3 Scriptures and Prayers to Invite God’s Guidance in Choosing Your Word for the New Year

1. Without a Vision, the People Perish

Proverbs chapter 29, verse 18, hits on the importance of vision. (I like the way the Amplified Bible expresses this) "Where there is no vision [no revelation of God and His Word], the people are unrestrained; But happy and blessed is he who keeps the law [of God]." 

Proverbs was originally written in the Hebrew language. If you look up the word "vision" in Hebrew, a Strong's Concordance says it also means "a sight (mentally) such as a dream, revelation or oracle."

So we need a vision, or a dream from God, to help us even stay rightly focused on that which is pure, lovely, of good report and in all the other ways noted in Philippians chapter 4 verse 8. 

Vision also helps us to stay in a close relationship with God because we have to trust Him to direct our steps, open doors, and grant us favor with the right people. 

Let's Pray 

Lord,
Grant me eyes to see and ears to hear how Your Spirit is leading and what Your Spirit is saying to me this season. Please show me where You want me to go and what You want me to do, and grant me the boldness to step through the doors that You open. Please also grant me favor with those who are in authority.
In Jesus name,
Amen. 

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2. Delight Yourself in the Lord

Imagining life once we obtain or achieve a dream or a vision we've worked toward is definitely a delight. However, there are days that the journey on the way there can feel exhausting, overwhelming and even flat out frustrating. Likewise, even just seeking the Lord for a fresh vision and His direction can cause the same feelings when He doesn't respond as quickly as we'd like. 

This is when we really have to make a point of delighting ourselves in the Lord first. More specifically, Psalm 37 verses 4 - 5 tells us to "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass."  

In Hebrew, the Strong's Concordance says "delight" can also mean "to be soft, pliable or delicate." The idea here is that we have a teachable spirit, we're willing to learn, and willing to be real with the Lord (or vulnerable with Him) in our prayers. Being real with Him and acknowledging Him in every area of our life every day is a huge part of building a deep relationship with Him. 

The Hebrew word "give" has some pretty broad applications. For example, it can mean "to add to (the desires of our heart), apply, appoint, assign, or direct" the desires of our heart.

A picture of what it could look like to delight ourselves in the Lord is when Mary sat quietly at Jesus' feet to hear what he had to say (Luke 10:39-42). Sitting quietly at His feet and listening for His directives is some of the best preparation we're ever going to have for whatever work He calls us to do.

In Psalm 1, verses 1-3, it's written, "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper."

So, delighting in the Lord is about making sure we're giving the Lord a higher priority than any dream or vision we may have in our hearts. Our relationship with Him and honoring His Ways must always come first. He may decide to rework our dream or vision, or He may leave it as it is and open doors and guide us there. Either way, we have to trust Him and recognize He's going to do what's in our best interest. 

Let's Pray

Lord,
Thank you for the blessing of being able to be in a relationship with you and delight myself in you. Please help me to never take that for granted. Please also help me keep the right perspective and remember that you're The Dream Maker, The Dream Giver, The Dream Granter, and sometimes The Dream Reviser. No matter what, you always have my best interest at heart.  
In Jesus name,
Amen. 

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3. Write the Vision and Make it Plain

The prophet Habakkuk was determined that he was going to watch and wait to see what the Lord would say to him. Then, when the Lord was ready to speak, He told Habakkuk to "Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it." (Hab 2:1-2) 

Strong's Concordance says the word "write" can also mean engrave and can also imply describe or record. 

Taking the time to journal about the dreams that God has placed on our hearts helps us to stay focused and eventually make it happen. Life can be crushing sometimes, and not everyone is going to be supportive of us walking out the dream that God has for us. Being able to go back to what we've written out can be a way to encourage ourselves. Having it written out can help us to effectively cast the vision to others and build a team we may need. Finding other Christians with similar interests and then gathering occasionally can help cultivate mutual encouragement and offer a way to help each other along in the journey.

Let's Pray

Lord,
As the new year approaches, thank you for the gift of fresh vision. Thank you also for orchestrating my circumstances in such a way that every need would be met and I'd be able to connect with like-minded Christians so that we can encourage each other in our respective visions and help each other along.
In Jesus name,
Amen. 

Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Barbara Lorena Vergara