The Two things you have to do in 2023
I’m sure your list is long. The list of New Year resolutions. All the goals and aspirations that you may want to accomplish this year. We love a good New Year ambitious moment, right?
Let’s be real though. It’s going to come down to thinking smarter, not harder, in order to accomplish our goals. In this month, I would encourage you to do two things in effort to be practical about your goals. The first thing is that you construct a list of goals that you want to tackle this year. The second thing is that you construct a strategy of how you plan to accomplish those goals.
In this though, I want to offer you a plan that will ensure you are in the will of God for your life and strategic in going after the things of God, not the things of your flesh. The Bible says that some things only come by prayer and fasting(Mark 9:29). That, my friends, is your two-step plan for 2023. This plan, no matter what you are up against, is proven to yield sustainable results.
So let’s chat about prayer first. I think it’s crucial to immediately dismantle the idea that you can only pray about the “big” things in your life. This is a tactic from the enemy to keep you from praying about all aspects of your life. God desires for us, as His children, to come to Him about any and everything. Prayer should be a simple conversation with God. It shouldn’t be some daunting task that we feel intimated to do daily. God wants to speak to us! No matter what situation you find yourself up against, know that God wants to hear from you on it. So this year, make it your mission to take it to God in prayer. Yes that thing. Yep, that thing too. Take it ALL to God this year.
Now on to fasting. This one can be a bit more complex to tackle but honestly, that could be another tactic from the enemy. Fasting is something that is done, in it’s simplest form, to disconnect with the distractions of life in effort to get closer to God. Biblically, fasting is abstaining from food, for a certain period of time, to seek the will of God. I know with everything in our culture, fasting has been a bit distorted to fit the needs of the person. But newsflash friend, fasting should not be about our comfort. It’s actually about making us very uncomfortable for our good and for the glory of God.
Many pastors and leaders may tell you that fasting from tv or music is suitable. Although that is a good starting point, the biblical display of fasting is what will truly reveal the will of God for your life. Again, as the scripture states somethings only come about through prayer and fasting. So, I encourage you to fast this year. If you have never fasted before, that’s totally okay. We all have to start somewhere :) Maybe for you, you just start out with fasting for a few hours for one day. You can do a water fast where you only drink water for the duration of the fast. You can also do a dry fast where you don’t consume food or liquid for the entire duration of the fast. You can do a 1 day, 3 day, 7 day, 21 day, etc fast.Look at the book of Esther for the power of fasting. In Esther 4, we see she calls for a fast and in the following chapters we can see the result of that powerful fast. Also, we did an entire podcast episode on fasting titled Fasting 101, so you can check that out as well for helpful tips!
Literally , the beauty of fasting with God is that you are being led by God on how to do it. Be sensitive to His prompting on how He wants you to do it. Know that fasting won’t hurt you, when done right, your flesh will surely die! So for 2023, here’s to going after the things God has for us with intentionality. Set your goals and do it with God. Establish how this two part strategy for accomplishing those goals will be done in your life and watch what God does for you. I’m so excited for your testimony! Happy New Year!