{"id":2168,"date":"2015-05-30T14:00:24","date_gmt":"2015-05-30T18:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/?p=2168"},"modified":"2015-05-30T14:00:24","modified_gmt":"2015-05-30T18:00:24","slug":"a-prayer-for-goal-setting-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2015\/05\/a-prayer-for-goal-setting-2.html","title":{"rendered":"A Prayer for Goal-Setting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our goal is to please him. (2 Corinthians 5:9)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The Apostle Paul’s goal in life was to live each moment to please God. We are urged to follow his example. What pleases God? Here are a few Scriptures that help us know the objectives of this goal:<\/p>\n

Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. \u00a01 Thes. 4:1<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Here Paul goes on to talk about three aspects of living to please God:<\/p>\n

1. Pleasing God through living a life committed to sexual purity. (This is for our ultimate, absolute blessing!)<\/p>\n

2. Paul urges us to love one another and continually grow in our ability to walk in love. (This takes practice!)<\/p>\n

3. Then Paul recommends a quiet, peaceful life \u2013 one in which we mind our own business. (This isn’t easy, but God doesn’t give us impossible directives!)<\/p>\n

These three objectives will help us create lives that please God. But there’s more…<\/p>\n

For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. Romans 14:17,18<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

1. Here, our mentor Paul instructs us to live a life of goodness. I\u00a0suppose it depends on your definition of what “good” means. Paul used a Greek word that denotes integrity. So our goal can be just that. Living a life of integrity in all our dealings.<\/p>\n

2. We are encouraged to live peaceful lives. To keep the peace in our relationships as much as possible, to think peaceful thoughts, and to promote peace within our souls and in every relationship.<\/p>\n

3. Joy is a hallmark of the Kingdom, and should be reflected in our lives daily. (Smile!)<\/p>\n

“And it is impossible to please God without faith. ” Hebrews 11:6\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Having faith and trust in God is one way to please Him. In fact without it we are guaranteed to not please Him. How do you feel when someone you love doesn’t trust you? It’s heart-breaking. Let’s put our complete trust in the God who will never let us down. And let’s pray to make that our goal.<\/p>\n

Father,<\/em><\/p>\n

I am reinstating my life-long and number one bucket-list goal: to bring you pleasure by the way I live my life, by the thoughts I dwell on, by the words I utter, and by the relationships I foster. I can’t do it without the transforming power of your Holy Spirit, so please refine my soul. Make me more and more like you.<\/em><\/p>\n

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our goal is to please him. (2 Corinthians 5:9) The Apostle Paul’s goal in life was to live each moment to please God. We are urged to follow his example. What pleases God? Here are a few Scriptures that help us know the objectives of this goal: Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":478,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,14,15,7,4,25,3,1],"tags":[1138,1137,1099,1141,552,1140,123,1136,643,1139,831],"class_list":["post-2168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advent-prayer","category-bible","category-bible-prayer","category-daily-prayer","category-god","category-jesus","category-prayer","category-uncategorized","tag-faith-in-god","tag-fear-of-god","tag-goal-setting","tag-joy-in-the-holy-spirit","tag-kingdom-of-god","tag-minding-our-own-business","tag-peace","tag-pleasing-god","tag-righteousness","tag-sexual-purity","tag-walking-in-love"],"yoast_head":"\nA Prayer for Goal-Setting<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2015\/05\/a-prayer-for-goal-setting-2.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Prayer for Goal-Setting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Our goal is to please him. 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