis warns,
“It’s very clear to me that failing organizations almost always fail because they’re over managed and they’re under led” (Reinventing Leadership, p. 7).
So, get out of manager mode, get away to a monastery or a state park this week, and pray two bold leader prayers:
- “God, if I stopped self-sabotaging my ministry and lived out the dream you have for my life and the congregation I’m privileged to serve, what would I/we STOP doing and what would I/we START doing?”
- “God, what are the four things I/we could do in the next 90 days that would make a 50 percent difference?”
Ask those questions, then start writing.
You will know you have God’s dreams in hand when you are ready to come back and work so hard that, in the words of Bennis, your “lawn and goldfish have died of neglect.”
