As we step into this new year, many people will set goals and make plans. However, it isn’t just about making New Year’s resolutions to do all the things we should’ve started or completed last year. For example, get out of debt, manage our finances better, lose weight, and get in shape, etc.
God has great plans for you this year. God wants us to seek Him in this new year to discover His plans and purposes for our lives, and the strategy to accomplish them, positioning us to advance His kingdom, defeat the enemy, and step into our destiny. We need godly wisdom to do this. Godly wisdom is the foundation of everything we need and is the master key to an abundant life. There is no substitute for wisdom!
Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding. Proverbs 4:7
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary[1] defines wisdom as the ability to discern inner qualities: insight, good sense, judgment; generally accepted belief; accumulated philosophical or scientific learning; a wise attitude, belief, or course of action; and the teachings of ancient wise men.
There is a wisdom of man and the world, which is sensual, demonic, fleshly, street wisdom, or God’s, which is spiritual wisdom. The world’s mindset is shaped by the accumulation of wisdom and knowledge, grounded in logic and reason. The wisdom of the world is foolishness with God (1 Corinthians 3:19-20). God’s wisdom is the application of the knowledge He shows us. Godly wisdom will always lead you to the right decisions and righteousness. Conversely, sin and unrighteousness will destroy your life.
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. James 3:13-17
We are not to be wise in our own eyes or arrogant in thinking we have all the answers, so we don’t ask Him. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).
One of the pillars of wisdom is humility (James 3:17). Humility is not focusing on us but on others, as we see in Philippians 2:1-4. The Apostle Paul goes on to tell us that we should have the same mind that was also in Christ Jesus, who humbled Himself, coming in the likeness of man, and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, God exalted Him and gave Him the name which is above every name (Philippians 2:5-11).
When we walk in wisdom and humility, we are quick to heed correction and follow instruction. Transformation comes from applying the revelation. We need to get our heart and soul wounds healed so we can walk in humility! Humility is a landing place for God’s favor and glory.
God speaks through levels of correction, learning wisdom, and humility:
- To our hearts through His Word:
- For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
We must open our hearts to believe and receive the grace God is imparting to us to change our lives.
- In our dreams
- For God may speak in one way, or in another, yet man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, while slumbering on their beds, then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction. In order to turn man from his deed, and conceal pride from man, he keeps back his soul from the Pit, and his life from perishing by the sword. Job 33:14-18
- Through someone else, such as friends, family, a sermon, a book, or a teaching, etc.
- God Himself by His Spirit, and even an audible voice
James 3 is the New Testament counterpart to the wisdom discussed in the Old Testament book of Proverbs. The book of Proverbs is a book of wisdom written by King Solomon after asking God for wisdom and knowledge to judge God’s people. God granted his request and also gave him riches, wealth, and honor, as none of the kings had before or would ever have again (1 Chronicles 1:7-12). According to the book of Proverbs, there are many benefits of following God’s wisdom. Walking in wisdom will release abundance and the favor of God.
Let’s look at the first few verses of this book, which tell us about its purpose:
The Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel: to know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding, to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity; To give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion—a wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, to understand a proverb and an enigma, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:1-7)
Jesus said about Himself in Matthew 12:42, that a greater than Solomon is here! Did you know that Jesus has been made wisdom for us?
But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God–and righteousness and sanctification and redemption–that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.” 1 Corinthians 1:27-30
The wisdom of God shows us how to live in accordance with a correct knowledge of God. Jesus is the wisdom of God, and we can see Jesus as He entirely is. He is the visible image of the invisible God. Jesus walked with the anointing of the seven-fold Spirit of God upon Him, and we carry the same anointing because, as born-again believers, He lives in us.
The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. Isaiah 11:2
So, how do we get Godly wisdom? First, we are to ask God for wisdom in faith, and He will give it to us liberally.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. James 1:5-8
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-9
Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. 1 John 5:14-15
Second, the Bible makes it clear that the beginning or starting point of knowledge and wisdom is the fear (or reverence) of the LORD.
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For by me your days will be multiplied, and years of life will be added to you.” Proverbs 9:10-11
When we fear or revere God, we put Him and His Word first, trusting and obeying Him and acknowledging what He says about Himself and His authority, which motivates us to act accordingly.
