Day 4: Plan Like It Matters; Pray Like You Can’t Do It Without Jesus
Wisdom builds with a plan, and humility prays with open hands. Followers of Jesus are both strategic and dependent: receive, rely, and then disciple. Sketch a simple plan for meeting with someone, but ask the Lord to order your steps and revise your plans as he leads. We plan like it matters, and we pray like we cannot do any of it without Jesus—because we can’t. This is how clarity grows and pressure lifts. [04:53]
Proverbs 16:9: We map out our way in our hearts, but the Lord is the one who directs where our feet actually go.
Reflection: What specific weekly rhythm (day, time, place, and length) will you adopt for discipling conversations, and what short prayer will you pray before each meeting to express your dependence on Jesus?
Sermon Summary
Starting a new year, the call is not to chase a clever vision but to take Jesus seriously. The clear priority is the Great Commission: make disciples. Not simply attending services, acquiring religious information, or being generally nice, but actually helping real people learn to trust, obey, and follow Jesus in everyday life. Jesus anchors this mission with his promise: “I am with you always.” The work is not powered by charisma or willpower but by his presence. With that in view, the year ahead is framed by a searching question: one year from now, what do you want to be able to thank God for? Psalm 90:12 urges a wise numbering of days; life drifts toward the urgent unless purposefully ordered around what matters most.
Two pitfalls get named and resisted. First, idealized dreams of church can harden into demands and then judgment—of each other and even of God. Bonhoeffer’s warning rebukes wishful dreaming that loves an imagined community more than the actual people in front of us. Second, attempts to “do discipleship” in our own strength end in burnout or pride. Paul’s counsel to Timothy sets the order: before giving, receive—“be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” From that grace flows a simple, multiplying pattern: pass on what you’ve received to faithful people who will teach others also.
A plain, compelling aim emerges: everyone discipling one. Make it normal in the church family to invest in another’s growth with Scripture open, grace as the source, and dependence as the posture. This requires both strategy and surrender—plan like it matters; pray like it can’t happen without Jesus. A “dependence triangle” keeps the rhythm clear: receive grace, rely on Jesus (prayer and fasting), and disciple others. To move from inspiration to action, three lanes are offered: if discipling no one, prayerfully choose one person and make a simple eight-week ask; if discipling someone loosely, add a gentle weekly structure with Scripture, reflection, obedience, and prayer; if discipling is going well, lean into multiplication and ask, “Who’s your one?” The urgency is real—life is a mist—so begin today. The hope for next year is not more activity but named stories and faces: ordinary people helping others follow Jesus, content to be dependent rather than impressive.
Key Takeaways
- 1. Jesus’ vision is enoughThe Great Commission needs no upgrade. Taking Jesus at his word means shifting from attendance metrics to apprenticing people to him. His presence, not our polish, is the power. The most faithful “new plan” is to obey the old command. [15:07]
- 2. Receive grace before you giveOrdering the soul precedes ordering a calendar. Strength in Christ’s grace protects from burnout on one side and self-importance on the other. Receiving daily reorients motivation from proving to serving and frees ministry from anxious striving. [23:34]
- 3. Replace dreamy ideals with real loveIdealized church quickly becomes a scoreboard that breeds demands, then judgment. Loving a real person toward Jesus—slowly, imperfectly, with Scripture and grace—honors God more than chasing a flawless community. Reality is the place where obedience grows. [20:51]
- 4. Everyone discipling one, on purposeNormalize intentional investment: one person, one plan, real conversations in Scripture. Keep it simple and repeatable so it can multiply. Clarity beats vagueness; love sets the tone; dependence keeps the pace. [27:48]
- 5. Plan hard, pray harderStrategy without prayer trusts the flesh; prayer without a plan stalls in vagueness. Plan like a builder and hold it with open hands, then pray like nothing moves unless Jesus moves. That is the posture of fruitful dependence. [31:13]
Youtube Chapters
- [00:00] – Welcome
- [01:07] – Make disciples, not busyness
- [03:06] – Urgent versus important tension
- [04:53] – Number your days wisely
- [09:52] – No new vision: take Jesus seriously
- [14:24] – The Great Commission explained
- [16:19] – Presence over willpower
- [19:45] – Bonhoeffer and idealized community
- [22:41] – Be strong in grace
- [24:41] – Multiplication as normal church life
- [27:48] – “Everyone discipling one”
- [31:13] – Plan like it matters, pray like you must
- [33:27] – Three lanes of next steps
- [39:35] – Start today; life is a mist
- [40:31] – Finishing the work assigned
Bible Study Guide
Bible reading
– Matthew 28:18-20
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
– 2 Timothy 2:1-2
You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.
– Psalm 90:12
Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Observation questions
- In Matthew 28:18-20, what command does Jesus give, and what two key actions are tied to that command?
- What promise does Jesus attach to the mission in Matthew 28:18-20, and how long does it last?
- In 2 Timothy 2:1-2, what comes first—being strong in grace or entrusting teaching to others? What is Timothy told to do with what he has heard?
- In Psalm 90:12, what does the psalmist ask God to teach, and what outcome does he desire?
Interpretation questions
- “Receive before you give.” What does it mean to be “strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” in everyday life? [23:46]
- “Jesus never meant for his mission to be powered by your personality or willpower.” Why is his presence essential for making disciples, and how does that change the way this calling feels? [16:35]
- 2 Timothy 2:2 pictures four generations (Paul → Timothy → faithful people → others). Why might multiplication, not just addition, be the normal rhythm of a healthy church?
- “That dream turns into demands… demands end up turning into judgment.” What are signs someone is loving an idealized church more than actual people, and how does that harm the mission? [18:27]
Application questions
- “One year from now… what do you want to be able to thank God for?” Name one specific discipleship story you hope to tell a year from today. What would need to change for that to be realistic? [04:28]
- If you are discipling no one right now, who is one person already in your life you could prayerfully invite? Draft your simple eight-week ask in one or two sentences. [35:01]
- If your current discipling is loose or random, which part of a simple weekly rhythm will be hardest for you: unhurried catch-up, reading a passage, asking “What does this show us about God?”, naming one step of obedience, or praying together? Why? [36:09]
- “Plan like it matters, then pray like you can’t do it without Jesus.” What is your plan for the next four weeks (times, place, Scripture), and what will dependence look like (prayer, fasting, asking for help)? [31:13]
- Where have dreamy ideals about church or ministry turned into quiet demands inside you? What would repentance look like, and what is one act of real love toward a real person you can do this week? [20:51]
- “Receive before you give.” What daily practice will help you receive grace from Jesus this week (Scripture, prayer, confession, Sabbath, asking for prayer)? When and where will you do it? [23:46]
- “Your life is like the morning fog.” What step will you take today, not someday—text someone, set a first meeting, choose a reading plan, or ask for a mentor? [39:35]
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