Deeper into His Presence. It began decades ago, a divinely appointed time every New Year’s Eve spent before the Lord during the third watch. Like other intimate times dwelling in His presence, these bring forth watchwords via images/visions, scripture, worship, and deep intercession—but are often focused on the newly emerged year.
I will take my stand at my watch post and station myself on the tower and look out to see what He will say to me.” —Habakkuk 2:1
© desireofmysoul.faith (.com and .org) & SoulBreaths.com. All rights reserved.
AUDIO VERSION (10-minutes): Click link below.
READING TIME: 10 MINUTES
WATCHWORD GIVEN: At the stroke of midnight (heralding in January 1, 2026) through the third watch (midnight to 3 am).
This detailed account of the recent watchword from the Lord is shared solely to encourage you and to point the way to our King, His character, His call.
It’s birthed from a longstanding, appointed midnight rendezvous with the Lord every New Year’s Eve. This year’s unfolded into four interconnected components:
1. the ROCK
2. an indestructible, immutable covenantal promise
3. specific scriptures etched in rocky clefts
4. a word of counsel and caution for 2026
This post covers the parts I feel led to share from my journaled notes.
It starts with the last one—the word of counsel—to set the guardrails because the other three components are needed to walk and stay within those guardrails.
❖❖❖❖
HIS WORD of COUNSEL
Seek His face now.
Because in 2026, you will need His Rest.
When I heard that from Him, I realized the converse was also true: If we don’t stay in His Presence and seek His face regularly, intentionally, meaningfully, we’ll spend 2026 thrashing in panic-driven waters and relying on self-striving—all of it diametrically opposed to being in His rest.
Spiritually speaking, the soul can hear, taste, see, smell, feel. Resting in Him starts by purposefully, hungrily, intensely going deeper into His Presence, your soul riveted to Him, submerged in Him, pursuing Him so you can more genuinely and relationally know, hear, serve, and honor Him.
Dwelling (residing and abiding) in His rest takes leaving the shallow waters. Moving forward in Him with abandon. Actively trusting His character, kingship, and authority in every crevice of your being. Removing self from the helm and surrendering to His command, His voice, His way, (and, yes) His timing.
A lifetime-learning of dying to self.
In The Pursuit of God, theologian A. W. Tozer says we must have an “acute desire” to pursue God because “He waits to be wanted.”
Indeed, He must.
Psalm 29 resounds with that two-sided desire, declaring that the voice of the LORD is powerful, majestic, dividing flames of fire, shaking the wilderness . . . and reminds us that the LORD sat as King at the time of the flood and still sits as King, now and forever . . . [therefore] . . . Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name.
Seeking His face, His Presence/Rest, with abandon establishes secured spiritual guardrails to hem you in, steady your soul, balance your walk, align your thinking with His heart (per Romans 12:2), and prioritizing Him over this world’s inverted sense of primacy and amid its disruptive, raging waters.
A violent storm developed on the sea,
and the boat was being swamped by the waves;
but Jesus was asleep.
His disciples woke Him, shouting,
“Save us, Lord; we’re sinking!”
He said, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?”
Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea,
and there was great calm.
The men marveled and asked,
“What kind of a man is this,
that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”
—Matthew 8:24-27
❖❖❖❖
THE ROCK
&
THE INDESTRUCTIBLE, IMMUTABLE PROMISE
While worshiping during the third watch, I was permitted to move deeper into His Presence, His quiet. I sensed myself climbing up a rope ladder, vivid spiritually in sight and touch.
In time, the rope rungs became glittered—as did my fisted hands each time they gripped the higher rungs. I was entering another level of intimacy, a secreted, quieted soul-to-soul place with and in Him, where His voice sounds in the attentive stillness.
A familiar, comforting object appeared: the formidable bell-arched gate prominently bearing His Holy Name. A name synonymous with His character and His unequivocal, rightful authority and power over all.
I AM
Once inside the gate, I saw the Rock further ahead, a steep mountain—rugged, commanding, its towering presence tugged at my soul.
I made my way toward the Rock by walking through rows of soft, tall wheat and trumpet-shaped daffodils. The wheat, a reminder of God’s spiritual harvest and our reliance on Him and our Messiah, the true Bread of Life .
The horned daffodils, a reminder of God’s shofar-resounding VOICE at Sinai (Exodus 19) and the biblical shofar’s red alerts calling us to action.
Once I began climbing the rugged Rock, water gently streamed down from on high as my hands found secured clefts, anchor points, to steady and balance my soul-body.
Please make a note of those words . . . secured cleft, anchor points, steady and balance.
Climbing higher, I saw this before me: the year (2026) and right below it, a scripture reference—Isaiah 62:1—underscoring His faithful covenantal promise.
Seeing that immediately prompted me to stop climbing and intercede for Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and Israel’s outer most parts regarding the new year.
