This morning we continue our journey into this new year with a focus on making “Intentional Progress.” This should be a time of personal reflection for us. Whenever you feel as though the Lord has shifted you into a new season (whether it is a new calendar year or not), it is prudent to take the time to reflect, pray, and consider. You want to think about the season you are leaving — what you learned, how much you grew, what you have to be thankful for, etc. — and the season you are entering in.
Over the new few weeks, I will help guide you through this season of shifting and preparing for what God has in store for us in 2022.
I will share a graphic with you that I will walk through in the weeks to come.
As I prepared for 2022, the Lord walked me through these steps:
1. Pray/Discern
2. Plan/Prepare
3. Wait/Discern God’s Timing
4. Execute/Measure Progress
5. Wait/Faith & Patience
6. Receive When Harvest Time Comes
You can apply this to anything you are actively believing God for. Step 7 would be to start all over with the next thing.
As you can see, walking with God involves a good deal of waiting, listening, and discerning BEFORE moving. When you walk with God and truly live by faith, you won’t be on other people’s timelines. People won’t understand why you are not moving out when they want you to. But you know that you don’t want to get out AHEAD of God. The right thing at the wrong time becomes the wrong thing. But you are not moved by God’s timing because you know that when God finally releases you, He can make things that should take years to happen for you in seconds. People wind up thinking that you are an overnight success, but they never saw the days, months, years, and even decades that you have put into your walk with God.
Of the six steps I laid out for you this morning, today, I will only discuss the first.
So what does this mean for you today? Let’s see. What should you consider about 2022 when it comes to praying and discerning?
1. Pray/Discern.
– Always start with prayer.
– You are not on this planet to do what you want.
– You are here to do what the one who sent you wants.
Ask yourself:
– What does God want me to do in this season?
– What areas does God want me to focus on in 2022?
What is God saying to me about the progress He wants me to experience in the following seven areas (and this is NOT a comprehensive list, but rather just a few areas for you to prayerfully consider):
Spiritually:
– What habits should I continue or discontinue?
– What do I need to do to grow as a disciple of Jesus?
– Am I praying the way I should?
Physically:
– Am I honoring the one body God gave me?
– Am I running the risk of cutting my years short?
– What changes do I need to make in 2022?
Financially:
– Am I honoring God with my finances?
– Am I giving God the first fruits of ALL my increase?
– Am I funding the Kingdom Projects God wants me to?
Internally:
– Do I have the divine mental health God wants me to have?
– Do I have peace in my heart?
– When I am all by myself, I am comfortable, and do I enjoy my own company?
Externally:
– Am I investing my time in the right relationships?
– Am I giving the most value to the relationships that God values for my life in this season?
– Am I wasting valuable time on people who are not proving to be valuable to my destiny?
– Am I honoring the people God has placed in my life?
Family life:
– Am I honoring my marriage the way God wants me to?
– Am I pouring into my children the way God expects me to?
– Am I making time for my family, and have I given them the priority they deserve?
Personal development:
– Am I growing as a person?
– Am I evolving into the man/woman God has called me to be?
– Am I investing the time, energy, and effort required for me to grow into my calling and destiny?
– If I realize that my calling is calling me, what am I doing to respond to it?
This is enough for today.
I have given you enough to think about for sure.
As you think about these areas and questions, here are some final thoughts:
– Humans are complicated and multifaceted.
– There are many areas of your life and many aspects of YOU. As you walk with God, you must prayerfully consider them all.
– If you want to evolve into the man/woman God called you to be, you will have to be intentional about it.
– Progress will not happen overnight, and it will not happen just because you wish it into existence.
– To realize progress, you must be purposeful, intentional, thoughtful, prayerful, and deliberate.
As we walk through this series, I pray the Holy Spirit will speak to you specifically about the areas of progress He wants you to work on, so you can experience His best in 2022.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for blessing me to see another year. As I have crossed over into 2022 in the natural, I also believe a shift has occurred in the spirit realm. I declare that I am sensitive to the Holy Spirit so I can discern what You are doing in this season. I don’t want to come up with a list of resolutions and ask You to bless them. Instead, I hear Your voice; I discern what You are already doing. What you are doing is already blessed. So when I discern what You are doing, and You allow me to get involved, I don’t have to ask You to bless it because Your favor is already on it. Therefore, I hear Your voice concerning every area, aspect, and facet of my life. As I do, and as I am quick to obey, I experience intentional progress spiritually, physically, financially, internally, externally, with my family and in my personal development. This is how I grow, evolve, and continually become the man/woman I am called to be. My calling is calling me, and I respond to it daily. This is how I know GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith! In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
