Joyful Planning: Invite God into Your 2026 Vision

This month, we’re talking about finishing faithfully, and one of the best ways to do that is to start dreaming with God about what’s next. Today, let’s talk about joyful spirit-led planning and what that looks like.

Step One

Reflect before you plan: I am probably as guilty of this as anyone, but I rush into setting goals, and I have to remind myself to first pause and reflect, asking myself, “What went well in 2025?” What didn’t go as planned, and where did I see God’s hand? Even in the hard seasons, most years have hard seasons. Gratitude is the foundation of joyful planning. So it is important to look back on what went well in 2025 before you head into 2026 and begin planning for next year. So reflect before you plan.

Step Two

Pray over your goals: Don’t just write them, pray them. Here is an example. “Lord, here are my dreams, but I trust you to rearrange, rewrite, or redirect them as you see fit,” because we all know that God’s plan will always bring peace, even when they stretch you. I’ll have to be honest that in 2025 I set some goals. I didn’t realize that I could go beyond those goals. God has actually shown me that I could do more than what I thought I could do. This has been shocking to me.

He did more for me in 2025 than I thought I would ever be able to accomplish. It’s exciting to see how he rearranges, redirects, or rewrites what you think you can do, making it even more special and showing you you are able to do more than you thought you could do. If you’re doing it from your own strength, then you probably can’t do it. But if you’re doing it with his power, you can do more. So pray over your goals.

Step Three

Plan with joy, not pressure. Remember, joyful planning focuses on being faithful, not overperforming. So I use the one-word approach. Every year for many years, I set goals; in those goals, I chose a word or theme for the year. In past years, I would set a word of the year or choose a word of the year. I don’t believe I did that for 2025, but I remember 2024; my word of the year was “persevere.” I even got a bracelet with the word “persevere” written on it that I wore for that year. That’s one thing that people do: ask God for a word or a theme.

More you Can Do

If you’ve listened to my podcast in the past, you know that one of my favorite ways to set goals is through the concept of the 12-week year.  I will link to the series that I give about it in the 12-week year because I don’t necessarily set yearly goals, but I do set goals every 12 weeks. This has been proven to be very helpful to me. I encourage you to do that and to check that out as well.

When you’re planning with joy and not pressure, you’ll not pack your plan so full that there’s no space for what we might refer to as divine interruptions. Like I said, God was able to do more in 2025 for me than I thought that I could do. When you allow him to have space to work, he will. Do those things that maybe you didn’t even imagine before.

Challenge

I want to challenge you this week. Journal three things that you’re grateful for from 2025, three lessons that you learned, and three hopes that you have for 2026. Then pray over them and ask God for a word or theme for the year.

Remember, Proverbs 16:3 says, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” Joyful planning isn’t about getting everything right. It’s about committing everything to him. And when you invite God into your plans, he gives you the peace and the process, and your joy doesn’t come from how much you accomplish, but rather it comes from walking in step with him.