Father's Heart Bible™ (FHB)

Proverbs 16:3

Commit your works to our Father, and your plans will be established.

Proverbs 16:3 · Father's Heart Bible™

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What Proverbs 16:3 means

Proverbs 16:3 says, “Commit your works to our Father, and your plans will be established.” To commit something is to hand it over: the work and the plans are placed in our Father’s hands rather than carried alone.

The verse sits in a cluster of proverbs about human plans and our Father’s part in them. Verse 1 says, “The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue comes from our Father.” Verse 9 says, “The heart of man plans his way, but our Father establishes his steps.” Planning is not discouraged; we are expected to plan. But the outcome, and even the motives behind the plan, are his to weigh: “our Father weighs the motives” (verse 2).

So Proverbs 16:3 is not a formula that guarantees any plan we pray over will succeed. It is an invitation to bring the work to our Father first, to let him weigh it, and to trust him to establish what should stand. A plan that has been handed to him can be reshaped by him, and that is part of the promise.

Written by Spirit Media Publishing · Edited by Kevin White · Published November 6, 2026

Proverbs 16:3 in context

1 The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue comes from our Father.

2 All a man's ways are pure in his own eyes, but our Father weighs the motives.

3 Commit your works to our Father, and your plans will be established.

4 Our Father has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.

5 Everyone proud of heart is detestable to our Father; be assured, he will not go unpunished.

6 Loving devotion and faithfulness atone for sin, and the fear of our Father turns a person away from evil.

7 When a man's ways please our Father, our Father makes even the man's enemies live at peace with him.

8 Better a little with righteousness than great income with injustice.

9 The heart of man plans his way, but our Father establishes his steps.

Read all of Proverbs 16 →

Questions about Proverbs 16:3

What does Proverbs 16:3 say?

In Father's Heart Bible™, Proverbs 16:3 reads: “Commit your works to our Father, and your plans will be established.”

What does Proverbs 16:3 mean?

Proverbs 16:3 means that we should hand our work and our plans over to our Father, and he will establish them. The verses around it say that people make plans but our Father weighs the motives and establishes the steps, so committing a plan to him means trusting him with how it turns out.

Does Proverbs 16:3 mean our Father will bless any plan?

No. The same chapter says “our Father weighs the motives” and that he “establishes his steps.” Committing a plan to him means letting him weigh it and shape it. What he establishes is what should stand, which may not be every detail we first had in mind.

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