Several years ago a friend told me how every year she asks God for a word for that particular year. I took up the challenge and have been doing the same. I start the year by seeking God for a word for the year to come, something He wants me to explore or an aspect of Christian-faith to grow in or perhaps a word in season.
The first year was the word “love”. I was taken on a journey learning about God’s love and encountering it like never before. One day someone gave me a word from God which was the vision of God’s love being like a bath with the taps stuck on and the bath continually overflowing with nothing to get in its way. A song was released in 2017 called Good Good Father which speaks of God’s character and His love. It is a song that every time I hear it I feel my spirit leap inside and often tears swell in my eyes. I feel overwhelmed in those moments as I think of God’s love.
The next year was the word “wholehearted”. I learned about the importance of living fully (wholeheartedly) for God and what sacrifices may come with that. A heart that is undivided in its belief in God is powerful. My passion for encouraging Christians to stay on fire and wholeheartedly loving God grew over the course of the year and now is so entrenched in my spirit. Perhaps God was forging that in my heart in preparation for the books I wrote about thriving as a Christian and spiritual warfare. My heart breaks when Christians dilute the bible to suit their needs or to justify their sin or society’s corruption, when Christians become lukewarm. The bible says those who are lukewarm will be spat out (Revelation 3:16). Is that a reality you want to face, whatever being spat out looks like?
“Stand firm” was the word the following year. It was definitely a word in season as I was tossed about spiritually and emotionally as I made lifelong decisions about an engagement and marriage. Would I compromise on particular issues related to what I believed God was telling me to do or would I stand firm even if it meant losing something precious to me? I learned that you can stand firm regardless of the battle that rages around you. During that year I had a dream one night in which I was in a crowd of people and I was the only one standing. It was a powerful dream to me. The word wholehearted prepared me for standing firm as I knew I could not stand firm without being wholeheartedly committed to what I was standing firm for.
Last year my word from God was “protection”. I had the word confirmed to me by God around the time I embarked on starting my next writing project which was focused on spiritual warfare. How I clung to that word last year, declaring it over my life, my marriage, my home, my family, anything else the enemy was trying to attack. I gave thanks for the things God was protecting me for that I did not even know he was protecting me from and I was so happy I did not know those things because it may have overwhelmed me with all the other battles going on.
This year my word is “joy”. How I came to know that this was this word was in the lead up to Christmas almost every card I was given either had “joy” written on the card as part of the design or in the message written specifically for me. It was also an important chapter in the book I wrote last year – the spiritual weapon of “joy” and how it can be used in battle. True unshakeable joy is found in God, not found in things or in circumstances.
I encourage you to take up the challenge too. But to take it one step further (a step I will start doing this year)… instead of waiting until January to ask for the word for the year start seeking God for it in November/December so come the start of the year you have your word and you are ready to start declaring it over your year.
The first year was the word “love”. I was taken on a journey learning about God’s love and encountering it like never before. One day someone gave me a word from God which was the vision of God’s love being like a bath with the taps stuck on and the bath continually overflowing with nothing to get in its way. A song was released in 2017 called Good Good Father which speaks of God’s character and His love. It is a song that every time I hear it I feel my spirit leap inside and often tears swell in my eyes. I feel overwhelmed in those moments as I think of God’s love.
The next year was the word “wholehearted”. I learned about the importance of living fully (wholeheartedly) for God and what sacrifices may come with that. A heart that is undivided in its belief in God is powerful. My passion for encouraging Christians to stay on fire and wholeheartedly loving God grew over the course of the year and now is so entrenched in my spirit. Perhaps God was forging that in my heart in preparation for the books I wrote about thriving as a Christian and spiritual warfare. My heart breaks when Christians dilute the bible to suit their needs or to justify their sin or society’s corruption, when Christians become lukewarm. The bible says those who are lukewarm will be spat out (Revelation 3:16). Is that a reality you want to face, whatever being spat out looks like?
“Stand firm” was the word the following year. It was definitely a word in season as I was tossed about spiritually and emotionally as I made lifelong decisions about an engagement and marriage. Would I compromise on particular issues related to what I believed God was telling me to do or would I stand firm even if it meant losing something precious to me? I learned that you can stand firm regardless of the battle that rages around you. During that year I had a dream one night in which I was in a crowd of people and I was the only one standing. It was a powerful dream to me. The word wholehearted prepared me for standing firm as I knew I could not stand firm without being wholeheartedly committed to what I was standing firm for.
Last year my word from God was “protection”. I had the word confirmed to me by God around the time I embarked on starting my next writing project which was focused on spiritual warfare. How I clung to that word last year, declaring it over my life, my marriage, my home, my family, anything else the enemy was trying to attack. I gave thanks for the things God was protecting me for that I did not even know he was protecting me from and I was so happy I did not know those things because it may have overwhelmed me with all the other battles going on.
This year my word is “joy”. How I came to know that this was this word was in the lead up to Christmas almost every card I was given either had “joy” written on the card as part of the design or in the message written specifically for me. It was also an important chapter in the book I wrote last year – the spiritual weapon of “joy” and how it can be used in battle. True unshakeable joy is found in God, not found in things or in circumstances.
I encourage you to take up the challenge too. But to take it one step further (a step I will start doing this year)… instead of waiting until January to ask for the word for the year start seeking God for it in November/December so come the start of the year you have your word and you are ready to start declaring it over your year.