“Pastor, what is the first thing I must do to be sure of success this year?”

So yesterday I taught you the need to speak into your year using God’s word. If you do that coupled with hardwork, then you’re on your way to success.

However, it’s important to know that God also has a program or agenda for His people. And according to Amos 3:7, God will not do anything except he reveals it first. The moment He reveals it to you, it becomes a prophetic word you should run with.

For instance, 1 Corinthians 2:9 is a familiar scripture. It says “Eyes have not seen nor ears heard, neither has it entered the heart of man the things that God has reserved for them that love Him”. This year, God told me that His program for me is to walk in unthinkable heights, and that was the exact scripture He gave me.

The thing about prophetic scriptures or prophetic agendas is that it also reveals something you must do to see the manifestation of what God said. In my case, according to that scripture, if I become more delebrate about loving God, then I will walk in unthinkable heights.

Even before you start setting goals, first receive a prophetic word from the Lord that guarantees your success this year. Through the prophetic word, my priority in the list of my goals for the year is to be more delebrate about loving God. But you see, I may not have had such a goal if I didn’t receive a prophetic word from God.

Honestly, I wonder how people venture into a year without a prophetic word from God. It’s far easier to run your life based on God’s program than to just be quoting random scriptures. Isaiah 43:18-19 says something very striking about this:

Isaiah 43:
18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

Did you see “neither consider the things of old”? While you may want to explain that to mean you shouldn’t worry about the past, it also unveils the strategy to beginning a new thing. Don’t run 2023 with 2022’s prophetic word. Some of you didn’t even receive a prophetic word from the Lord for 2022, and that’s why it probably felt like God was not on your side all through that year. Running the affairs of your life based on God’s program should be your priority for leaving. This is what makes the difference between Christians. While one just quotes random scriptures, the other one quote scriptures based on a prophetic program. No wonder Apostle Paul told Timothy to war a good warfare with the prophecy which was spoken unto him.

Last year may have been good for you, but don’t consider that result a priority to run this year. Verse 19 says, “Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?”. So God is set to do a new thing, but the only condition is that you have to know it. Yes, you have to know it, no guess works!

So what has God told you about this year? This is why most people go on a retreat towards the end of a year or at the beginning of the new year, just to receive a word from the Lord.

I started practicing this about 6 years ago, and I can tell you that the last 6 years has been my best years as a Christian.

And hey, just in case you don’t know how to hear from God yourself, ask your pastor what God has spoken concerning your church this year. I’m not sure there’s any church that doesn’t release a prophetic word for each year. For instance, asides what God told me personally, I attend Winners Chapel, and our prophetic word for the year is, “COVENANT HIGHWAYS”. Hallelujah!

So when I set goals, I set goals with this in mind. And when I pursue those goals, I pursue them on covenant highways.

I know this is totally against the success principles you’ve been taught, but trust me, a success principle that God is not the first point will fail you.

If you’ve participated in my mentorship courses, no matter what I teach you, I’d teach you God first. And that’s because I can only preach what I practice. I’m not sure the other principles will work without God. It is the Spirit that quickens, the flesh profits nothing!

I hope this has brought enlightenment to someone.

Remain ever blessed, in Jesus precious name!

#EmekaAnslem