As we go into 2024, have you thought about what you want the Lord to do in your heart and character?

Many people like to make goals for the new year, and that’s a good thing. I enjoy doing that myself. But “goals” are usually task-oriented. They involve things like cleaning out the linen closet, running a half-marathon, or simply escaping from the kids for an occasional haircut. 🙂

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But what about heart work and heart change, and the ways in which you want the Lord to transform your character?

Aren’t those kinds of things the most important? Indeed they are. So, today I want to challenge you to pick a few things (not everything, as God is more of a slow surgeon than He is a “minute clinic”) to pray about regarding your character, and focus on them for all of 2024.

Here are a few of the things I’m asking the Lord to do in my heart in 2024:

1. to help me slow down and rest more. (I believe that 2024 is The Year of Slow.) I’m asking the Lord to help me trust in Him while I obey His command to enter into His rest without ever leaving that rest;
2. to help me learn to be content in whatever state I am (see Philippians 4:11);
3. for a greater revelation of, belief in, and experience of His “exceeding abundantly” (see Ephesians 3:20);
4. to have more grace and appetite for long periods of prayer;
5. for greater revelation that He is no respecter of persons. What He has done for others, He can and will do for me;
6. to develop a more passionate heart of worship than I have ever had before.

These are just a few ideas. But to help you, below are additional examples of things you could ask the Lord to do in your heart. These are ideas that may inspire your own personal prayers.

You could ask the Lord:

1. to help you grow in honor towards others;
2. to help you speak your spouse’s “love language” with greater fluency;
3. to help you grow in your love-walk in general;
4. for a greater capacity to dream;
5. for increased skill in discerning the many ways God speaks;
6. for a greater unction to fast and pray;
7. to teach you how to make disciples as Jesus made disciples;
8. to give you wisdom to lead His great people;
9. for greater infilling of His sevenfold Holy Spirit — the Spirit of the Lord/Yahweh, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord (see Isaiah 11:1–2);
10. to help you not speak anything evil about any person;
11. to make you more trustworthy in His sight;
12. for a greater compassion for those in need;
13. to give you the tongue of the learned, so that you might speak a word in season to those who are weary;
14. for eyes to see God, ears to hear God, and a nose to smell His fragrance;
15. to help you love what He loves and hate what He hates;
16. to help you love righteousness and hate lawlessness;
17. for an increased revelation of eternity;
18. for a greater passion for the lost;
19. for Him to order your steps in His Word;
20. for a greater grace to love your enemies, to bless those who curse you, and to pray for those who despitefully use you;
21. for His daily conviction and help to not be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is His good and acceptable and perfect will in your life (see Romans 12:1–2).

Friend, these types of things are not glamorous. They aren’t on anyone’s Top 10 Ways to Live Your Best Life Now list.

Nevertheless, in God’s realm, they truly are how to get to your best life now. These types of things are all aspects of being conformed to the image of Jesus. And that is what life is all about.

Goals for 2024 are well and good, and I highly recommend you set some. But more than that, I encourage you today to get alone with the Lord and talk to Him about your heart.

• Ask Him to show you what He needs you to work on in 2024.
• Ask Him to help you with the things you also desire Him to do in your heart and character this upcoming year.
• And write down what you decide on, continuing to pray over those specific heart issues all year.

Friend, if you will prioritize praying about your heart and character, giving these things the same weight and importance that God places on them, you can see your life improved fast. Why? Because everything we experience in visible manifestation is simply the outflow and overflow of what is inside us. If we will place first things first, seeking God first, and His righteousness, all these things will be added to us.

What is the Holy Spirit speaking to your heart about how He wants to transform you in 2024? Share a comment below and inspire others!

Jamie Rohrbaugh is the founder and CEO of From His Presence. She is the author of Getting to Know the Sevenfold Holy Spirit, and she seeks to equip you to carry His manifest glory everywhere you go. Her resources have been published by YouVersion Bible Plans and in Charisma magazine, as well as on The Elijah List, Spirit Fuel, and various other ministry outlets. You can find free mentoring on her podcast, Take Your Territory with Jamie Rohrbaugh, which is available through your favorite podcast streaming app. Download her free prayer tool, Praying the Names of God: 555 Biblical Names of God and How to Use Them in Prayer and Worship, here. Photo Credit: MART PRODUCTION/Pexels via Canva Pro.