Start Your Year with Listening

As we come into this new year, I (like many of us) am tempted to rush to make new goals, set new plans, and overachieve as though a simple turning of a date on the calendar can somehow make me a whole new and different person.

At the same time, this time of year provides a natural reset of school semesters, annual goals, and rhythms, and thus, it can be a great time to slow down, reflect, and listen.

This year, I am encouraged by the story of Jesus’ baptism. Before he sets out to do any ministry, he hears a clear word from heaven — “This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).

Jesus starts his ministry not with setting goals, fancy vision statements, resolutions, or human effort; he begins his ministry by listening to the voice of his Father.

Even though I love setting goals and growth, my main contention with New Year’s resolutions is that they put us in the driver's seat of our lives — how do we want to grow? What do we want to accomplish?

The problem with this is that for followers of Jesus, we are no longer the leaders of our lives — Jesus is. Setting our own goals without God not only betrays our primary allegiance to follow Jesus, it also robs us of our birthright in the kingdom of God to partner with God to see heaven come to earth.

God wants to bring heaven to earth through you this year, and this begins not with striving, setting goals, or performing our way into destiny — it begins with listening.

Dallas Willard has said that the kingdom of heaven is “the range of [God’s] effective will, where what he wants done is done.”

In other words, heaven comes when we hear God and respond. This is how we partner with God to bring heaven to earth.

Hearing God for the New Year

I want to propose six ways we can listen to the voice of God as we reflect on 2025 and plan for 2026.

1. Events

When Jesus begins his ministry in Mark, he says, “the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the good news” (Mark 1:15). The kingdom of Godcomes in the fullness of time. The kingdom of God breaks into time and history itself. For us, this is good new: it means that the kingdom of God comes in the real events of our lives. (Elsewhere, we have called these kairos moments.) In the words of Paula D’Arcy, “God comes to you disguised as your life.” Sometimes, listening to God can look like simply looking at the events of our lives to see how God is coming to us. As you look back over 2025, what are the top 10 events — positive or negative — that shaped your year? I often find it’s helpful to look through my photos from the year and start to write out my top 10 events in a notebook.

2. Scripture

St Ambrose famously said, “As in Paradise, God walks in Scripture, seeking man.” Are there any ways that God has spoken to you through the pages of Scripture in 2025? Are there any particular verses, stories, or even phrases that resonated with you more than others this year? Are there any sermons or teachings that particularly resonated, and what was the text of Scripture they were based on?

3. Others

The New Testament consistently affirms that we cannot hear God in isolation. God places us in kingdom families where we have the great privilege of listening to God together. This past year, where have others spoken life into you, affirmed you, challenged you, or shared prophetic words with you? Are there any words or sentences spoken by others that are still echoing in your heart? Are there places of strength or gifting that others have affirmed? Are there areas of weakness that others have challenged? Have you receieved any prophetic words that have brought life or hope?

4. Still, Small Voice

Elijah tried to hear God in the fire and in the earthquake, but he could not. Instead, God spoke to him in the still, small voice — a whisper (1 Kings 19:11-13). Sometimes, God shouts, but most of the time, the voice of the Spirit is a gentle nudge, a prompting, or an internal sense that God is speaking something. (If you don’t already know, we mad a whole prayer journal to help people lean into hearing the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit.) Are there any ways that you have heard the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit this year? Are there any nudges, promptings, or senses of guidance that you have received from the indwelling Holy Spirit that still feel significant at this moment? If you keep a journal, this is a great time to go back through and see if you notice any trends, themes, or highlights about the ways God spoke to you throughout the year!

5. Dreams

God loves to dream through us. As Lou Engle often says, “God had a dream and wrapped it in a body.” In Ephesians, Paul talks about the inheritance that we all have in the kingdom of God, and the good works that God has prepared for us to step into. I firmly believe God puts dreams on the inside of us, like seeds, that are his way of planting our kingdom inheritance inside of us — the unique way that God has wired us to bring heaven to earth. When was the last time that you listened to your dreams and longings? At the end of 2025, are there any dreams for the future that feel particularly resonant?

6. The Gospel

The Gospel is more than a message — it is a way of life. Jesus said that those who wish to follow him must take up their cross daily. Paul envisions everything through the lens of the death and resurrection of Jesus — his own life and the lives of the communities he is writing to. I love to reframe the three major events of the Gospel narrative as questions through which to view my year: (1) Good Friday — What died in 2025? What mindsets, relationships, places, ideals, or dreams do I need to grieve and/or let go of? (2) Silent Saturday — Where am I still waiting for resurrection? What is still in the confusing middle? Where have I not seen redemption yet? (3) Resurrection Sunday — What was born this year? What new ideas, places, relationships, or dreams are shimmering with the light of God as I step into 2026?

Putting It All Together…

If you have listened to God in all of these areas, you might find yourself moved in many different directions. The great privilege of the kingdom of God is that by repenting and believing, by listening and obeying, we can follow Jesus and play our part in seeing heaven come to earth. I invite you to ask these three summary questions to put this all together and to take your next step of obedience this year:

• If you had to name 2025 as a chapter in your story, what would it be called? Do you have a sense of what the name of 2026 might be?

• As you look at your answers to the previous questions, where are you feeling the presence of God? Where does your heart burn within you?

• What is the next step?

I hope this was helpful. If I can pray for you in any way as we step into 2026 together, please don’t hesitate to hit “reply” and let me know.

Best,
Ryan