Forty. As of tomorrow, November 22nd, we have 40 days left in this year.
Just how fast has this year gone by? Wasn&#8217;t it just Summer a few weeks ago, and now here we are with only 40 days left in the entire year?
2026 is a brand new year of life on it&#8217;s way to us. It&#8217;s filled with promise and potential and if you will be consistently available to God, he will fulfill you in ways you never imagined possible. But &#8230; we&#8217;re not there yet, my friends. It is not time to begin focusing on a new year, it&#8217;s time to finish this one right!
40 days separate us from this new year of life, and those 40 days matter significantly. God wants to prepare you, equip you and mold you in the next 40 days. Forty.
40 is a critical number in the Bible. 40 often represented new life, growth and transformation. God worked in the 40 to prepare a way for the future. God changed people in the 40. The preparation for a breakthrough of change happened in the 40.
My friends, that&#8217;s exciting!!!!! This 40 belongs to God and he&#8217;s preparing you for a new year of life in the next 40 days.
Jesus was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days by the devil. After that temptation, Jesus began his ministry on Earth and changed eternity.
It rained for 40 days, flooding the entire earth. All life outside of Noah&#8217;s ark was eliminated. Then the waters receded and life began again from only that which had been saved.
The giant Goliath taunted God&#8217;s people for 40 days. Then, the little shepherd boy David slays the giant with his slingshot and a rock and wins them victory and freedom.
How many days were between Jesus&#8217; crucifixion and his return to Heaven? 40!
Forty. Then, completion, then renewal, then victory.
In the next 40 days before 2026 comes, God wants to do a work in YOU! Will you partner with him in the transformational process that brings victory? Will you let him have his time and space in your life for the next 40 days?
What have your past 40 days been like? Do you even really remember them? 40 days ago it was October 12th &#8211; what do you have to show for those days? Were they significant? Did you grow and get better, or did those days just pass with little to show for them?
Don&#8217;t let the next 40 be like your last 40. It&#8217;s time to go deeper. It&#8217;s time for full heart surrender. It&#8217;s time to wake up with intention and live on purpose. On the other side of this 40 is that new life, that growth, that transformation only God has seen. God wants to do a work in you! Will you submit to the process?
In the early days of Christianity, before someone could be baptized as a Christian, they were to wait 40 days. For 40 days they would simplify their life down to the basics and focus fully on living for Jesus. After 40 days, if they still wanted to commit their lives to Jesus, then they would be baptized.
What if the next 40 days was an intentional simplifying of our lives with a focus on Jesus to prepare us for 2026? What if we took these final 40 days of this year and allowed God the space to work in us so we step into the new year changed. What if this is your renewal and re-commitment to Jesus. 40 days of focusing on Jesus.
That sounds special doesn&#8217;t it &#8230; and basically impossible in your busy life. Especially the next 40 days of holidays, travels, gatherings and functions. It&#8217;s the busiest time of the year, certainly not the time you can slow down to focus on Jesus. That would be a huge struggle for the next 40 days, wouldn&#8217;t it?
And do you know what God says about that &#8211; Okay, struggle it out!
Philippians 2:12-13, &#8220;Work out your salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.&#8221;
That doesn&#8217;t mean you have to work to earn salvation, that&#8217;s a free gift given to you by Jesus, you simply accept that gift. But you do have to struggle to live like you&#8217;re saved. Work that out. Fight for it. Struggle with making time for Jesus in your daily life.
Did you know it&#8217;s okay to struggle with finding time to pray? Did you know it&#8217;s okay to have to work to read your Bible and not really feel like it 97% of the time? That&#8217;s okay &#8211; work that out.
Using the next 40 really busy, over-scheduled, cram packed days to re-commit to Jesus would be a struggle for you &#8211; AWESOME &#8211; work it out! Do it afraid that you might fail. Do it uncertain of how.
