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Project Planning

© George Hartwell, 2003, (416) 234-1850

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Project Planning

© George Hartwell first presented September 13, 2003

The more we are healed (and we have asked God to heal our lives, hadn't we?) the more energy is released and the more clear our thinking becomes.  For some of us, this means saying yes to more projects and trying to get more done.

As we undertaking more projects, or bigger projects, we eventually overwhelm our ability to stay organized and complete that which we have committed ourselves to. We get bogged down. We can get discouraged. We may face doubts, unbelief. Our heart may not be ready to follow through and complete all that we have planned.

This is a problem for me. I am of a personality type that is a visionary and a thinker. Myers-Briggs personality type? I am INTP. I can envision great things. God has gifted me with great faith. I get many ideas. I am a Peter type in terms of being quick to make commitments and get things going - a "Quick Start" type according to Kathy Kolbe's work in The Conative Connection. I have a gift for starting things. I need the ability to put the details together and to finish things. Thus our topic.

I am teaching what I need to learn. What I am learning about getting things done I want to teach you. I want to show you how prayer is a part of planning and organizing a project.

Here are 8 steps that will provide structure to our discussion of project planning:

1. Being clear about my mission. Is this of God? Should I be involved in this project?

2. Being clear about my intentions. What is my purpose? Why do this? What do I want to accomplish in this project?

3. Establish the corporate culture. What core values and principles will you and those that follow you hold as unshakable?

4. Visualize the outcome. What does success look like? I picture accomplishing what I want to accomplish. I get a clear image in my heart and imagination.

5. Brainstorm the details. How will this work out in practice? What features and qualities are necessary for success? Wouldn't it be great if &ldots;..? Mind map.

6. Keeping focused and organized. What will work to keep me on track?

7. Decide what the next step is that needs to be taken. What is my next action step?

8. Establish a review process. When will I review my project plans? 

Resources - Project Planning

1.Mark Brisbois addressed Runnymede Baptist Church, April 10, 2001, on the question of hearing the voice of God, sensing the anointing, knowing when the seed of an idea is of God. He said that it is easy to replicate a system - an abstract idea - it is impossible to replicate life - a gift of God.

a.We can try to copy others but we need to hear from God ourselves if we are going to have a life-giving ministry, project, organization or business.

b.There is no clear answer to how do we know if it - our idea - is of God or not. His sheep hear his voice. We need to learn to listen.

2.Writing is a gift of God. Write down possible projects in a "Creative ideas" list. Write out in sentence form what the purpose or the intention is of each project.

3.See Built to Last by Collins (1994) for an interesting study of companies and what does and does not characterized a visionary company. Visionary companies are established by with a corporate culture, including some core values that guide the company for generations to come. In most cases those core values reflect Biblical laws and principles.

4.See Getting Things Done by Allen (2001) for a system of organizing oneself to get things done. Allen has the detailed pieces to an organization plan that looks like it can work for me. I will be working to get that system set up this fall. What I need to learn is what I am going to teach.

5.See How to Develop a Family Mission Statement by Stephen Covey (1994), for one guide to how families can develop unity of values and mission.

6.See The Path by Laurie Beth Jones (1996) on creating your own personal mission statement.

7.See Listen to God by George Hartwell (2001) for the principles of Listening Prayer Therapy. 

8.To deal with doubts about completing a project. Write out the doubts. Confess them as doubts to God. After hammering out the confession in different ways until it is right out in the open turn to God. Praise God. Ask God for His truth and then take time to listen for God's truth. Right that out. Make choice statements. Even though I believe ( the doubt) I now choose to believe (new belief.)

Project Planning and Listening Prayer 

Each Heal My Life Seminar is an opportunity to you to absorb more about listening prayer and Listening Prayer Therapy in the give and take of the seminar time. In Biblical times teaching from master to student or apprentice was more a case of living with one's master, observing him at work and trying your hands at it.

Our modern experience of education totally distorts our understanding of discipleship. You won't learn from the notes, or even from a tape, what you could learn from being there - in the interaction. You may think when you read these notes that you have the essence of what the seminar is about. You have some information therefore you must have the content. Not true. You will probably never have the courage and faith and confidence to actually use Listening Prayer Therapy unless you have seen, heard and felt the process personally.

Get involved to get it. Read about it to think you have got it but you won't have the understanding that goes deeper than your intellect into your heart.

In today's seminar the following issues emerged out of my presentation of the planning model: 

1. That money may be an idol - too much a focus in our lives,

2. That we may have a poverty complex, believing there will never be enough,

3. That a specific goal may put us under pressure to achieve that goal and

4. That we might feel that we are in a constricted space are unable to escape into a broad place of  freedom.

My task as the developer of Listening Prayer Therapy was to provide listening prayer formats that would allow a heart engagement with God to heal our life in regard to each of these issues. I presented or guided the group in the creation of a listening prayer format  for each one of these.

1) Regarding the idol of money we discussed my prayer format called "Cleanse the Temple."

2) Regarding the poverty complex I shared the process of using the 'theophostic 3 step listeing prayer' to deal with a fear and the underlying belief.

Theophostic 3 step Listening Prayer:

1. What memory does this fear link to?

2. What did I believe?

3. What is Your truth?

3) Regarding goal pressure I explained the use of the "Put it on the Altar" listening prayer format.

4) I lead the group in a prayer time about needing to be released from a constricted space. My procedure involves the use of a verbal prayer followed by the use of the imagination in a picture prayer.

5) In the afternoon we played with the development of an original prayer format involving dealing with the image of a giant as our biggest fear or doubt. We identified our giants then used different imagery to subdue them. Each participant developed a different image of this. GCH <><