6 Key Strategies for a Successful Year

Although we are almost a month into the year 2024, we can still plan to have a successful year. Before the year started, God placed on my heart 6 key strategies we needed to accomplish all God has for us.

Step 1: Repent and turn from our wicked ways and come out of agreement with sinful things.

When we sin and agree with the enemy, it gives the enemy access to ruin our lives. Everything that God has meant for our good, the enemy will work to turn it for our bad, and he will succeed if we stay disconnected from God. If we want to accomplish all that God has for us, as well as ensure that the weapons formed against us will not prosper, we must continually repent for any wrongdoing we have caused or curse that is on our lives. Psalms 51 is a great example of a plea for forgiveness.

Step 2: Become rooted in God by reading God’s Word, praying and killing our flesh daily.

God describes His Word as a sword in Ephesians 6:17. His Word is also a part of the armour we as Christians are supposed to put on to fight the enemy. When the enemy comes to attack, we must use our Sword or God’s Word to ward him off. Furthermore, Galatians 5:24-25 (NLT) states that “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.” By killing our flesh, we become more like God and the more like God we are, the more God can use us. Additionally, by putting on God’s armour and killing our flesh, it is easier to discern when the enemy is trying to attack us. Song of Solomon 2:!5 (NLT) warns us to “Catch all the foxes, those little foxes, before they ruin the vineyard of love, for the grapevines are blossoming!” The grapevines, in this context, can be used as a metaphor for our destiny. If we allow things like procrastination, laziness, etc. to run rampant, it can negatively impact our God-given purpose.

Step 3: Ask God what are His plans for you.

If you are an avid reader of my blog, you know that 99.9% of the disappointments I faced in my life were due to the fact that I wanted God to cosign my plans instead of me following His. Matthew 6:33 (NLT) says: “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.” Moreover, Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT) instructs us to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.” God’s way is the best way. All we have to do is trust Him and His plans for us.

Step 4: HAVE FAITH!

Hebrews 11:1 (KJV) describes faith as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Therefore, most of the time, the goals and aspirations God put on our hearts won’t seem tangible; it may not even exist yet, but we serve a mighty and powerful God who can do all things, which means he can take the impossible and turn it into a possibility (Luke 1:37).

Step 4a: Don’t talk against yourself.

Proverbs 18:21 lets us know that there is power of life and death in the tongue, which means what we say carries weight. Therefore, in this season, we will NOT speak against ourselves. If we are believing God that we are the first millionaires in our families, we must stop saying we are broke. It could be the word curses we speak upon ourselves that keep us in the same cyclical loop.

Step 4b: Don’t let others talk against you.

In Luke 1, we are introduced to Elisabeth and Zacharias, the parents of John the Baptist. The angel, Gabriel, appeared to both parents and informed them that they would give birth to a child in their old age. Zacharias verbally doubted the words Gabriel spoke and as a result, was reprimanded with the curse of being mute until John the Baptist was born. God needed John to be born and did not need any doubts to interfere with His plans. Therefore, if someone speaks against what you are having faith for, rebuke them and verbally ascertain that you do not accept that ideology.

Step 4c: Everybody doesn’t need to know.

Honestly, this could be preventative to the issue in 4b, but not everyone needs to know what you are having faith for and what God has promised you. As shown in Luke 1, it can be someone close to you that has the potential to mess up your blessing. Furthermore, visit Genesis 37:5-11 to see another account of telling the wrong person the wrong information. Joseph told his brothers what God had showed him in a dream and as a result, he was sold into slavery. Therefore, before you blab to someone about your Godly dreams and aspirations, ask God if it’s acceptable to tell this person and use discernment.

Step 5: DO THE WORK! (I’m also talking to myself)

Year after year, I set goals without ever doing the work it requires to turn the goals into reality. The Bible warns us that “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:17, NIV). In other words, faith without works is DEAD. Therefore, if you want the dream, you must do the work to get there. Read the book. Write the business plan. Purchase the equipment. Work until the goal is reached.

Step 6: Trust God’s timing and keep working.

God reminds us in Isaiah 55:8 that His thoughts and His ways are not ours. He also encourages us in Jeremiah 29:11 that He has plans to prosper us. Therefore, we must believe that everything will work together for our good (Romans 8:28). It is easy to become discouraged and depressed when we believe that God isn’t answering our timeline, but if we remember the aforementioned scriptures, we can be assured that God’s promise will come to pass. Think of it like we are planting a tree. We couldn’t just cover it in dirt and expect it to produce a tree with fruit. No. We have to till the dirt, water the seed, remove the weeds that may grow in the area and more before a successful tree with fruit is bloomed. It’s the same with our dreams. We just have to work until something happens.