Years ago, I was doing a training on The 6 Voices at a church in San Diego. During the introduction, I gave a brief overview and description of each voice. As I was speaking, it dawned on me that I should probably stop and ask the audience which voice they struggled with the most.
As soon as I asked, a tall, good-looking man shot his hand into the air and shouted,
“The voice of my own agenda!”
He said it like he just had an epiphany.
I had spoken with him briefly before the training and knew he was the CEO of a startup doing biomedical research. Right there in the middle of the session, he began to verbally process out loud.
“Every time I pray,” he said, “all I hear is the stuff I want to do anyway. It makes me wonder if God is actually talking to me.”
As he continued to process, it became clear that he knew he was not hearing God, but he didn’t understand what was happening or what to do about it. In that moment, I was naming his experience and mapping out a path forward. He was relieved to discover that there was a way to quiet this voice and gain greater clarity regarding God’s leading.
Many people who have this experience eventually give up on listening for the Lord. Some even give up on prayer altogether. They reason, “Why should I pray when all I hear are my own thoughts?”
To this man’s credit, he was self-aware enough to recognize the difference between his own agenda and God’s leading. Many people are not. Instead, they fall into a pattern that looks something like this…
The Pattern of the Voice of My Own Agenda.
- PRAYER: They seek God for guidance on a challenging issue.
- LISTENING: They stop and listen with hope and expectation.
- THE VOICE The voice of their own agenda answers in place of God.
- EVALUATION: They are not completely sure, but the answer makes sense to them.
- IMPLEMENTATION: They act on what they heard and get bad results.
- DISCOURAGEMENT: They become discouraged and wonder what went wrong.
- END RESULT They stop listening for the Lord or stop praying altogether.
The voice of my own agenda is my own thoughts, desires, will, or wishes projected onto God. In a sense, it is what I want God to say to me.
My Perspective
We do this because our own agenda makes sense to us. It fits neatly into how we already see the world. It works with our goals, our ambitions, and our understanding of ourselves. It flows naturally from our strengths, our preferences, and the future we imagine.
We are quick to hear this voice because it is familiar. It is all we have ever known.
But what if the world is bigger than what I can imagine?
What if the challenges I face are more complex than I realize?
What if my identity is smaller than the person God is forming me to be?
If that is true, then my agenda is like a bridge under construction. One day it will be strong enough to hold traffic, but until then it is best to let The Builder finish His work.
God’s Perspective
God, on the other hand, sees what we cannot. He sees who we are right now and who we will become. He sees the strengths we currently possess and the strengths that still need to be developed. He sees the challenges we face and the solutions we seek.
Consequently, His guidance can sometimes feel confusing. This is because,
It is rooted in information we do not have.
It flows from values we do not possess.
It is leading us toward a future we cannot see.
Because of this, whenever God gives guidance, we are often tempted to ignore it or conclude that it could not possibly be from Him.
For many people, this realization is deeply humbling—and that is the point.
The all-knowing, all-powerful God who loves us is happy to guide us, but there is one condition: we must first recognize that His perspective is greater than our own.
– Chuck Whitley
Isaiah reminds us of this truth when he writes:
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” — Isaiah 55:8–9.
Until we come to this realization, we simply will not seek guidance from anyone—let alone God. But once we accept this and are willing to lay aside our agenda, God freely guides us into His.
God’s Generosity
Jesus reminds us of God’s generosity when He says:
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” — Matthew 7:7–8.
Our goal as Christian business leaders is to align our agenda with God’s agenda and pursue it. This process also has a pattern.
Aligning Our Agenda With God’s.
- I must identify my agenda.
- I must be willing to submit my agenda to God.
- I must discern God’s agenda for a given situation.
- I must implement what I believe God is calling me to do.
Give this a try and tell me how it goes.