(Andrea’s Dad’s Bible pictured above)

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:1-5

As we begin a new year, we find ourselves returning to the beginning of all things. The opening chapter of John draws us into one of the most magnificent passages in Scripture, an epic prologue that reveals who God is and how He works. From the very beginning, God has operated through His Word. In Genesis, when God spoke, “Let there be light,” there was light. His Word is alive and active. The Word nourishes us (Matthew 4:4), enlarges our faith through hearing (Romans 10:17), blesses those who read and keep it (Revelation 1:3), and equips us for spiritual battle as the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). We are exhorted not to be merely hearers of the Word, but doers of it (James 1:22), and to hide God’s Word in our hearts so that we might not sin against Him (Psalm 119:11).

Scripture also reveals the deep affection God’s people have had for His Word and the seriousness with which they responded to it. While imprisoned, the apostle Paul asked Timothy to bring him his scrolls, especially the parchments, desiring the Word even in chains (2 Timothy 4:13). King Josiah, upon hearing the rediscovered Book of the Law, tore his clothes in grief and repentance, humbling himself before the Lord and turning the nation back toward obedience (2 Chronicles 34:14-33). The prophets Ezekiel and John were instructed to not only read the Word but eat the scroll (Ezekiel 3; Revelation 10)! These passages teach us that the Word must be internalized before it can be proclaimed. By extension, before the Word is spoken outwardly in prayer it must first be received inwardly. We are reminded that God is the Divine Architect, arranging and setting things into motion long before He invites us to pray. His Word always accomplishes the purpose for which it is sent (Isaiah 55:11).

The power of the Word to will and perfect all that concerns God was made visible in a tangible way this past November. While gathered on November 1, 2025, we sensed the Spirit drawing our hearts beyond our own nation. During that gathering, it became clear that we were being led to intercede for persecuted Christians in Nigeria and for the devastating genocide taking place in Sudan. From that time of prayer, we received clarity for our next gathering on November 8th, sensing that we were to go to the embassies in Washington, D.C., places that represent governments on U.S. soil.

As we walked and prayed on November 8th outside several embassies along DC’s Embassy Row, we were led to the Embassy of Croatia. There, we encountered a man standing before a sculpture of St. Jerome, one of the great fathers of the Church (AD 341-420), who devoted his life to Scripture and translated the Bible so that others could encounter the Word of God. The sculpture, created in 1954 by Croatian artist Ivan Meštrović, had been placed there decades before any of us were born. Long before our prayers, God had already prepared the setting. The man introduced himself as Ivica, a Croatian Christian who lives in London and works as a reporter with Arise News, an African news network. He shared that he had always desired to visit this sculpture and that, after seeing calls to address the persecution of Christians in Nigeria, he boarded a plane and came to Washington that very week to advocate for suffering believers and seek meetings with members of Congress. We stood in awe! We asked to pray with and for Ivica, asking God to open doors, grant favor, and create opportunities to engage members of Congress on behalf of persecuted Christians. As God had arranged it, Nicole was able to offer help in facilitating introductions through her professional network. Ivica then conducted an interview with U.S. Congressman Bill Huizenga concerning the attacks on Christians in Nigeria and the U.S. House resolutions introduced in Congress urging the Nigerian government be held accountable to prevent further atrocities.

Even as we gathered that day, the Spirit continued to guide. We received clarity for the next gathering on November 15th when Nicole received a long-awaited text message from the woman we had been praying for as she prepared for breast cancer surgery. One gathering revealed the next.

(Adelaide, Ivica, Andrea and Nicole in front of St. Jerome Sculpture on DC’s Embassy Row, November 8, 2025.)

As we look ahead to 2026, we desire to be prayer warriors who not only consume the Word of God, but who are consumed by the Word of God. To paraphrase Dietrich Bonhoeffer, we long to pray not out of the poverty of our own hearts, but out of the richness of God’s Word. We hold fast to this promise from Jesus: “If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). We also recognize that we are entering spiritual territory that requires heightened vigilance and the full armor of God. We commit to relying on the sword of the Spirit as we advance the kingdom of light and push back the kingdom of darkness in 2026. We pray boldly and with confidence that as God’s Word goes forth, light will expose darkness, humility will follow repentance, and hearts will turn back to Jesus.

As I prepared this blog post using my dad’s Bible, my heart was arrested when I turned to Revelation 3:20. Above this verse, the great invitation where Jesus stands at the door and knocks, I saw my dad’s handwriting with this declaration: “I have opened the door!” This is our hope and our prayer for 2026: That many would hear the knock of Jesus on their hearts, recognize His voice, and open the door to gladly receive Him. We are emboldened by Jesus standing in the synagogue, reading from the scroll of Isaiah, and declaring, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). With that same faith and dependence, we pray that as we align our prayers with God’s will and pray His Word by the power of the Holy Spirit, we too would witness its fulfillment to the Glory of Our Heavenly Father.

More of Him in 2026!

-Andrea