Pray-Plan-Act

UV 3203/10000 Pray-Plan-Act
Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:
Jeremiah 32 v 19
We, humans, are often swayed by what we see or what we feel. What we can see, touch, taste physically constitutes a small percentage of the totality of life. The unseen and the unknown occupies more than 80 per cent of reality. We are fearful and perplexed by the large chunk of the unknown in our lives. This explains why the Pareto ratio of 20/80 rule predominates in life. Unlike God, we have partial or fractional knowledge of both good and evil. God in contrast works with hundred per cent. Nothing is unknown or hidden from His all penetrating eye. The Lord judges the reins of our hearts, implying He sees what controls or drives us. A man can hide from others the secrets of his heart but before the Lord it is transparent. We stand naked before the Lord. He sees all that we think, speak and do. His knowledge of us is far greater than we have of ourselves. The Lord sees what we do and rewards us according to our deeds. He is just and rewards us for our faithfulness. He reserves glory, honour and peace for the people whose heart is perfect towards Him. He uses as a man would use a magnifying lens to focus on and magnify His name. The positioning of “counsel” before “deeds” implies that we should first seek all the counsel of the Lord before venturing on any new project or take any decision. Even the Lord spends time in contemplation before plunging into action. Like Jesus we should pray-plan and then act.
The Lord revels in coaching, training, instructing, guiding and leading us. He counsels us on the way we should take. We need to consult Him on every decision we take. His knowledge being total and His wisdom infinite, He will put us on the right track. We err when we rely on our own limited knowledge, wisdom and judgement. As we pay close attention to His instructions, He removes the barriers in our paths. Hence, people who truly know the Lord personally cannot be ordinary people. When the Lord finds them, they are ordinary people but He turns them into extraordinary people with extraordinary wisdom and accomplishments, not necessarily in the worldly perspective but they are esteemed by the Lord.
The Lord shows Himself strong on behalf of anyone whose heart is wholly committed to Him. Scripture says that the Spirit of the Lord is roaming around the whole world looking for such individuals whose heart is perfect towards Him. They empty their hearts of everything sinful, lustful or vain. The Lord manifests His grace and power in the lives of such individuals in a variety of ways. He raised the shepherd boy David to be a great king of Israel and the forebear of the King of Kings and Messiah- Jesus. He transformed the ordinary fishermen who were disciples of Jesus into the world’s most influential and respected persons. He transformed the fearful Gideon into a brave leader and general.