2026
ISAIAH 62:1
and for JERUSALEM’S SAKE I will not keep quiet,
until her RIGHTEOUSNESS goes forth like brilliance,
and her SALVATION burns like a torch.
Beloved, please wear that promise close to your spiritual chest this year. Because no matter what we see or hear in 2026 and no matter how things are shaken, God’s Word stands. For Israel . . . and His scriptural promises for you.
His Word is His Character and
His Character is manifested in His Promises.
Stalwart, enduring, unwavering, mighty, victorious.
❖❖❖❖
HIS CLEFT-ETCHED WORDS
THEIR LINK & MEANING IN 2026
Continuing the climb, my eyes caught sight of etchings in the clefts where my left and right hands were reaching. The etchings were scripture references: Psalm 21 and Isaiah 53.
Earlier rabbinic and later Christian scholars regard Psalm 21 and Isaiah 53 as messianic. Wording in the psalm indicates a kingship far beyond the natural, far beyond King David’s earthly reign. It reveals a royal, everlasting kingship that only our Messiah can hold.
Psalm 21 is a secure cleft, an anchor point of David’s thanksgiving for God’s salvation and exaltation of our Messiah King, who comes from the line of David and rises out of an eternity-changing anchor-point: the Messiah’s suffering, as described in Isaiah 53.
Beloved one, reflect on these scriptures. They’re two sides of the same messianic coin, so to speak—each side a reminder, a promise, a hope, an eternal gift, an indelible focal point for your 2026 walk with God to keep you steady within His guardrails.
PSALM 21
Cling to these Anchor Points:
Jesus/Yeshua, Exalted (vs 3-6, 13)
Victorious (vs 8-13)
Eternally Reigning Savior-King, Judge of the whole Earth (vs 4, 8-13)
His Mighty Resurrection over death (vs 4, 6)
ISAIAH 53
Cling to these Anchor Points:
Yeshua, the Sacrificial Lamb of God (vs 3, 7-8)
Crucifixion-Atonement (vs 4-6)
Redemptive Work, freed us from the Slave Market of Sin (vs 5-6, 11)
Promised Salvation (vs 4, 10-12)
❖❖❖❖
A FINAL ENCOURAGEMENT
In the natural around us, the battles will rage on.
But in God’s realm—in His Kingdom that is assuredly coming—the battle has been handled. Won.
Our King reigns and will reign forever and ever.
Beloved, rest in that, confidently. Breathe it all in.
Our LORD is not a man that He should lie . . . and He cannot and will not change His character. (Malachi 3:6, Psalm 102: 27, Hebrews 13:8)
So let your soul rejoice in His trustworthy rest . . . raise your timbrels and glorify His Name, the Great I AM!
Just as Jewish and Gentile believers shouted praise at His Triumphal Entry on Palm Sunday, so we again will shout at His Second Coming when He takes His rightful throne!
Hosanna! Our King is victorious!
Hosanna! Our King is victorious!
Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest!
BLESSED BE HIS GLORIOUS NAME:
FAITHFUL and TRUE (Revelation 19:11)
PHOTO CREDITS
Lighthouse by Michael Krahn on Unsplash
Rock climber’s hands by TG23 on iStock
MUSIC CREDITS
Inward Voice: Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/brock-hewitt-stories-in-sound/inward-voice
License code: WMZ9JURP8LGBVNFB
Hosanna! Our King is victorious! is a few-seconds excerpt from The Chosen’s season 4 that is included under Fair Use to further educate and edify, because this Flashes of Lightning post teaches and encourages reader-listeners of His 2026 watchwords and His faithfulness and heart-call for us to seek His face and actively trust Him.
The biblical link between the chant of ancient Israel for King David and the Triumphal entry of Yeshua is extended in this post to us here and now, reminding reader-listeners that His Millennial Kingdom and eternal reign is coming and that He is still on the throne faithful, true, victorious, majestic, our blessed hope, and, thus, the brief musical clip’s use is transformed and expanded further by the uniqueness of the 2026 In The Cleft of the Rock watchwords, images, visions, and scriptures the Lord gave me on New Year’s Eve (e.g. seek His face and stay in His Presence to enter/dwell/reside in His rest, Exodus 19, Isaiah 62, Israel as His focus/His faithfulness to her and, with that, to believers, Psalm 21, Isaiah 53, Psalm 29, Revelation 19:11, Malachi 3:6, Psalm 102:27, Hebrews 13:8, Matthew 8, John 6, wheat/Bread of Life, daffodils/shofar/His shofar-resounding voice at Sinai, shofar call to action and thus our remaining steeled in/by His promises).
All of His 2026 watchword message is given to share with others as led, to encourage my blog prayer partners and others as well as those He may lead to this site because His Word is His Character and His Character is manifested in His Promises.