Choosing A WORD For The Year!January 10th, 2016

3 Steps to Choosing a “WORD” for the Year.

A new year brings with it ‘fresh starts’.  When New Year resolutions are being made, it’s an ideal and refreshing time to renew our spiritual life as well – and at the core of our spiritual life is PRAYER.

I’d like to encourage one powerful way to refresh our prayer life and faith journey this coming year  …. Focus on ONE WORD.  That’s right – just ONE WORD.

This ONE WORD becomes your prayer focus and theme for the entire year.  It’s a WORD that will carry a particular meaning and direction for your faith journey.

What kind of WORD?   I’m often asked by ‘first-timers’ – “what kind of word should it be?”   It should be a WORD that will help you GROW and DEEPEN your relationship with God.  It can be a WORD that will encourage you, stretch you and ultimately draw you into action.  And ultimately, it will be a WORD that will direct your attention, stimulate your faith journey and communicate your prayers.

How to determine your WORD?   

For some, the above description might seem overwhelming or too abstract.  It’s really quite simple.  Just PRAY and ASK.  For some, it might be an immediate knowing; for others it might take prayerful discernment.   Turn to scripture – read His Word.  Let His Word speak to you – it could be a fruit of the Spirit (patience), a personal quality/trait (endurance) or an attribute of God (forgiveness).

Here are 3 steps to help guide you:

1.  PRAY – Ready yourself to open your heart and mind to the Lord.

God will speak when we are open to hearing Him.   Take a moment to quiet your mind.  In prayer – physically ‘open’ your hands.  Lift them up to the Lord.  An open mind, heart and hand is a beautiful posture before the Lord.

A sample prayer:  “Lord, I desire to draw closer to You this coming year. I need You.  I give You my heart.  I give You my mind.  I willingly open myself before You.  Fill me with Your Presence. Help me understand how I can grow and mature spiritually.  Lead me, guide me.”

2.  ASK – Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal your WORD.

Consider where you are in your journey, where you want to be and more importantly where God wants you to be.  Then ASK Him.  ASK the Holy Spirit.  Allow Him to speak and don’t be afraid to let yourself be stretched in this asking. You may want to turn to scripture – read His Word.

A sample prayer:   “Father God, I want to be all that You want me to be.  I want to live and act in a manner You desire of me.  Holy Spirit, show me an area of focus for this year.”

3.  WAIT and LISTEN.  Your WORD may come to you right away – or it may not. 

You may have several words come to the surface of your mind.   Be patient.  If it is not clear, do not feel discouraged or inadequate in any way.  Take a few days/weeks to discern and listen.  Keep an open ear and close attention to conversations, devotional reading, music, scripture, homilies.   Listen for affirmation of your WORD.  Trust and expect God to make your ONE WORD undeniably clear.

What’s Next?  Listen. Pray. Journal.

You have your WORD.  You’re excited and have a new sense of anticipation and enthusiasm for how the Lord will work in your life this year.  Now what do I do?  Listen, pray and journal.  The role of journaling in prayer should not be overlooked if we sincerely desire to grow.  It’s one way to see our progression, to remember key learnings and insights and to capture what God is saying to us.   Don’t feel you have to write pages and pages to be successful at ‘journaling’.  Jotting is just fine!  I’m a ‘jotter’!  I don’t write pages and pages.  I jot down things I hear on talk-radio or conferences, homilies and the insights I have received.  My favorite …. is to jot down specific scripture verses that speak about my WORD and turn it into a prayer.

Be encouraged to seek God for your ONE WORD for 2015.  God has something powerful to show you through your word!   Listen to His Voice by keeping your ears open.  This WORD is going to jump out at you throughout the year – so be ready!

Blessings,

Julie