Before you rush into a new season, take intentional time to reflect, pray, and set your hopes and ambitions.
A new season has a way of arriving before you feel ready. The temptation is to jump straight into action — setting goals, making lists, moving forward. But what if the best way to step into what’s next is to pause first?
The two resources below are designed to help you do exactly that: reflect on where God has been, then prayerfully plan where He is leading you next. They can be used personally or with a small group, and they work best together.
Download your free Hopes + Ambitions planning guide and small group lesson at the end of this post!
The Lessons of Reflection study is built around a powerful but often overlooked practice in Scripture: the Ebenezer. In 1 Samuel 7, after God delivers Israel from the Philistines, the prophet Samuel stacks a pile of stones and names it Ebenezer — which means “stone of help.” It was a tangible marker of God’s faithfulness, something the people could point to and say, ”Thus far the Lord has helped us.”
We need Ebenezers too.
Before stepping into a new season, this study invites you to pause and look back — to reflect on the highlights and challenges of your last season, and to ask God to show you where He was present in each of them. Even the hard moments. Even the seasons that felt like silence.
The lesson opens with a reflection on the hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” then walks through a study of 1 Samuel 7:3–17 with discussion and application questions. It closes with two personal reflection worksheets: one to map your season’s highs and lows, and one to name your own Ebenezer words — single words that represent God’s character or faithfulness in your life from the season that just passed.
This study is designed for individual use or small group discussion, and it pairs naturally with the planning guide below.
Once you’ve taken time to reflect, you’re ready to plan. The Hopes + Ambitions planning guide begins where all good planning should: Matthew 6:33. Seek first the kingdom of God.
The guide walks you through a category-based brainstorm for the new season ahead. Think through the different areas of your life — personal growth, family, friendships, ministry, school, work — and write your hopes and ambitions for each one. The goal isn’t a perfect plan or a rigid to-do list. It’s an invitation to think intentionally, pray honestly, and hold your plans before God.
After your brainstorm, the guide gives you space to summarize what you most want to carry into the new season — and to reflect on how you’ll keep God at the center as the weeks and months unfold.
These two resources are designed to work as a pair — reflection first, then planning. I’ve used them in a small group setting, and working through them together sparked meaningful conversation and a shared sense of purpose going into a new season. Whether you use them on your own or with a group, the process is the same: slow down, look back, pray, and then move forward with intention.
Download both below.
Step 1 — Start Here
Download Lessons of ReflectionStep 2 — Then Plan
Download Planning Guide