The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; pride and arrogance, and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate. Proverbs 8:13
The fear of the LORD conquers all other fears and brings them into submission, e.g., fear of man, fear of death, etc. God’s love replaces fear (2 Timothy 1:7; 1 John 4:9-10, 18).
The fear of the LORD gives us wisdom and knowledge; it guards and watches over us and delivers us from evil and the perverse man; it gives us strong confidence and refuge, and we avoid the snares of death; in other words, it provides protection and life. When we read, study, and meditate on His Word, we learn the fear of the LORD (Deuteronomy 17:14; 18-20; 31:10-12; Proverbs 2:9-12; 14:26-27). Thus, there are many benefits when the fear of the LORD is upon our lives.
Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You, which You have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence of the sons of men! Psalm 31:19
But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children. Psalm 103:17
Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones. Proverbs 3:7-8
We can see throughout the Scriptures that when there is no fear of God before their eyes, man is foolish, corrupt, commits abominable deeds, is deceitful, sheds blood, is miserable, and has no peace.
Wisdom is also a favor magnet! God’s favor is unearned, unmerited, and undeserved. Proverbs chapter 8 discusses the excellence of wisdom, and in reference to wisdom, Proverbs 8:35 says, “For whoever finds me (wisdom) finds life, and obtains favor from the LORD.”
We can see in the Scriptures that many received great favor as they walked in wisdom with the LORD, for example, Joseph, Daniel, David, Solomon, Moses, and Abigail.
Luke 2:52 says that “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature (or maturity), and in favor with God and man.” So that means we, too, can increase in wisdom and favor. Favor can promote us, bring breakthroughs and acceleration in our destiny, and bring new opportunities. The throne of grace is a throne of favor (Hebrews 4:16).
So, now let’s make some Decrees (say out loud) from the book of Proverbs:
Wisdom promotes me (4:8); Wisdom gives me favor (8:35), Wisdom gives me riches and honor (8:18; 23:5); Wisdom gives me peace and lengthens my days and life (3:2, 17), Wisdom gives me strength (8:14), Wisdom gives me good health (3:8), I walk in safety (1:33; 3:23), Wisdom gives me sweet sleep (3:24), Wisdom makes me happy (3:13, 18), Counsel is mine and sound wisdom (8:14). Wisdom gives me a crown of glory and places on my head an ornament of grace (4:9). I receive instruction, correction, and insight. I walk in the fear of the LORD. I walk in what heaven has already authorized!
There are too many scriptures in the Bible concerning wisdom to mention here. I encourage you to find more and meditate on them!
It is essential that, as we start 2026, we spend time with our heavenly Father and ask Him, by His Spirit, what we need to let go of to step into our new assignments and mantles. We need to ask God for His wisdom and the strategy to handle any circumstances we face, as we step into our calling and destiny this year.
When we seek the Lord at the beginning of the year, the enemy will try to flood our minds with too many options, leading to pressure, striving, and confusion. Sometimes, we don’t even start trying and fail before we begin. The enemy wants us to be overwhelmed, both physically and spiritually exhausted. But God wants us focused. He wants us to be refreshed and replenished.
Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:30-31
He gives us the strategies and steps to prioritize and maintain our spiritual strength daily with manageable, small steps of obedience.
The enemy may try to attack us with discouraging thoughts about our past, but we must not allow them to take root. We are not to revisit our past with regret, guilt, or shame. Anytime the Lord shows us our past, it is to reveal what He worked in and through us to bring us to the place we are currently at, which He has prepared for us. Momentum happens when we break agreements with the demons and voices in our heads and wrong thought patterns, demolishing them.
The enemy tries to wear us down through attrition (the action or process of gradually reducing the strength or effectiveness of someone or something through sustained attack or pressure)[2], so we stop moving forward. But a breakthrough comes from what we do consistently (Galatians 6:9). And the issue may not be that we lack the desire or discipline, but that we are under a demonic attack actively working against us. We put on the armor of God and, having done all, stand. We must have endurance. He is our strength! His endless supply of glorious riches strengthens us with power through His Spirit in our inner being (Ephesians 3:16).
The Word of God and the Holy Spirit are our source of power. We must speak forth the Word of God, for it is the source of all our victories and breakthroughs. God’s Word contains wisdom and strategies for our warfare, which the Holy Spirit will highlight to us as we meditate on the Word and ask Him.
