We want to thank our veterans for their faithful service to our nation. Happy Veterans Day!
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Reclaiming our Voice in 2026
Ricci Johnson-Wilson
October 31, 2025, Teaching
I continue to seek the Lord for His desires for both the Nation and the Body of Christ in 2026. How can we better prepare ourselves through prayer? What more can we expect for—and out of—the believer? How can we pray for our nation? And so on.
The reason I ask the Lord these questions is because I firmly stand on the Word of God and the importance of actively pursuing His will for the intercessor, the Church, and the nation.
Reading through the book of Exodus, we learn that when the Lord spoke, Moses, although resistant and fearful at first, went and led the people out of bondage. He was an intercessor on behalf of the people. He was a prophet. When Moses spoke, the plagues were released, and they only stopped when Moses prayed. Why? Because God partners with His people. If Moses had not gone, the people would have remained in bondage. If he had not spoken thus and so, the plagues would not have come, and in turn, they would not have ceased. Not because Moses has the power to turn the water to blood or call hail the size of tennis balls down from heaven, but because Moses obeyed the voice of the Lord and spoke these things in obedience to God. It was his obedience that enabled them to remain on His timeline for deliverance.
Many of the Israelites came to accept their fate as slaves, which we can see in their response and complaints to the plagues and delays along the way. However, others knew their deliverance was coming and waited with great expectation. The plagues were sent not only as judgment upon Egypt; they were also to awaken the Israelites to the great I AM.
When God gives a word, we must partner with Him in prayer to see this word come to fruition. When it was time for the deliverance of the people of Israel from their bondage under Babylon, Daniel went to the Lord in prayer. Why? Because Daniel maintained careful watch over the nation and the timeline set before them. Again, God partners with His people to accomplish His will in the earth and He deliberately puts people in place to achieve His plans and purposes.
In this preparatory season leading up to “2026, the Year of Open Books” where according to the Lord, “a line has been drawn in the sand” we are learning to live with intention, pray with intention, and act with intention.
As I was studying the book of Acts, the Lord gave me a series of messages for a person who lives with intention in 2026. Last week the focus was to love the Lord your God with all your heart, your mind and your soul, and by extension, preparing to love those the Lord is going to awaken, referring to those activists and even antifa members, and through this, we would find the activation code to unlock the heart of the youth.
Today, I want to address our need to Reclaim our Voice in 2026. The Lord had given me the message, and two earlier, while I was out walking and praying over the neighborhood, the school, the youth, my state, the Lord said, “reclaim it.” I immediately began to reclaim these things for the Lord, for His will, for His purposes, for the Kingdom of Heaven.
He followed that with, “it’s time to reclaim the voice of My people.” As soon as began to pray over this, I felt such heaviness for the people of God. I felt anxiety, intimidation, even intense fear.
It's time to reclaim our voice as of the people of God. We need to reclaim the voice of Truth. We need to reclaim the voice of reason. Some even need to learn how to speak boldly in the face of deception as well as opposition. It was a slow boil at first, busy life, various movements that claimed to be civil rights movements such as the women’s rights, which is code for pro-abortion, BLM, LGTBQI+, the introduction of PC Culture and it’s terminology had a tremendous impact on us. This was followed by persecution. Consider how we refer to gender, race, religious minorities and how terminology frequently changed over the years. I remember asking Karen (my best friend of 35 years-who is black) what terminology I should use before I spoke on race and slavery issues because I did not want people to get so stuck on terminology that they would struggle to enter into intercession because they were offended.
Today we see this in the pronoun movement where an entire conversation can be lost due to a person’s offense over perceived errors in pronoun usage. This impacts us in a very unhealthy way. Conversations are brought to a standstill over terminology.
Add to this cancel culture, we watched what happened to others and feared it would happen to us. People lost their jobs when they spoke out against Covid, social media, which was supposed to allow a sense of connection across the world, has instead become a platform of bitter and divisive dialogue that fractures families or causes one to lose their job.
Today, God wants us to reclaim our voice. He wants us to speak truth, to speak in love but also speak boldly. He wants us to release the Kingdom of Heaven principles over our schools, our city, our church, our state, and our nation. The ability to engage in such a way begins with prayer, an understanding of His Word, as well as our own authority in God.
Let’s look at several passages in the book of Acts to help us understand what it means to speak boldly. Paul is our example today. As we do, let’s look at what brings this boldness out in Paul. Remember, things do not get easier for Paul, I’ll share this in detail shortly, but they become increasingly and exponentially more difficult for him as time goes on. Yet, he becomes more bold than ever!
How do we get this same boldness?
1) Dramatic transformation to bring boldness:
Immediately following Paul’s Damascus Road experience, we read:
Acts 9:20-31
20 And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. 21 But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests? 22 But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ.
