Question: I want to be closer to God in 2025 than I was in 2024. What tips can you provide to help me in my walk with God?
Happy New Year to you, dear reader.
Starting a new year with God requires intentionality, prayer, and alignment with His Word. The Bible provides several steps to ensure you begin the year spiritually focused and in God’s will. Here are some key steps to take in 2025, along with supporting Scriptures:
1. Reflect on God’s Faithfulness
Take time to reflect on the past year, thanking God for His faithfulness, provision, and protection. Gratitude is a powerful way to start the year.
- Psalm 103:2: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.”
- Lamentations 3:22-23: “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”
2. Seek God’s Guidance
Pray for divine wisdom and direction in 2025. Commit your plans to God and trust Him to establish your steps.
- Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
- Psalm 32:8: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.”
3. Spend Time in God’s Word
Prioritise studying and meditating on Scripture to grow spiritually in 2025. God’s Word is the foundation for making godly decisions and living a victorious life.
- Joshua 1:8: “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”
- Psalm 119:105: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
4. Dedicate the Year to God Through Prayer and Fasting
Start the year with prayer and fasting to align yourself with God’s purposes and to seek His presence more deeply. As the Holy Spirit leads, engage in regular fasting this year 2025 to make your prayers more effective.
- Joel 2:12: “Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
- Matthew 6:17-18: “But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”
5. Set Spiritual Goals
Establish goals in 2025 that prioritise your relationship with God, such as growing in prayer, serving in ministry, spending less time on social media but giving more time reading and meditating on scripture. Share the Gospel more this year to family, friends and unbelievers.
- Philippians 3:13-14: “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
- 2 Peter 3:18: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.”
6. Confess and Repent of Sin
Begin the year with a clean heart by confessing and repenting of any sin. Ask God for forgiveness and seek to walk in holiness this year.
- 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
- Psalm 51:10: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
7. Walk in Faith and Trust God for the Year Ahead
Step into the new year with faith in Christ Jesus, believing that in 2025 God has good plans for your life.
- Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
- Hebrews 11:6: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
8. Commit to Serving God and Others in 2025
Resolve to serve God faithfully first and foremost and also to love and serve others. This is a reflection of Christ’s love and an essential part of our Christian walk.
- Matthew 22:37-39: “Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
- 1 Peter 4:10: “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”
9. Cultivate a Heart of Praise and Worship
Praise and worship to God Almighty should be central in your life in 2025. This invites God’s presence and power into your circumstances.
- Psalm 67:5-6: “Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. Then the earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us.”
- Psalm 34:1: “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
10. Be a Blessing to Others Through Giving
Do not be stingy towards God or man, in the year 2025. Commit to being generous and sharing God’s blessings with others, both in the church and beyond.
- 2 Corinthians 9:7: “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”
- Proverbs 11:25: “The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself.”
Conclusion
By taking these steps dear reader, you can start the new year grounded in your relationship with God and positioned for spiritual growth in 2025. Dedicate your plans, time, and heart to Him, and trust that He will lead and bless you as you walk faithfully in His will.
I pray that God will make your life and all that concerns you in the year 2025, a glorious wonder to the world, in Jesus Name. Amen. Shout, “Hallelujah!”
Altar call: For anyone reading this article who is not saved and wants to be part of the family of God or you want to re-dedicate your life back to Jesus, please repeat this out loud. “Lord Jesus, I acknowledge that I have sinned against you. Lord Jesus forgive me of my sins. I repent of my sins. Lord Jesus come into my life and be my Lord now and forever in Jesus Name
