The beginning of a new year brings the excitement and anticipation of a fresh start. Yet, with the slate wiped clean, most people choose to recycle old goals and resolutions, such as:
- Eat healthier and workout more
- Make more money
- Travel to new places
- Live on a budget and build a savings fund
- Meet new friends
- Find Love
These are great ambitions, and you can find them at the top of most New Year’s Resolutions lists. However, very rarely do these old standbys make it past the end of January.
Many blame a lack of focus, discipline, and priorities for the demise of their resolutions and goals. However, I’ve come to realize that even the most focused and disciplined person can struggle to achieve their goals when they are not based on God’s vision and plan for their lives.
When we choose to follow the pattern of setting standard resolutions instead of seeking God’s vision, we end up frustrated and disappointed, even if we manage to accomplish the goals we set.
Get God’s Vision For Your Life
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord. -Jeremiah 29:11
When we allow God to infuse His vision into our resolutions, we dream bigger and better dreams. And, we have real hope in seeing those dreams become real in our lives.
If you want to experience and enjoy God’s best plans, I encourage you to align your hopes and dreams with God’s vision.
Step 1: Pray
How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” -Isaiah 30:19
If you want to get God’s vision for your life, you must go to the Source. Practically speaking, this involves two things: asking and listening.
Ask God what He wants for you in every area of your life—your health, your career/business, your relationships, your money, and most importantly, your relationship with Him. Make your prayer specific and ask God to show you a crystal-clear picture of each area of your life.
Once you’ve made your request to know God’s vision for your life, listen. Reserve quiet time to clear your mind and heart so that you will be able to hear God’s response. Stay in prayerful awareness throughout your day.
As you pray and listen, God’s vision will come to you through inspired thought or inspiration from others. The Spirit that’s within you will bring forth dreams, goals, desires, hopes, and ambitions that reflect God’s vision for your life.
Step 2: Write
Then the Lord replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.
-Habakkuk 2:2 NIV
When you receive the vision God has for you, write it out with as much vivid detail as you can. Think about a movie. Think about the way writers, producers, and directors work together to create emotion and feeling when you’re watching a movie. They don’t leave any detail out—from the sound and the background to the visuals and the way the characters speak, every detail comes together to create a vivid scene. That’s the way you want to write your vision. Use all five senses.
What do you see?
What do you smell?
What do you hear?
What do you taste?
What do you feel?
Write it all down with this amazing 28 Journal & Prayer Prompts.
Step 3: Act
Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. -John 13:17
God’s vision for your life should not just be written down; you must act on it. Way too many people get excited about the dreams and visions God gives to them but then do nothing else. Their visions sit in their journals or on vision boards, day after day…month after month…year after year.
If you want to manifest God’s vision for your life, resolve to take action every day. Whether it’s a giant leap forward or a tiny baby step, each move you make brings you closer to the life God wants for you.
My Prayer for You…
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you
the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the
eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he
has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his
incomparably great power for us who believe. -Ephesians 1:17