23 And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him: 24 but their laying await was known of Saul. And they watched the gates day and night to kill him. 25 Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket. 26 And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. 28 And he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem. 29 And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians: but they went about to slay him. 30 Which when the brethren knew, they brought him down to Cæsarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus. 31 Then had the churches rest throughout all Judæa and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.
The key word for us today is found in verse 29: he (Paul) “spake boldly”
Greek word is parrésiazomai. A verb that means: “to be frank in utterance, or confident in spirit and demeanor – be (wax) bold, (preach, speak) boldly. To grow confident, have boldness, show assurance, assume a bold bearing”
The Lexicon says:
The verb translated “to speak boldly” characterizes fearless, unreserved proclamation of the Gospel. It is not mere personality trait but Spirit-enabled freedom to declare Christ regardless of threat or opposition. Each New Testament occurrence links this bold speech to the advance of the Word, the vindication of Christ’s servants, and the edification of the Church.
Oh, that we would return to a period such as Spurgeon or Edwards, where Truth pierced the heart because it was bathed in prayer and a firm grasp of the Word of God!
In Acts 9, after his dramatic transformation, Paul went straight to the proclamation of the Word, the Gospel, the Truth of Christ and His work on the Cross with boldness. Paul persecuted the saints relentlessly, but now, he was armed with the revelation of Christ! This dramatic transformation brought him tremendous boldness!
Paul, armed with truth, immediately goes into the Synagogue and speaks boldly, the Gospel. This is a fearless, unreserved proclamation of the Gospel. It’s not a personality trait as some may wonder, it’s a Spirit-enabled freedom to declare Christ regardless of threat or opposition. When you know the Word, and you know what you’ve been saved from, there is a boldness that rises within you to proclaim, to boldly speak the Truth of the revelation you’ve received. When our eyes are opened to Truth, a switch is flipped on, and a fire is lit within our hearts to enable us to engage with an unprecedented boldness! The same holds true with those who come to the revelation of Truth in conjunction with a deception they’ve been a part of. The walk-away movement produced powerful and dynamic speakers as they pulled away from the democrat party to embrace Truth.
Abby Johnson, former head of a Texas Planned Parenthood, experienced this when she had her eyes open to the truth about life in the womb. Today, she’s one of our greatest pro-life advocates. Dramatic transformations bring boldness!
2) Dramatic transitions bring boldness
Acts 13:46-49
In this passage, Paul and Barnabas were preaching in Antioch (this is Antioch-Pisidian, not the Syrian Antioch where the missionary Church HQ was located). The Jewish opposition intensified, and Paul and Barnabas, recognizing the Lord was bringing about a transition in their missionary outreach, respond boldly to the Jewish community who were not just rejecting the Gospel, but persecuting them for their message:
46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the Word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. 47 For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. 48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the Word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. 49 And the Word of the Lord was published throughout all the region.
Paul writes “it was necessary to speak the Word of God to you first, but since you do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we turn now to the Gentiles.” This marks a turning point in the Gospel outreach toward the Gentiles.
This marked a dramatic transition in Paul’s missionary ministry where the call to the Gentiles became front and center. They went forth with boldness! Transition brings boldness.
3) Dramatic opposition brings boldness and advancement
Sounds like a difficult one to swallow but let us read on:
And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed. 2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren. 3 Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
When Paul and Barnabas were in Iconium, they faced significant hostility and opposition, yet, they remain spending significant time speaking boldly for the Lord who, in response, confirmed the message of grace by granting signs and wonders to be done at their hands. Prior to this, we don’t see a lot of miracles in Paul’s missionary work, but God, in His goodness, increases the anointing for them. This partners with the Gospel message lifting the faith of the hearer. Mario Murillo is a great example of this today. In his services he has a word of knowledge, the person comes up and is prayed for and healed. It opens the hearts of people to the Truth of a living God, and they get saved!
It is here, where the boldness to press through in opposition brings great fruit and advancement, Paul and Barnabas are now referred to as Apostles and now it seems, they are functioning in a higher level of anointing and healing ministry.
4) Dramatic boldness brings in a dramatic harvest
The next occurrence of “speak or speak boldly” or “parrésiazomai” is in Acts 19. This missionary field of Ephesus is critical in the expansion of the Gospel. Paul did not allow the persecution and opposition to stop what God created him to do. His work here in Ephesus is so profound, the outreach so great, the Lord has him remain here for two years.
8 And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. 9 But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus. 10 And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. 11 And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: 12 so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.
