It’s episode 85 of the Busy Christian Mom podcast, and we are in our Anchored Attitude mini series. These 9 episodes will walk you scripture memorization strategies of specific bible verses that will help you anchor your attitude, mindset, and effort on Christ. Today, we’re walking through how to memorize Proverbs 16:3 in minutes.
CLICK PLAY TO LISTEN: EP 85
Review
Before we memorize Proverbs 16:3, let’s review. The 9 episodes in this mini series are broken down into three sections, each with three verses (attitude, mindset, effort). We are on the second of three bible verses specifically addressing attitude:
- EP 78: Philippians 2:14 (attitude) “Do everything without complaining and arguing.”
- EP 79: Romans 12:12 (attitude) “Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.”
- EP 80: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (attitude) “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”
- EP 81: 2 Timothy 1:7 (mindset) “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”
- EP 82: 2 Corinthians 10:5 (mindset) “We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.”
- EP 83: Philippians 4:8 (mindset) “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”
- EP 84:1 Corinthians 10:31 (effort) “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
- EP 85: Proverbs 16:3 (effort) featured today
If you’re just now joining us, or the memory verses have slipped your mind, no worries! I recommend grabbing your free workbook by going to brookecollier.com, entering your email, and check your inbox. I’ll send you a freebie at that moment, and the workbook on Monday.
Verse
If you’ve been around the podcast, you know that having Biblical context is so important to understanding the Bible. If you’ve ever read a verse and thought, “What in the world did I just read? That’s in the Bible?”, then know that you may be missing some key pieces of the puzzle. I’ll read Proverbs 16:3 in the NLT, and you can follow along with your ears, your free workbook, or on the show notes:
“Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.”
Proverbs 16:3
Verse Context Breakdown
Now, here’s some context about the verse we’re reading today. Use this information to help your understanding of what the verse meant then, and what it means for us believers now:
- The word proverb typically means a short, clever way of delivering wisdom on some sort of topic
- True wisdom and understanding comes from trusting God
- Solomon is the likely author and is known as the wisest earthly king
- The proverbs in the middle chunk of the book, like the one we’re reading today typically have an “if this, then that” or a cause/effect happening.
“Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.” This does not meant that if we say, “I’m doing this in Jesus’ name” whatever it is you’re doing will succeed. This verse is saying that when all of the actions we do in our daily lives chase God, we will find success. More breakdown on this in the Live It Out section in a few minutes.
Memorize Verse
Let’s memorize Proverbs 16:3 together. There are two parts to this verse; let’s see if you can hear each of them. “Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.”
- 1) Commit your actions to the Lord,
- 2) and your plans will succeed.
Strategy Technique
Today we’re going to use the chunking method and memorize the chunks of the verse and then put them together. “Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.”
Memorize Proverbs 16:3 Part 1
If you work in HR, public education, the government, or any business that relies on thorough documentation, you may have heard the acronym CYA used before. CYA stands for “cover your… assets” What did you think I was going to say?! Now, a Jesusy spin on CYA. The first words in this verse are CYA “commit your actions”, and when we CYA and commit our actions to the Lord, the plans will succeed.
- 1) Commit your actions to the Lord,
CYA with the one who has the power to make your plans succeed. Commit your actions to the Lord.
Memorize Proverbs 16:3 Part 2
As we mentioned in the context portion of the episode, proverbs are typically two-parters that are cause/effect or action/reaction style. When you commit your actions to the Lord, the outcome is that your plans will succeed. Let’s use logical action/reaction thinking. When you: commit your actions to the Lord, he will make your plans succeed. “Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.”
Proverbs 16:3
Think about it. God is in charge of all the plans ever. When we commit our actions to him, our plans will be successful because God is in charge of it. Let’s try saying our whole verse. Think about the action and reaction that work together. Hold it in your mind. Ready? Go! “Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.”
Let’s remember the scripture reference Proverbs 16:3. We can remember Proverbs since we know that a proverb is a bit of wisdom that typically has two parts. We’ll remember 16:3 because of our dear sixteen year olds and toddlers…our threenagers… May our 16 year olds and 3 year olds learn this proverb: “Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.”
Live It Out
Hooray! Now that you know how to memorize Proverbs 16:3, let’s live out our faith through this scripture. “Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.” What this verse is not saying is, “as long as I do something and then say ‘in Jesus’ name’ it will go according to my plan.”
Let me say the verse again to solidify who’s actually the boss: “Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.” God is in control of all outcomes, and he makes all things good in the end. If it’s not good, it’s not the end. We can trust him and his process.
Here’s what this verse is saying: be intentional with what you do, and who you’re doing it for. When we take a moment to pause, reflect, seek God’s wisdom, and then act, this is when our plans will succeed.
Another thing to point out: success looks differently than expected sometimes. Have you ever had a passion, dream, plan, and it was fromt he Lord, so you knew it was going to happen? You made a plan, took action, and it came to fruition eventually, but not in the way you would have imagined?
I know I have experienced that more times than I can count. And guess what? I would not have changed how it all played out. God’s plan is way better than anything I can think up, and I’ve learned to adopt the mindset of saying, “I can’t wait to see how God works this out.” Once I realized I needed to cognitively surrender my plans and give those to him, I knew it was up to him to sort it all out. I just needed to take a step when he showed me the next step.
My Example
We are living that big right now at our house. We’re looking to move one town over to where I work and where the kids go to school. It’s been about a year and half process so far. We knew something was stirring up in us around November 2023. God made it clear by December 2023, just one month later, that we would be moving a few miles away.
We began to make the switch to jobs within the district and getting kids settled in for school. Here we are, a year and a half later, and we’re still in the same house, not having moved. Throughout the entire process of this, we’ve prayed, fasted, sought wise counsel, and continue to actively wait until God gives us the green light.
Here’s the coolest part, I am no longer worried or fretting over it. Our kids ask us this a couple times a week, “When are we moving again?” It’s been so nice to just say, “We’re not sure yet, but we’re ready to take a step when God tells us to. All we can do now is listen and be patient.”
Our kids are actively seeing us living out Proverbs 16:3, “Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.” We know it will happen, we just don’t know when. Learn to love the surprises and wait with holy anticipation. God is always on the move.
I encourage you to do the same thing. Live out this verse and commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed. Trust his guidance, ask for wisdom and discernment with committed action to the Lord. By doing this, your plans will succeed because God’s plans become your plans.
I say this phrase to my kids a lot, “The scariest place to be is outside of God’s will.” We use this phrase often about a lot of topics. And I’m going to pull this one out when our kids have an interest in dating. That’s a podcast for another day. So trust, be patient, and have a spirit of excited, holy anticipation for what God’s going to do next. All of his plans are successful, so if you’re aligned, you’ll get to reap that success too.
Podcast Recap
There you have it! Now you know how to memorize Proverbs 16:3. Let’s say it again all together: “Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.” Tune in next week for our final verse in our Anchored Attitude mini series where we’re memorizing scripture that helps us focus our attitude, mindset, and effort on Christ. Bring a friend, and I’ll see you next Monday!
Links from the Show
- Anchored Attitude Mini Series
- EP 24: Tips to Memorize Scripture
- Etsy Shop: Busy Christian Mom
- Busy Christian Mom Podcast (Apple Podcasts)
- Pinterest: Brooke Collier BCM
- Busy Christian Mom Instagram
