The ball dropped. The clock struck midnight. It’s a new year with new opportunities and new horizons. We are not walking into 2024 weak-minded, but we are bold and courageous because we know who we are in Christ. We have the confidence of David that no Goliath can step into our camps and stop what God is doing in our lives. This year we will slay the giants of old. We are doing a great work, building our lives, and becoming more like Jesus. We can’t come down. We will remain armed and ready in 2024.

Why We Pray

Prayer is key. Take time to pray. This new year should take us to new levels in prayer. We won’t make it without spending time talking to our Father. There is a very active spiritual war that is going on to discredit God’s Word and also the people of God. The church is being ridiculed for its stand of holiness. There is a very sinister spirit that wants to discredit church leaders and put them in open display for acts of ungodliness. If the world sees the church fall apart then they find no reason to run to it. If the world can’t find hope in the church, then they find other avenues to console themselves in trouble. 

This is why we pray. We pray because prayer is the direct lifeline we have with God. Our prayers move God. Our prayers move mountains. We must pray because it is a weapon and a tool to fight with in the battle of life. We must pray so that we can pull down the strongholds. Prayer is the key to getting us through this new year. Prayer is what is going to keep us through the storms that will come and give us the strength to endure whatever this year brings.

Stay in God’s Word

Along with prayer, we must stay in God’s Word this year. With such an attack on the churches and just in general, we need to know what we believe and what to stand on. Keep studying to show yourself approved. 

The world will try to discredit the Word. They don’t see the value in the Word of God. They call the Bible antiquated. They don’t see its power and relevance. However, it is what we live by. It is the power of God. It is what Jesus used to defeat the enemy. We must know the Word to stand on it. Beloved, don’t slack in Bible study. It is the weapon we need to fight with. Speak it. Keep it before you. Meditate and give yourself wholly to it. The Bible promises success to those that meditate upon the Word of God. Don’t get weary. 

Stay the Course

Make a commitment now, at the beginning of this year to go all the way with God. Don’t worry about what didn’t go right last year. Make up your mind to stay the course and fight through every obstacle. Don’t allow fear and unbelief to enter in. Even if you fell from grace and found yourself back in old ways and bad habits, there is still love and grace in abundance with God. Run to Him and get back on course. Make the commitment this year to pray, stay in the Word of God and surround yourself with people that are heading in the same direction. Our confidence cannot be in the flesh. It must be in God. He empowers us. He helps us weather the hardest storms. Stop putting yourself down or holding on to the guilt of failure. You may have failed before. Make up your mind that you will not fail again through God’s grace and His help. 

The Hope of Glory

The road may never be easy. In this year, there may be obstacles like none before it. Stand on the Word that says greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. We have God living in us and that is the hope of glory. His life in us will help us make it through this year in victory. We are absolutely able to succeed because we have a God that gives abundant life. It is this life that He gives that will help me face every hurdle and know that I am going to make it through it.

Let’s take our cue from King David who said: “God has broken through my enemies by my hand, like the breakthrough of the waters. Therefore, they named that place Baal-perazim (the Master of the breakthrough!). (1 Chronicles 14:11). David sought the Lord and He gave him the strength and wisdom to overcome the seemingly impossible forces coming against him.

Janet Boynes founded Janet Boynes Ministries in Maple Grove, Minnesota, in 2006. She authored the books Called Out: A Former Lesbian’s Discovery of Freedom, God & Sexuality, and her latest: God & The LGBT Community. Janet is an ordained minister under the Assemblies of God and travels the U.S. and overseas sharing a message of redemption and hope through the power of Jesus Christ.