By Rick Warren

There are so many books and tapes on goal setting and establishing objectives that it’s easy to get bored with them. Even many of the “Christian” guides have no Scriptural basis.

In Genesis 24, however, God has given us a wonderful, biblical model to follow for establishing and reaching objectives. It's the story of Eliezer, Abraham’s servant, fulfilling his assigned project of finding Isaac a wife. 

For years, I’ve used these ten biblical steps in planning at Saddleback Church.

What do you think God says about goal setting?

For one, he says you’ll be respected if you set good goals (Proverbs 11:27).

In addition, God tells us:

“We should make plans, counting on God to direct us.” (Proverbs 16:9, LB)

“Any enterprise is built by wise planning, becomes strong through common sense, and profits wonderfully by keeping abreast of the facts.” (Proverbs 24:3, LB)

“A wise man thinks ahead, a fool doesn’t and even brags about it.” (Proverbs 13:16, LB)
 
If that’s true, then there ought to be some model in the Bible on how to set goals, and, no surprise, there is! God clearly gives ten principles in Scripture for setting and reaching goals.

1. Determine your position
Ask yourself some questions. Where am I now? And, what would I like to change?

Evaluate your present condition. I do this about once a quarter – a spiritual checkup on my life. I ask these questions:

• “Where am I headed?” 
• “Am I still headed in the right direction?”

If you were to call me from a phone booth and say, “I want to come over to your house. Give me directions.” What would be the first thing I ask? “Where are you?” I’ve got to know where you are before I tell you how to get where you want to be.

That’s true in any area of life. Before you can know where you want to go you’ve got to know where you are right now. Determine your position.

2. Define your purpose (objective)
Clearly state your objective. Get a specific image in your mind. You need to know exactly what you want. Abraham said, “… go to my country and to my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac” (Genesis 24:3-4, NIV). He knew exactly what he wanted. It was clearly defined.

Later on he gives other conditions: “I want a wife of the same nationality, from the same hometown, same faith, someone who is beautiful, a virgin.”

The point is – you’re never going to reach a vague objective. The more specific the objective is, the easier it is to reach. If you say, “God, bless my wife,” how will you know when God blesses your wife? Sometimes a blessing is a problem. Sometimes a blessing is a trial. Is that what you’re praying for? You need to be specific. A vague goal has no drawing power. You need to know what you want.

Ask yourself three questions: 

• “What do I want to be?” (This is the most important: What do I want to be in Christ’s likeness?) 
• “What do I want to do?” 
• "What do I want to have?”

You say, “I want to plant a new church.” Great. Where? “I want to increase attendance.” Great. How much? “I want to offer more ministries.” Fantastic. What kind? “I want to witness.” To whom? Be specific. “I want to improve my preaching.” In what way? “I want more time for Bible study.” How much?

In 1960, U.S. President John F. Kennedy announced, “Within a decade we’ll put a man on the moon.” That was a decision. Did he try to figure out all the problems before he made the decision? No. He just set the objective. We’re going to go there. Once the decision-making was out of the way, then the country moved into problem-solving mode. When he made the statement, it was physically and technologically impossible to do it. But he made the decision and later worried about the problems.

You need to be very, very specific. First determine your position, then define your purpose-objective.

3. Discover a promise
Find a promise you can claim from God’s Word, and don’t worry about the “how-to’s” at this point.

When you’re setting objectives as a Christian, don’t look at your own resources, your own abilities. There are more than 7,000 promises from God in the Bible. Let the size of your God determine the size of your objective.

We’ve set some big goals at Saddleback, and some people say, “Who do you think you are? Who do those people at Saddleback think they are?”

That’s the wrong question! The issue is not who we think we are. The issue is who we think God is. How big is God?

Ask yourself: “What promise can I claim as an act of faith?”

4. Describe the pay-off
Every objective must have a pay-off or reward. If there’s no reward, then there’s no motivation to fulfill it. You’ve got to settle the value of the objective in your mind.

Ask yourself three questions:

• “What is the reward?” 
• “Why do I want it?” 
• “How will I feel when I get it?”

Why do you want to take this step? Some may wonder why it is important to describe the profit up front. The reason is: when you settle the “why,” God will show you the “how.” When you know why you want to do what you want to do in your ministry, when you sense the calling, God will show you the how.

If you delay in determining the pay-off, then you’ll give up when times get tough. You need to know the pay-off to avoid discouragement.

5. Desire in prayer
The Bible says in Mark 11:24 (NIV), “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”  When you pray for your objectives it does two things:

It reveals desire. Often God delays an answer to prayer or delays your progress toward an objective in order to see how badly you want it. He wants you to distinguish whether this is a wish or a whim. Is this a deep desire in your heart.

