Prepare Your Battle Plan

After Prayer Reconnaissance is Gathered

The Thirty-Thousand-Foot Prayer On The Ground – Part 6

It’s time to put your plan together. You don’t want to go into battle without a plan otherwise you plan to lose the battle. Write it down, your plan that is. Getting the plan in front of you keeps you focused and eliminates any extra obstacles and challenges you can avoid just by having a map of the terrain to get you there. There are certain problems you have just by the sure nature of traveling, but getting lost and experiencing challenges because you got lost aren’t necessary. This is why a plan is so important. Having a plan saves time. Planning helps you get to the destination in the best and quickest way possible.

“I had not told anyone about the plans God had put in my heart for Jerusalem.” – bible.com/bible/116/NEH.2.12.NLT

Determine the size of the problem.
How big of a job is this? You’re on the ground and must access the situation from where you are. Now the big picture, thirty-thousand-foot problem, needs an on the ground plan. It’s time to inspect what we’re truly facing. Let’s get dirty to find out how big a problem we have. 

After dark I [Nehemiah] went out through the Valley Gate, past the Jackal’s Well, and over to the Dung Gate to inspect the broken walls and burned gates. – bible.com/bible/116/NEH.2.13.NLT

The start of your mission will take preparation time. In the military, they use a word known as “reconnaissance”. It means to spy out and survey what you’re up against. It’s an action that’s done without the enemy knowing it’s happening. It’s done in private. In preparing for your battle, you’ll need to perform a reconnaissance of what you’re facing. 

As you assess what you’re up against, go ahead and begin praying for what you see as you inspect the situation. You’ll need God’s help in making plans on how to best conquer the surveyed territory.

Plan not to fail.
Let’s never go into prayer with a plan to fail, nor an attitude that failure will occur. Go in as if you will win. You’ve seen the landscape and at this level, on the ground, you can make ground. 

To have a winning attitude, you’ll need to make an exchange. Exchange your thoughts and ideas with His. Life goes better when you get His thoughts on what to do. 

Trust in the lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you [your battle plan] which path to take. – bible.com/bible/116/PRO.3.5-6.NLT

When was the last time you made a decision without asking God? Did you travel to work today using His guidance or did you rely on yours? We all know the normal answer. You did on your own because you’d rather depend on what you know.

Culture wants you to think that thinking on your own is okay? Society wants you to believe that you can make the decisions for your family based on how you feel.

I know you’re thinking…what I’m thinking, there’s nothing wrong with this. And you’re right if you want to remain “common”, average, and ordinary. There will be many times that your understanding of a situation can’t be trusted because normal understanding always ends in normal results and you want uncommon results.
The uncommon trust in what’s in their heart. They do not depend on their understanding of how it is. In other words, the uncommon won’t settle for how it normally happens. 

Ask God to give you a battle plan. By doing so God will show you the path you’re to take. He will give you your very next steps.

Ask God the battle plan for…
How you manage your home.
How you budget your finances.
Where you serve in your local church.
When you interact in your community.
How you should vote.
When you’re on vacation.

What this really means is learn how to not leave God out. When you do you’ve planned for a thirty-thousand-foot prayer to fail.

Keep it quiet until you have a solid battle plan.
Keep it quiet until you have the plan all worked out. Sometimes you have to keep it quiet, until you have a solid plan to act on. With a solid plan, you can now request help.

“The city officials did not know I had been out there or what I was doing, for I had not yet said anything to anyone about my plans. I had not yet spoken to the Jewish leaders—the priests, the nobles, the officials, or anyone else in the administration.” – bible.com/bible/116/NEH.2.16.NLT

One of the biggest mistakes we make is that we begin talking about it too soon. I get it, many times when we see some positive results and some forward progress we feel the need to share it. This isn’t the time. You have to stay focused on the mission and not give your enemy your position. The battle isn’t over so you have to remain hidden. Nehemiah didn’t reveal what he was doing or what he was up to. He, in stealth mode, gathered his intelligence and continued to formulate his plans. Can you keep cool and keep quiet? It’s key to securing the intel you need to carry out your thirty-thousand-foot mission.

In the book “Sea Stories”, Admiral William McRaven recounts the strategy used in the pursuit of Osama bin Laden. He had to answer to the highest ranking officials and President of the United States. At each phase of planning, they had to limit the number of people and keep the mission quiet. They couldn’t take the chance of anyone getting wind to their plans or bin Laden may evade capture for another ten years. It’s not time to talk until the plan is solid, doable, and you’re ready to act on it. In the same way, your thirty-thousand-foot prayer is a battle that will take you keeping the plans quiet until you’ve executed.

Compare your plan with God’s plan.
Make your plans a God plan. 

“Prayer is linking together with God’s plan and God’s ability.” – Dino Rizzo

A normal person doesn’t “lean on God”. It’s what the uncommon do. Normal people “trust their own understanding” of the situation. The uncommon don’t trust their own thoughts but rely on God’s thoughts. What would happen if you put your plan to the God-test?  Is this plan worthy of me presenting to God? Would God approve this mission’s strategy? Am I still leaning too much on my own incomplete thinking? Prayer is you making a connection with God in what you wish to accomplish and adding His ability to see it through.
This final quote sums it up.

“No prayer, no power.
Know prayer, know power.” 

“No prayer no power.”
When you choose to go through life with no prayer, you choose to go through life powerless.
“Know prayer, know power.”
When you know prayer, how to pray, it comes with power, therefore you know power.

Question: What’s your plan when God speaks back to you?

Thanks for visiting NoLongerCommon.com. We’re in the series called “The Thirty-Thousand-Foot Prayer On The Ground” and we hope you’re enjoying  it as much as we are. Don’t forget to tune in next Sunday and until then do me a favor and share this message.

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