For the past several years I have asked the Lord to give me a word for the year. Last year the Lord gave me the word that 2023 was the year for growth. As I look back on 2023 I can see ways in which I have grown. I have learned to walk in the callings God has given me. I am called to be a writer of truth. I’m called to teach men and women these truths. God has called me to partner with Brett to pray for freedom and healing for others.  

I Am A Truth Teller

I’ve learned over the past year I am called to be a truth teller, and sometimes that particular calling is difficult and scary. One of the biggest areas of growth for me in the past year is the realization that just because God asks me to tell someone a difficult truth, and they don’t take what I said well, doesn’t mean they have the right to attack me with their words.

Until this exact thing happened early in 2023, I thought it was my duty to listen to the tongue lashing from the person who I hurt with my words. I thought they had the right to tear me to pieces with their words because the words I spoke hurt their feelings, and it didn’t even matter if the Lord directed me to speak those words. Thankfully, the Lord gave me friends who pointed out that I don’t deserve to be treated like trash just because someone got their feelings hurt. I was able to stand up for myself, which was just one area where God helped me to grow over the past year. 

The Word For 2024

The word the Lord gave me for 2024 is intimacy. The Lord wants more intimacy with his children. What does this mean? What does it look like?

According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, to be intimate means: marked by a warm friendship developing through long association, or marked by very close association, contact, or familiarity, or a very close friend or confidant : an intimate friend.

So, the Lord is wanting for our relationship to be a warm friendship that develops through long periods of time and contact. He wants to be our closest friend. He wants us to confide in him, just as he desires to confide in us. Yes, the Lord desires to confide in us too! The Lord wants us to be so familiar with him that we don’t have to second guess when he speaks to us. 

What Does Intimacy With The Lord Look Like

What does it look like to have this sort of intimacy with the Lord? It looks like standing up against a giant with the certainty you are called to kill him that very day. (1 Samuel 17) This kind of intimacy looks like building a giant boat when there has never been rain before. (Genesis 6:9-22) Intimacy with the Lord looks like praying for courage right after your friends were imprisoned for sharing the good news with others. (Acts 4:23-31) Intimacy with the Lord also looks like staying in place or going somewhere else when you thought the obvious answer was to go somewhere else entirely. (Acts 16:6-10) Intimacy with the Lord is waiting for his direction before heading in any direction. 

Time In Prayer

How do we grow in intimacy with the Lord? How do we get to a point where we can do those things listed above? Time. Lots and lots of time spent with the Lord. Over the past several months the Lord has directed me to change up the way I do my Bible study time. I always begin with prayer. I thank God for the blessings in my life, I ask for clarity in areas where things are muddied, I pray for my friends and family, and lastly I pray that the Lord will adjust the frequency of my mind, ears, eyes, taste, smell, and touch to be on the same frequency of his. It is my desire to think, hear, see, taste, smell and feel just like God does. I also put on my spiritual armor during prayer. 

Time In Worship

After prayer the Lord has directed me to spend some time in worship. I usually pick 3-4 worship songs and play them. While they play I close my eyes and listen for anything God wants to tell me. I just sit in worship and focus on the goodness of God. 

Time In The Word Of God

When worship time is finished I will open my Bible and read. This is usually the first time I study the Bible during the day as I spend time reading and studying when I write. For the past 3 years the Lord has had me read a Psalm, Proverbs, and a chapter in the New Testament in the morning. This sets my mind on God’s praise, wisdom, and instruction for the church. 

God Gives Brett Words For The Year Too

Brett spends hours of time in prayer each week. During his time in prayer the Lord often gives him pictures (visions) of things that go on in the spiritual realm. Many times the Lord will tell Brett things he wants Brett to know. These can be prophetic words for his future or the future of our nation and world. Sometimes the Lord gives Brett words of encouragement. Recently, the Lord gave Brett a word for 2024. The word the Lord gave Brett and the word I was given go together well. (Which is how it always goes when the Lord speaks to Brett and I.) I know this word will encourage you!

The Word God Gave Brett

“2024 will be a year of New Hope for many people. It will be a year of massive repentance for My Church. And ‘things’ will start opening up in new ways. For example, there will be many large opportunities for My People: in employment, in government, in the market, in the Church, in life in general. I am raising up My Chosen Ones this next year to a new level; they particularly will see massive breakthrough around them. Their prayers will be supercharged; their hands will be blessed; their actions will be epic, and yes I said ‘epic.’ 

Seek Me this next year like you’ve sought Me before. Dig into My Word, dig in through prayer, dig in through declaration and consecration, for I am making you holy. I have ordained extra breakthrough for you, and you will see great fruit from your life. You will shine like the stars, as will the others, and you will be known as My Shining Ones. The world will wonder at what is going on, and it will bring great glory to My Great Name. 

Resistance will swell up against you, but it will not be able to overcome you or harm you. You will have authority to tread/trample upon these snakes and scorpions. The enemy shall not harm you by day or by night. I will protect you and your loved ones always.”

Now It’s Your Turn

My encouragement to you is this: spend some time with the Lord this week. Seek him. Discover what word he has for you this coming year. I promise you will not ever regret spending time with the Lord. Also, expect push back as the enemy does everything in their power to distract you from spending time with God. They know the more intimate you become with God, the less power they will have over your life. This is a very good thing for you, and a very bad thing for them!