Paul walked into one of the most significant arenas of his day. The Temple of Artemis, with its 1000 temple prostitutes, is where the worship of Diana occurred. This temple was so incredible, it was one of the seven wonders of the world. The city itself encompassed a great deal of trade and travelers providing an expansive harvest field. The worship of Diana was substantial, but Paul’s presence impacted the sale of little Diana statues because people were turning away from idolatry and deception to the Truth of the Gospel message. The opposition came because Diana sales, a once profitable commerce, one that preyed on idolatry, carnality, and licentious acts, was being invaded by God through a bold missionary in Paul. Paul embodied the very definition of parresiazomai! That Spirit-enabled freedom to declare Christ, and it takes this authority and anointing to spread the Gospel in a world so focused on idol worship and impact it to the degree he did! The warfare must’ve been tremendous, but the anointing and boldness in Paul brought in a great harvest! Healings and miracles occurred, and from verse 12, we learn how unique they were. The handkerchiefs (the Greek word for this is actually sweatbands) worn by Paul were sent out and people were healed. In Acts 20, Paul tells us he remained here for two years, making tents and preaching the Word (Acts 20:34-35). History records that work was done in the morning and evening so that during the heat of the day, people rested. Well, this is when Paul taught, right in the school of Tyrannus. Paul did this faithfully, it’s believed, from 11-4 every day. Why? Because the boldness and fire of God that dwelt within Paul to spread the Gospel only continued to increase over time.
This fire, this boldness, this anointing came at a great price.
Paul writes 1 & 2 Corinthians from here. It’s interesting because as we read through Acts, Paul mentions some of the beatings, the arrests, but he does not mention the depth of persecution—physical persecution—he endures as one who speaks boldly to advance the Gospel message.
Howbeit whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also. 22 Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I. 23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. 24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26 in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27 in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
28 Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not? 30 If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities. 31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.
Paul knew and understood the assignment, and he did everything he could to faithfully fulfill his call to the Church on behalf of the Lord.
Remember, to speak boldly is to be fearless, to be unreserved in your proclamation of the Gospel. It is not mere personality trait but Spirit-enabled freedom to declare Christ regardless of threat or opposition. Each occurrence links this bold speech to the advancement of the Word, the vindication of Christ’s servants, and the edification of the Church.
I understand the struggle, to be confident in Spirit and demeaner as we release truth is difficult, especially in this day and age. Confidence in demeaner infers that we remain calm in that discussion, discussions often held with people who just spew lies and accusations at us, attacks even. However, reclaiming our voice means we do not allow fear or threats to silence us.
If you are a conservative, releasing truth can cause people to accuse you of hate speech, call you homophobic, racist, Islamophobic, bigoted, woman-hater, and more.
It can cause friends and family to turn against you, get an assassin’s target placed on you like we see with Benny Johnson, Pam Bondi, Tom Holman, and many others in and around the Trump Administration. Or, in the case of Lee Vogler, a Virginia City Council member set on fire outside his office, or Melissa Hortman and her husband and Charlie Kirk, it could actually get you killed because you stood against something the radical left is pushing.
Remember however, a line has been drawn in the sand, and the Lord is going to deal with this corruption. The truth is, we are dealing with a battle for an invasion in this country. Man is trying to provoke infighting, corruption, chaos, murder, fear, and their own invasion of darkness. God is about to invade the nation with His Spirit! He said, a line has been drawn in the sand and it’s time to reclaim that which the enemy has stolen! He partners with His people, will His people rise up!?!
What if we are genuinely afraid? God has guidance for this too.
1) Remember Who sent you:
2 For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain: 2 but even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention. 3 For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile: 4 but as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.
Remember, your message comes not from you, nor does it come forth to please man, but it is for the purpose of pleasing God. When this becomes our focus, that Spirit-enabled freedom to preach Christ and His Truth flows from us.
2) Be Strong and Arm up
Ephesians 6:10-20
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
3) Remember, you are not alone, it is okay to request Prayer Support.
Ephesians 6:19-20
19 and for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
Paul is teaching them so many things in this passage, a letter sent to the very Church where that temple of Diana stands.
Paul is teaching them to be strong in the Lord, put on the armor, pray without ceasing, be watchful, and as an example to them, he is not afraid to request prayer for his own situation. Even in bondage, Paul desires greater boldness, that utterance may be given unto him that he may speak boldly and make known the mystery of the Gospel! All while he is an ambassador in bonds!
This shows us the need to rely on the Spirit in our own efforts, seek boldness continuously! Remember, it’s not in our own strength we accomplish these Kingdom victories, it’s in the strength of the living God.
We are not going to win the battle 100% of the time, but if we adhere to the Word of the Lord, press into Him, remember the importance of standing for truth, speaking boldly through Divine assistance, and reclaim that which the enemy has stolen, our odds will increase exponentially!
In 2026, where we are learning to live intentionally, in the Year of Open Books, where a line has been drawn in the sand by the Lord, it’s time we reclaim our voice in 2026 as well!
Much love,
Ricci Johnson-Wilson