It shows your dependence. Who are you really trusting to see this objective accomplished? If I never pray about an objective, what is that saying? It’s saying I don’t think I need God’s help. I can handle this on my own.

I continually ask myself: “Am I praying for my objectives?”

Have I just set them, or am I really praying for them? Your list of objectives ought to be your prayer list. Don't get me wrong, they shouldn’t be the only things on your prayer list, but they ought to be a part it: “Lord, these are the things I’m trying to accomplish in my ministry. I want my work here to count, and I want to be doing the things you want me to do. I want my ministry to be controlled by your objectives, and I want to make a difference for your glory and for the building of your kingdom.”

6. Diagnose the problems
With this step, you identify the roadblocks and obstacles that are holding you back.

When assessing your objectives you want to ask yourself two questions: 

• "Why don't I have this already?" 
• "What are the barriers?"

The barriers will vary. They may be emotional, financial, intellectual or relational.

Take a look at Genesis 24, where Abraham sends his servant to find a wife for his son, Isaac. This is a great example of diagnosing the problem.

Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, is going to go to a foreign country. Can you imagine the number of serious problems he faced to reach the goal he'd been given? He needed to go to a country he'd never been to and find a lady he'd never met.

He needed to convince her to go with him and to marry a total stranger. Mission Impossible? Would you do that? Do you think you'd be successful in that?

Eliezer has all kinds of problems to reach this objective:  

• In verse 21, he has the problem of finding the right girl. 
• In verse 49, he has the problem of getting the girl's parents' consent. 
• In verse 58, he has to get the girl's consent.

7. Design a plan
Plan out a course of action to overcome the obstacles you've just identified. Write down some specific steps. Set a deadline, and schedule it.

As you design your plan, ask yourself these questions: 

• "How do I intend to get there?" 
• "How long will it take?"

As we look at Eliezer's story, we see that his plan is a masterpiece: he sets up a test. He'll take all his camels down to the water and have them kneel down. Then he'll ask for a drink, and if the woman he asks says, "Let me water your camels, too," Eliezer will know he's found the right woman.

For one thing, this would have to be an unusual woman with a real heart for service. The average camel can drink up to forty gallons of water! If you add up the camels, she's offering to hand-draw about three hundred gallons of water.

Once this has occurred, Eliezer's plan is to then share his purpose. Only then will he reveal Abraham's wealth and try to get invited to her home, and only then will he pop the question. He has a strategic plan, and he follows it.

8. Discipline your personality
Nothing great is ever accomplished without discipline. The bottom line in your life is character. While you're working toward your objectives, God is working on you. God is much more interested in you than he is in what you accomplish.

I've said many times when I speak to pastors, "Growing churches require growing pastors." Likewise, growing businesses require growing businessmen. Growing marriages require growing husbands and wives. The moment you stop growing, you die.

You ought to ask yourself: 

• "Where do I need to change?" (God is more interested in your character than in the project.) 
• "What kind of person do I need to become?"

When I first moved to the Saddleback Valley and established plans for Saddleback Church, I was 26 years old. I thought, "There's no way I'm equipped to handle a church as big as this vision."

But here's what happened: as the church was growing, so was I. God had it all planned, and I grew to greater maturity before the church grew to larger proportions.

9. Deposit the price
There is always a price tag for reaching any worthwhile objective. It doesn't matter whether it's a business, or a church, or any kind of dream. There's always a great sacrifice to reach your objectives.

A lot of people want to do great things, but they only want to do them if it's convenient. It's as if they say, "I've got this dream, but I only want to do it in my spare time."

Ask yourself three questions at this stage:

• "What will it cost me?" 
• "What am I willing to give?"
• "Is the cause worth the cost?"

10. Depend on people
You will never achieve very much in life until you learn to get along with other people. John Rockefeller used to say there was one thing he'd pay more for than any other skill – the ability to work with people. There are a lot of geniuses who can't get along with others. You've got to learn to depend on people because God works through people. It takes teamwork. Success is never a one-man show. NEVER! It's always a joint effort.

Ask yourself at this stage:

• "Who else can I involve?"

The secret of a great church is commitment and cooperation. When there is commitment and cooperation, God can do tremendous things. He can overlook all kinds of other things.

Vance Havner once said, "Snowflakes are frail but if enough of them stick together, they can stop traffic."

You may not be able to do a lot by yourself, but when God's men and women get together, they can do anything.

I hope you'll take these principles and use them to re-evaluate the objectives of your ministry.

-Purpose Driven®-

Rick Warren is the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., one of America's largest and best-known churches. In addition, Rick is author of the New York Times bestseller The Purpose Driven Life and The Purpose Driven Church, which was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the 20th Century. ©Copyright 2004. Used with permission. All rights reserved.