Blessed New Year. As we dive into 2025, many of us are setting goals and dreaming big—but let’s not forget the world is still full of challenges and people in need of hope. This year, let’s focus on aligning our plans with God’s purposes, serving others, and sharing his love in a world that’s waiting to see it.

In today’s edition:

• David’s challenge for you this year

• Luther’s land still needs prayer

• ¡Viene algo bueno!

2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣5️⃣: MORE THAN EVER BEFORE

Over the first couple of weeks this year, I have spoken to multiple incredible gatherings of 18-25 year-olds, and I wish you could see what I have seen. As I have walked onto stages at a Cru Conference in metro Washington, D.C., the Cross Conference in Louisville, KY, and a Great Commission Conference in Southern California, I have seen thousands of 18-25 year-olds sitting on the edge of their seats, Bibles in hand, eager to listen, ready to take notes, and hungry to feast on God’s Word. At the Cross Conference, I preached a 50-point sermon on the Holy Spirit (yes, that’s 5-0!), and it was nothing short of awesome to see a crowd of 15,000 girls and guys in front of me locked in for the entire journey. In similar settings, I’ve seen students standing with their arms raised when the Bible is being taught, sometimes even standing on chairs with zeal for God’s Word. And even though it’s a little distracting in the room, it’s absolutely worth it!

I hope this encourages you to hear how God is moving in the next generation. At the same time, I hope this encourages you to hunger for God’s Word in the same way. Remember when God said these words to his people in Deuteronomy 6:5-7:

⁵ You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

As we know from Jesus, this is the most important commandment in all of the Bible. Then God says right after this:

⁶ And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

See this picture of a people whose lives and relationships with each other are saturated with God’s Word. They love it (i.e., it’s on their hearts). And they talk about it all the time. I pray these verses over us: that God would raise us up across every generation in the church to love his Word and talk about it all the time!

As we begin 2025, I want to challenge you to experience God’s Word this year more than you ever have before. This will take intentionality. In other words, experiencing God’s Word doesn’t happen accidentally. So what practical steps can you take this year to experience God’s Word more than you ever have before?

 You could:

• Identify a plan for reading through the Bible (or parts of it) this year. It’s not too late to start. For example, the church family I help lead is reading through the entire Bible together using the Read Scripture app.

• Utilize Pray the Word to supplement your Bible reading. My whole purpose for doing this daily podcast is to help you meditate on and pray according to Scripture in ways that God promises to answer. In 2025, Pray the Word is following the Read Scripture Bible reading plan, though you certainly don’t have to follow that plan in order to be helped by this podcast.

• Journal as you meditate on God’s Word. Even if you only write down a sentence or two of prayer and reflection each day, what a gift it will be to have a journal from a year’s worth of Bible reading by December of this year.

• Walk through God’s Word with others. In addition to our church family, Heather and our kids (the ones who can read) use the same Bible reading plan, providing all kinds of opportunities for discussion, encouragement, and ways to pray for each other when we’re together for family worship at night. It is helpful in so many ways to have others (family, friends, church members, etc.) who are reading through the same Scripture as you are each day.

• Make an intentional plan for how you’re going to memorize Scripture this year. Again, ask others to join you in such a way that you’ll be able to encourage each other.

So what is God calling you to do? I am sure you have a lot of things going on, but I want you to pause right now and answer this question:

What specific, practical steps is God calling me to take to experience his Word this year more than ever before?

I guarantee you will not regret answering this question and then doing whatever God calls you to do. I don’t know all that will happen in your life in 2025. And neither do you. But I do know that you will not regret having the Word of God in your heart (and all that flows from it – his love, his strength, his peace, his joy, his wisdom, his hope, his help, and on and on) no matter what comes your way.

— David Platt

🇲🇦 The gospel is spreading again in one of the strongest Islamic strongholds today.

The Middle East and North Africa may be known as the Muslim World, but Morocco tells us a different story.

The Details: As a melting pot of cultures and religions for centuries, Morocco has always been a crossroads between Europe, Africa, and the Middle East as an immigration hub. Around the 7th century, the Arab Conquests came to Morocco. The word Islam means “submission to the will of God,” and soon after the Arab conquests, Moroccans were forced to submit to Islam.

The Takeaways: Even though Morocco’s population is 99% Sunni Muslim, the gospel is spreading in one of the strongest Islamic strongholds today. When we look at Morocco, we are reminded that not everyone in the Middle East is Arab, and not everyone is Muslim. With so many people from different backgrounds and religions crossing through Morocco, we can pray for believers to come to Morocco and share the gospel. And since we know that not all are far from the gospel here, we can pray that more may join the family of Christ—a family filled with all peoples, cultures, and tongues.

Next Steps: Watch “The Untold Story of Christianity in Morocco” to learn more! 🎥

🫱🏼‍🫲🏽 Who is helping you follow Jesus and make him known?

I bet a lot of people reading this right now have a list of goals they want to accomplish this year. And, maybe, some of these goals focus on growing in faith. Goals like praying more, reading Scripture more, sharing the gospel more.

More often than not, these goals can seem hard, if not impossible, to achieve. How do we even start?

That’s where biblical accountability plays a vital role.

Scripture reminds us of the beauty and necessity of friendships centered around Christ. We see this when Jesus asked the disciples to stay up with him and pray with him in the Garden of Gethsemane. We see this when we read about how Timothy and Paul partnered together to spread the gospel and encouraged and strengthened one another.

A Christlike friend isn’t here just for all the highs and fun moments. A Christlike friend is here to pray for you, to call you out of sin, to encourage you, to help you become more like Christ, and to remind you of God’s promises.

"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity,” (Proverbs 17:17). 

We aren’t meant to do this life alone. God has lovingly given us a community—brothers and sisters in Christ. So, who is in your corner cheering you on to become more like Jesus and to make Christ’s name known in your neighborhood and in the nations? 

— Selah Lipsey

🇩🇪 Luther’s land still needs prayer

Despite being the country where Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses, Germany has a very small Christian population today. 

Only about 26% of the German population identifies as Protestant, but far less regularly go to church. The influx of immigration has led to the rise of other religions in Germany like Islam. Furthermore, over 35% of Germans identify as atheist or agnostic. In fact, Berlin has been known as the atheist capital of Europe. Looking back at historical influences, many families in Eastern Germany consist of generations of atheists due to the state-sponsored atheism during the Soviet Union rule.

How to Pray: As we consider the little Christian population and gospel presence, we can pray for Germans to hear the gospel, for disciples to be made, and for healthy churches to be planted. Since Germany has immigrants from all over the world, we can pray that German believers may reach the nations in their own country with the gospel. Furthermore, while loneliness is pervasive in Germany, we can pray that Germans may turn to Christ instead of sinful addictions for true hope, salvation, and peace.

📍 Attention Worthy

• ¿Hablas español? Our first video in Spanish comes out next Tuesday! Subscribe to our YouTube Channel and turn on notifications to watch it as soon as it comes out.

• Never forget: Sola Scriptura—Scripture as our final and only infallible authority—and how it protects us against more than we think.

• Some missionaries are tempted to bypass cross-cultural training due to the urgency of the mission. While such training takes time, consider why it can be so important in the long run.

THIS WEEK’S COLLABORATORS:

Selah Lipsey, Steven Morales, Jairo Namnún, David Platt, Camille Suazo

MAKE YOUR LIFE COUNT!