This morning we heard that Nehemiah had both prayer AND planning going on as he addressed the situation in Jerusalem. Lots of planning with no prayer can easily lead us out of God's will as we enact our own ideas without any input from God. Conversely, praying about a situation but not engaging our minds and putting together a plan can lead us to spin our wheels and not move forward. Of course, our plans need to be subject to change if God says so, but if we don't use our God-given intellect and skill we will be less effective than if we let godly planning go hand-in-hand with praying.
I am reminded of James 4:13-15:
Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."
As James indicates, it's not wrong to have a plan. It's just subject to "the Lord's will." His will is discerned by prayer and the counsel of godly people.
Let's keep both prayer and planning in focus as we examine how God might use us to restore the rubble around us.
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