We must ask the Holy Spirit, “What do we need to know?” and “How and what should we pray?” We must seek the Lord each time we come up against an adverse circumstance and ask who is behind it. We must seek the Lord whenever we face the enemy, because we need to use a new strategy against him each time (see 2Samuel 5:17-25). We are not to presume that we will do what we have done before.
We are not to use our own wisdom and come up with our own plans and solutions because that is pride and fleshly wisdom, which will not succeed in the end. So, we need a battle plan from God to step into the new year with strategies that lead to victory. We are to enforce the victory that Jesus has already won for us using the authority in His name.
Because we fight against spiritual enemies, not flesh and blood, we need spiritual insight from the Holy Spirit and spiritual weapons to fight with (Ephesians 6:10-18; 2 Corinthians 10:4-6). The battle is God’s, but we need to ask Him for the wisdom to carry out the battle plans since they may change with each circumstance or battle (1 Chronicles 14:8-17; 2 Chronicles 20:15-24). Therefore, seeking the Lord for answers and instructions is always wise. He gives remarkable results! We must redeem the time because the days are evil.
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Ephesians 5:15-17
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Matthew 10:16
The enemy is very strategic in his tactics against us (delay, disruption, deception, distraction, etc.), but God is greater. Therefore, we must tap into God’s strategy and use preemptive warfare. We don’t need to wait until the enemy attacks us. We have been given the keys to the kingdom of heaven and have the authority to close the doors the enemy has used in our lives before by binding enemy operations in the name of Jesus (Matthew 16:19).
Jennifer LeClaire explains in her recent YouTube video, “Don’t Let the Enemy Win This Year-Command Your 2026,” that one way we can do this is by commanding our morning and our year in accordance with God’s will.[3] When we command our year, it breaks and destroys the devil’s assignments.
We can walk into the new year using the authority Christ has given us over time, direction, outcomes, etc. We are setting spiritual parameters in the spirit realm by declaring and decreeing the Word of God (Job 22:28). Remember, God’s Word is His will, and He has given us authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and to have authority over all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19).
Our words are containers of power (Proverbs 18:21) and release faith. Jesus commanded all the time. He rebuked storms, sickness, etc., and commanded outcomes according to what He saw the Father do and expected heaven to back His Words. When we release the Word of God led by the Spirit of God, it will not return void; it will accomplish what it is sent forth to do (Isaiah 55:11). We must not be silent but decree heaven’s agenda so that the enemy cannot come in and set up his agenda.
When we allow Christ’s life to manifest in our lives, we are walking in wisdom.
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5
Our lives will manifest healing, prosperity, etc., when our words align with the Word of God, and we speak in faith when releasing them. That is why it is so important to spend time with the Holy Spirit and ask Him to reveal what that is.
It is vital that we also have a vision or a prophetic revelation for our year.
Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. Proverbs 29:18 KJV
Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction. Proverbs 29:18 NIV
We also need to use our prophecies. We can ask the Lord which prophetic words we have received need to be focused on, and fight the good fight of faith to bring them into His timing (1 Timothy 6:12). While waiting for God’s timing or release, we are to stay in prayer and expectation and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, obeying what He says.
Often, our response to these prophecies will determine their outcome, especially if they are directional. That is why we need the supernatural, prophetic wisdom of the Holy Spirit for them to come to pass.
The Holy Spirit can reveal wisdom to us through His gifts of prophecy and the Word of wisdom (1 Corinthians 12:7-10). He gives us wisdom by divine revelation that is an answer or solution for a particular problem within the plan, will, and purpose of God. A Word of wisdom speaks to the future and can be manifested through the vehicle of prophecy, as well as by a vision or dream, or may operate together with the Word of knowledge. When a Word of knowledge comes with instructions, it is a Word of wisdom.
Closing Prayers
For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, for all patience and long-suffering with joy. Colossians 1:9-11
I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. Ephesians 1:17-18
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scriptures marked KJV are taken from the KING JAMES VERSION (KJV): KING JAMES
VERSION, public domain.
Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. http://www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc. ™
[1] “wisdom,” Merriam-Webster.com.2020. https://merriam-webster.com (accessed 20 March 2020).
[2] Oxford Languages Dictionary by Google
[3] Jennifer LeClaire, “Don’t Let the Enemy Win this Year-Command Your 2026,” streamed January 2, 2026, YouTube.
Living the Abundant Life 