Episode #231 The Real Power of a Word for the Year – Small Steps, Big Faith

Hey friends, it's Jen. This episode is airing in the beginning of a new year and so I wanted to take a minute to talk about a common trend that we've seen over the past few years in Christian circles. And that trend is asking God for a word for the year.

Now, if you have a word for the year or you don't, either way, this episode is for you.

And I love this as a general practice. The way I've come to know it is simply, asking God if there is a word that He wants to give you for the upcoming season or year ahead. This could be a singular word or a phrase or a whole sentence. But the concept is to ask God for something that gives you insight into what he has for you in the year ahead, and I think that's a great sentiment.

It's good to come near to God and to ask him for insight. To come near, knowing that he is aware and attentive to us, that our God who's outside of time knows what is ahead of us and to ask for him to give us insight into what's coming to focus our thoughts or our attention, even our activity on what he has for us in the year ahead. These are all really great things.

But there's a few places that this can get off for us and when it gets off kilter, we miss the true power of having a word for the year.

One of the ways that this can get kind of wonky is simply overemphasizing having a word for the year.

It can feel more spiritual to say, Oh yeah, God gave me this word for the year ahead. And it can feel like we're somehow less spiritual if we don't have a word and everyone else is talking about their word for the year.

There have been years when God's given me a word and years when he hasn't and years that I didn't have one because I didn't ask him.

There is nothing inherently more spiritual or less spiritual about having a word for the year. And so if you're listening to this episode and you don't have one yet, Take the pressure off.

You don't need to have a word for the year. And also just because you don't have one yet, that doesn't mean you can't have one. At any time you can ask God, God, what's a word that you would want to share with me? That leads me to the verse that I wanted to share for us today. It comes from Psalm 139, I'll read verses 16 through 18 in the New Living Translation,

And it says,

“You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!” (Psalms 139:16-18 NLT)

See, as the Psalmist David tells us in these verses, God knows all of our days before we're going to get there.

That's one of the reasons that we can ask him for a word for the year ahead, because he knows every moment of our life before the day has even passed.

And his thoughts about us are so numerous that they can't be counted. I think that's especially insightful here when we're talking about a word for the year because it's not like God only has one word or thought for you for an entire year.

He might give you a word to hold on to and cherish for the whole year. He does that for me sometimes. But that's not the only word he has for you. His thoughts for you are beyond measure. He has so many words for you. He has so many thoughts toward you.

And that leads me to the second pitfall that I can see with asking God for a word for the year. And that is holding on so tightly to one word that we don't ask him follow up questions.

See, God longs to share himself with us. And his thoughts toward us have so many words, he invites us to experience daily life with him. And so we ask him for a word, and that's a good habit of drawing near and recognizing that he is aware and involved in our lives. And he is attentive to us and has a word he can share with us.

But so often there's a temptation to let it stop there, to take that word and to hold on to it when in reality, we can ask him so much more about that.

God, why would you share that word with me?
What would you have me do next?
How do you see this on display?
How can I walk this out with you God?
What excites you about this thing to come?
God, what is weighing on your heart for me?
What else would you like me to know?
How can I see you on display in this area of my life?
God, what does this word mean?

Receiving a word for the year is great, but how much greater to come near to our living word, our living God and ask him for all the words that he would want to share with us.

And so, as we close out this episode, here's my question that I want to leave you with. And I encourage you to bring this question to God in whatever way makes the most sense for you.

God, what else do you want to share with me?

If you don't have a word for the year yet, and you think you'd like one, ask him, God, what else would you want to share with me? Will you share a word with me for this year?

If he's given you a word already, ask him, God, what else would you want to share with me about this word?

Or maybe your heart feels stirred in an entirely different direction. God, we've talked about these words for the year. What else would you want to talk with me about? And follow that conversation with him wherever he leads.

The true power of a word for the year is experiencing our living and active God as living and active with us in our lives each day of the year, including right now.

Have a good talk.

And if you've been encouraged by this content, please share it with a friend and help them grow in their conversational relationship with God too!

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