Here&#8217;s what you&#8217;re feeling right now &#8211; you&#8217;re feeling a battle between your flesh and your spirit. Your flesh wants to pretend like you never even heard this. Your flesh is reasoning with why you don&#8217;t have time and how waiting until January would just make more sense. BUT YOUR SPIRIT is saying something else. Your spirit is saying, &#8220;Wow, I need this.&#8221; Your spirit is craving space for Jesus. Your spirit is willing to work this out!
Right now, just lean into your spirit. This doesn&#8217;t have to be perfect. This isn&#8217;t about checking a box to meet a goal so you feel a sense of accomplishment. This is about giving God space to prepare you for a new year of life. This is about letting him work in your 40.
Go ahead and struggle with this. Don&#8217;t avoid it. Don&#8217;t run from it. Choose to struggle. Choose to fight for a way to focus more on Jesus.
There are a two things that have radically changed my life for the better. Perhaps one of these could be your way of making space for Jesus for the final 40 days of 2025.
1. Praying on my knees.
At a retreat many years ago, a woman shared that during her time in a rehab she was taught to put her alarm under her bed every night when she went to sleep. This would force her to roll straight out of bed and hit her knees to turn off the alarm. And while she was there, she would pray.
This changed my life.
In the beginning, it was a short prayer to begin my day while I reached for my phone under the bed. Then it grew. Eventually I no longer had to put my phone under the bed, it was habit. I just roll right out onto my knees. In fact, you know those fancy pillows you put on the bed but you don&#8217;t sleep with them? Yeah, put one of those on the floor for your knees to hit. It works perfectly.
Now, that is my primary prayer time. It&#8217;s my habit and it&#8217;s Jesus&#8217; space. I begin my day on my knees and it has empowered me to walk through my days unlike ever before.
Could you try that for the next 40 days? What happens if you miss a day? What happens if you forget? Remember, just work it out &#8211; struggle through it &#8211; it doesn&#8217;t have to be perfect &#8211; just make space.
2. Reading my printed Bible.
If there&#8217;s an almost magic in anything, I would say it&#8217;s this. There&#8217;s something about God&#8217;s word. It&#8217;s unlike any other book. It&#8217;s alive and it gets within you. Suddenly your thoughts begin to change, your desires change, your impulses change. God&#8217;s word truly changes you.
Make time to read your Bible. Write in it. Highlight it. Truly study it.
I can&#8217;t explain it, but you will be transformed. This is how God works in you. And scripture says as he works in you, he gives you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Your whole world can change when you start opening your Bible.
If you don&#8217;t have a print Bible and you can&#8217;t afford to buy one right now, MESSAGE ME! I will order one so fast for you that you have it on your doorstep by next week.
Sadly, I&#8217;ve spent the majority of my life without a Bible. I would google scripture when needed, or read the daily verse from an app. That&#8217;s good, but oh my goodness, I was missing the GREATNESS of an actual Bible in my hands.
Could you try reading the Bible for the next 40 days? Maybe a chapter a day? Or maybe listening for the scripture in the devotional and reading the paragraphs before and after that scripture? Or maybe just start with the book of John and read it slow.
How will you remember to do this every day? How will you make time when it&#8217;s so busy? Girl, struggle it out. Just work on that. Let it be messy and imperfect. 40 days in God&#8217;s word will transform you! You will step into the new year as a new person with changed thoughts and desires.
Remember our scripture, Philippians 2:12-13, &#8220;Work out your salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.&#8221; Embrace the struggle of making space for Jesus and let God work within you. He will begin to change you. Your desires will change. Your priorities will change. You won&#8217;t even have to force it. Give him this little space and watch it happen!
40 days. This is it. What will you do? The days will pass whether you commit to Jesus or not. Why not commit and come out better? Why not give Jesus a chance to work in you and make you better before the new year even gets here?
Could you listen to Christian music for the next 40 days? Could you journal for the next 40 days on specific ways you see God working?
There are countless things you could do, but what would you do?
God uses the number 40 throughout scripture to radically change people and situations. He shows up in the 40 to unleash his power. And now he&#8217;s giving you this 40. 40 days left in 2025 before a new year. How will you make space for Jesus in your 40?
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