At this time of year, I always ask the Lord for a prophetic word to focus on for the next 12 months. Over the last few weeks, I’ve had the sense that the Lord is encouraging us that faithfulness is leads to fruitfulness. 

For some of us, we have been faithful to Jesus and to what he has asked us to do for a long time. We have been patient; there been some things he’s asked us to do, things he has asked us to lay down for a season and for others some difficult seasons he’s asked us to walk through. The difficulties may have lasted a few months, while for others it has been a few years, a decade or even longer. The obedience has been costly, we have had to leave behind everything that we once knew; it has changed our world view, our circle of friends, and even our values. This is because the Lord has been realigning our us to match up with his values and his will for our lives. We have been in transition between the old and the new seasons. 

I sense that the Lord is reminding us of the vision he gave us many years ago. It is time to get that vision out and begin to pray into it. 2026 is the beginning of a season where prayers and dreams that we had years ago will now begin to flourish. Prayers that we had forgotten about or let go of will now seem relevant. Seeds of hope planted in previous seasons will begin to flourish and grow. 

Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV)

13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

The long season of faithfulness and obedience is leading to fruitfulness. This is a season of reward and forward movement. There will be answers to prayers that we’ve been praying for a long time. There will be rewards for walking the narrow path with Jesus, for being diligent and sticking at what he’s asked us to do even when it’s been difficult and tough. 

Everything that we have been through will suddenly begin to make sense will seem worth it. There will be great understanding of seasons past and the learning and preparation that has come from those situations. Rejoice that this year faithfulness is leading to fruitfulness.

It’s that time when I ask the Lord for a prophetic word to focus on for the year. There has been a recurring theme over the last few weeks of new thing and newnessthis has been echoed in a Bible verse that I have received many times, Isaiah 43:18-19:

18 Forget the former things;
    do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland.

I sense that 2025 is a year to let go of the past and embrace the new things that the Lord is bringing to our attention. The time of dismantling that has taken place over the last 5 years is over; it’s been a period of preparation and training for what’s to come. There are new projects, adventures, places and people coming to us. A time of opportunity and creating something new. Not rebuilding things from the past, but building from scratch; something fresh and much needed for a generation who have walked through a tough season. We will be anointed with a creativity that connects with those who are ready to hear the gospel, that speaks truth and love, and brings lasting change. 

These new opportunities will spring up from nowhere, but we will need to be focused on God so that we see what he is doing. A deeper relationship with the Lord is needed, so that we aren’t sidetracked by distractions. It’s easy to go off course when everything seems exciting and different. 

In verse 18 of the Isaiah passage, we are reminded to forget the former things. If we cannot let go of the past, we will struggle to walk into our future. There may be things holding us back that we aren’t aware of, so it’s important to ask the Lord what needs to be left in the past. By letting go of things that are no longer fruitful, there is room for God to work in our lives and situations so that he can bring the new. 

And finally, verse 19 reminds us that the Lord creates a way where we cannot see a way forward. He creates a path through the mess and rubble of our lives to bring us the new things he has planned for us. No situation is too hard for him to bring change. This means that we need to be open to what the Lord has for us and open to the change. It may come in ways that we don’t expect, it may not look the way we think it should, but it will bring the newness we desire and lead us into greater things. So this year, step into the new…

A Prophetic Word For 2024: Let Loose 

Every December I ask the Lord for a word or theme for the coming year; something that will focus my thoughts and prayers as I cross over into the new. This year the Lord gave me a prophetic word not just for me but for many others too. As always do prayerfully weigh up this word and test it.  

Many of us have had a difficult season over the last few years; we have watched the death of dreams and hopes, lost relationships, and let go of career, business and job aspirations and taken unplanned detours. For me, this has been a ten year journey of transition between the old and new seasons, walking an unknown path and leaving behind things that I hoped for. However, the Lord often asks us to surrender to his will and let go of things that are no longer fruitful so that he can prepare us for the new season ahead, and ultimately new, greater fruitfulness. We have found ourselves in constrictive situations where our callings have been limited for a season, but this been part of the preparation. The last season has felt like death as we have been deeply pruned, we have laid low in the grave waiting for our resurrection.  

In September last year, I felt the Lord say that the season of death was coming to an end and that I would be “let loose” from the pruning and preparation. Let loose is quite an old-fashioned way of saying set free or released. It reminded me of the story of Lazarus in John 11 where Jesus brings raises him from the dead, “Loose him, and let him go” (verse 44); in other words, step out of the grave clothes and live again. I believe this is a powerful call to many of us to rise out of our dead situations and live again.  

I have been waiting for many years to see God move in certain areas of my life, and I believe that the season of God’s wonder working power is here. Just as Jesus said “Lazarus come out”, he is also speaking resurrection life to us. For Mary and Martha, their life with their brother had become a dead dream, but Jesus brought that dream back to life. I believe that Jesus is releasing resurrection power to bring dead dreams and hopes back to life for his glory. Everything in our lives can be transformed by a miracle that reveals who God is to those around us.  

God is calling us out of the tomb, and to thrive as he resurrects our dreams and hopes. He is letting us loose to do the things that he has called us to do. Now is the time to be free, now is the time to be LET LOOSE.  

I’ve been pondering on a word for the coming season and something that has come up again and again is the word JOY! We’ve all been through a difficult couple of years and now I sense that it is time to live with good expectation for the coming year. The things that have been stalled, damaged or robbed from us will be restored by the Lord. It’s a season of JOY! We are now in the first season of a new era. I asked the Lord to confirm this word and earlier today as I walked into Primark, the first thing I saw was this ornament. It was the last one on the shelf and it had no price: it was priceless! In the end the manager sold it to me for 50p! In reality, JOY is priceless and that’s want the Lord wants to give us this year; his priceless JOY.

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