Initiate or Wait? Presumption or Procrastination?

What is the balance between my initiative and Father’s purpose?

(Intro Video) Every believer who wants to accomplish something for God eventually asks the question: how much is up to me? Do I take the initiative, make a plan, and go? Or do I wait until I hear from God? “What’s the balance between my initiative and Your purpose?” His answer was one word that changed how I  see the fallacy of my binary thinking. Sons align with Father’s heart in conversations.

 

Two Ditches on the Same Road

Most of us live in one of two ditches. In the first, we decide what to do using integrity, stewardship, values, character, principles, and verses, then go and do it. We are responsible and sincere, but we are working alone. This is initiative without conversation, and it ends in presumption. We get an idea, plan it, implement it, and watch it blow up, because nobody was there for mid-course corrections.

In the second ditch, we wait to be told what to do. We want charismatic guidance, a prophetic word or sign, a clear next step. But we often get breadcrumbs instead of the meal. We miss the whole story, we miss the bus entirely, and the waiting turns into a lack of initiative – Spiritual Pacifism.

Both ditches share a hidden assumption: that the relationship is binary. Either “Lord, here is what I want to do,” or “Lord, tell me what to do.” Decide, or be told. Neither is a conversation.

 

The Father Is Not Giving Orders

Father’s heart is not orders, laws, rules, or control. It is family, fellowship, co-laboring, shared hearts, and even fun. He invites us into a conversation and treats us as sons who can contribute.

Isa 1:18 – Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD.

Isa 43:26 – Review the past for me, let us argue the matter together;
                     state the case for your innocence.

That is an invitation to participate, not just to obey. And Jesus shows us what the Son’s side of the relationship looks like.

Jn 5:19–20 – The Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing…
For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.

The Son sees what the Father is doing because the Father loves Him and shows Him. Then the Son joins in. That is the pattern: the Father shows, the Son sees, and together they work. Once on the same page, Father appears to delegate big things (like judgment) to Jesus (Jn 5:21-22, 20:22-23). Sons are not programmed robots; they share Father’s heart and do His works with His power.

 

A Better Question

So the question changes. It is no longer “What do I want to do?” or “What is Father telling me to do?” It becomes:

• • What is Father doing that we can do together, with Him?
  • And what is He showing us in Heaven that we can bring to Earth?

Then the conversation turns practical. What can I volunteer or contribute? What ignites me enough to initiate conversation in Heaven and Creativity on Earth? What can I add? What can Father add? What value can I create for the work? We choose to join because we want to and because we are ignited by it, not because we are required to.

Notice what this does to initiative. Presumption is initiative without conversation in the Council. But the Father loves initiative when it is pointed in the right direction, toward His purpose. He loves being invited to add to what we are doing. The question is not only what we can do, but what the Father can do through us.

Eph 3:20 – Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,
according to his power that is at work within us.

 

What’s the Degree of Difficulty?

This does not come naturally. Many of us have no grid for conversation, family, or co-laboring, and no natural appetite for ascension. We know how to follow rules or how to follow a leader, and we are comfortable in both. “The Lord led me” sounds very spiritual to religious ears. The enemy knows it, and the accusation is predictable: “You are a sheep, not a son. You are your own king, or you want a king, not a Father.”

Underneath it, there are often roots; fathers too busy to talk to us, engage us. Someone who has not experienced the love of inclusion, of being taken along by a father and shown everything he is doing, will distrust open-ended conversation. Someone who has felt unheard may avoid conversations where they are asked to share their heart. These roots go to the cross like any others: agree with them, take them there, and ask the Father to breathe life into a transparent heart. Then He answers with the decree that matters most: I love you, I will show you what I am doing, and I invite you to co-labor and share your heart.

1Jn 1:3 – That you also may have fellowship with us.
And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

The Greek word for fellowship, koinonia, means sharing, participation and contribution. It is not just being near God. It is contributing to what He is doing.

 

What the Conversation Looks Like

Leaders create Kingdom culture by experiencing it first – in the Council with Nine Conversations.

When we do this, Father’s purpose unveils and prevails, and we can contribute to it, expand it, and co-labor with it. We release Father to add His portion and join the effort.

 

Things We Substitute for Conversations

Leaders lead people the way they believe God leads them.

If God is distant, the leader becomes self-reliant.

If God is a rule-giver, the leader becomes controlling.

If God only drops occasional hints, the leader is indecisive and cannot give direction.

But a leader who knows Father through conversations in His Council leads with courage, clarity, and shared purpose. Their staff become sons and daughters with initiative instead of servants waiting for orders.

 

The Balance

The balance between my initiative and His purpose is not a percentage. It is a transparent conversation with no boundaries or closets. His purpose sets the direction, my initiative gives it hands and feet, and the conversations in between maintain alignment; the definition of righteousness is when Father and I are on the same page.

What’s different? – Father invites His Sons and Daughters to contribute their ideas and desires.

• • The question isn’t, Who makes the decision?
  • The question is, Was there a conversation and is your and Father’s heart aligned?

Prayer has traditionally been:

#1) me throwing up my wish list and waiting for Father to do it, or

#2) waiting for Him to tell me what to do.

This is a conversation on what you and Father are aligned on in Heaven so that you can do it with His anointing on Earth. The context is Sons and Daughters bringing Heaven to Earth in a Reformation.

So the next time you face a decision in your Kingdom Business, skip the two ditches and have the conversation: What is Father doing that we can do together?

This blog was inspired by a Council Session – 2026-11-09 Council – Leadership Roots

Co-Labor With Us and Father

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Ps 2:7 –  I will proclaim the LORD’s decree: He said to me,
“You are my son; today I have become your father.
8)    Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance,
the ends of the earth your possession.

Co-laboring – I have been to Poland ~15 times, Ukraine twice, and Russia once mostly doing business/Sonship conferences in churches. I confess a love for Polish people. I met Dima in Ukraine around 2010. He and Julia were pastoring and have since moved to Estonia. He has several thousand Slavic people on WhatsApp in Russian. He translated some of our material for his Slavic audience:

• • Dima Gladkov – https://sogministry.com
  • Translated Website – https://consultingjohngarfield.eu/
  • Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/ReleasingKingsRu
  • Blog Articles – https://consultingjohngarfield.eu/stati/

Although all this work is all from Dima, we both see what God is doing His work in Russia and in Slavic people everywhere. We are just doing it with him, free from any cultural strongholds. It’s fun!

All this to say that Sons and Daughters can do what Father is doing in the Nations, Co-labor with Him. So can you!