47. Start 2026 Right With God: 3 Simple Spiritual Habits for Busy Physicians

What if the way you start 2026 spiritually matters more than any goal you set this year?

As physicians, we’re great at planning, setting targets, and pushing forward, but when it comes to our walk with God, many of us start the year with good intentions and no clear plan.

In today’s episode, I’m sharing three simple, practical ways to begin 2026 grounded in God without adding pressure, perfectionism, or unrealistic expectations.

This isn’t about another New Year’s checklist.
It’s about setting your intention with the Lord and creating sustainable spiritual rhythms that fit the realities of medicine.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why starting the year with God matters more than any resolution
• How to set a meaningful spiritual goal for the new year
• How to choose a Bible reading plan without overthinking it
• Why Scripture is essential for clarity, discernment, and stability in uncertain times
• How journaling helps you capture revelation, direction, and God’s voice
• Practical tools busy physicians can actually stick with

I also share a personal story about Bible reading, perfectionism, and how easy it is to lose momentum before the year even begins—and how to avoid that trap this time.

If you’re a Christian physician who wants to start 2026 anchored in God’s Word and aligned with His voice, this episode will help you take the first step.

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Invitation to the Heal the Healers Physician Retreat happening January 16–17 in the Madison, Wisconsin area.

This small, in-person retreat is designed to help Christian physicians:

• Hear God’s voice more clearly
• Spend unhurried time in His presence
• Reflect, journal, pray, and receive direction for the year ahead
• Learn and practice discernment in a Spirit-led, Scripture-anchored environment

Registration closes January 9. On-site rooms nearly full, nearby hotel options available.

You can learn more and register at:
 👉 ingahofmann.com/retreat

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📖 Episodes Referenced in This Episode

Bible Reading for Busy Physicians

• Episode 32
• Episode 34
• Episode 39
• Episode 40

Journaling & Hearing God’s Voice

• Episode 29
• Episode 44

Are you a Christian physician or healthcare professional longing for a deeper walk with God and a supportive community that truly gets it?

📍 Mark your calendar: October 30–31, Boston, MA
The Heal the Healers Conference is coming.

This is more than a conference—it’s a space to encounter God, be restored, and be equipped to live out your calling in medicine.

This event is for physicians and healthcare professionals!

👉 Join the VIP waitlist to be the first to hear when registration opens and get early bird registration rates to tickets:
https://ingahofmann.com/events

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Transcript

0:00

It is the time of the year when we all try to make some New Year's resolutions or just make plans and set goals for the coming year. And probably for many of you, this is not any different, you might be setting goals for your spiritual life and for your spiritual growth, such as how do I read the Bible in a year? What can I do this year to grow closer to God? So I'm gonna give you quick practical tips in this episode to get you year started, right? Stay tuned for after the music. Hello there and welcome back for another episode of this podcast. I'm your host, Inga Hoffman, and at the time of this recording, I hope, number one, you had a wonderful, very merry Christmas. And enjoy time with your family and loved ones. I know that Christmas can be filled full of joy and gratitude, but sometimes Christmas can be hard seasons as well for some families. So wherever you find yourself, I just pray that the Lord is just walking with you and closing you out of this year in his. Peace in his shalom, peace resting over your house. And that's really my prayer for you for these last few days that we have left of this year. We are literally just a couple days away from New Year's Eve and I had planned to actually record another episode for you over Christmas and not just say. It's my Christmas was not that easy either. That's a story to tell another time. But I'm grateful for the Lord and his infinite wisdom and love to just guide us through difficult seasons in our lives. And I'm just so thankful. Thank you, Jesus. Let me share a little bit what we're gonna talk about today. So many of us. We set New Year's resolutions, or at least we set goals and plans for the next year. I definitely do that. I actually love this block between Christmas and New Year's to set my intention for the next year to reflect on the past year. And set some goals for the next year. I will do that over the next couple of days and really sit intentional with the Lord and even pray and prophesy to myself, what am I hearing the Lord saying for this next year? Probably gonna share more about that process another. Time. But what I wanna focus on today is really this desire for many of you and for me and myself certainly, how can we grow closer to the Lord in 2026 this episode is all about starting the year right with Elwood. And how can we do that? I wanna give you some simple, practical tips on how to start the year this is not to actually make a New Year's resolution. This is really setting the intention to start the year right with the Lord. So I'm gonna give you three very practical, quick tips. This shouldn't be a long episode. I feel like I should record this for you before the year is out so that you are armed with wisdom and an action plan to stop. The year with the Lord for 2026. We're gonna talk about that. I wanna share a little story though, what actually got me to share this with you and why I feel like this will be really helpful for you. So over the last few years I made an intention to read the Bible through in a year at least. And I've been able to do this now for a number of years that I actually. Reddit cover to cover with a different Bible reading plan over the last three, four years or so years past, I read it a little slower or in different ways, but this has been really a strong focus for me. But every end of the year I find myself, okay, Lord, what, bible plan am I going to use this coming year? And often I'm sitting there January 1st during my quiet time scrolling through the Bible app and trying to find the perfect plan. Maybe it's just me procrastinating, but. I have a little perfectionism in myself, and I think that is some trait that a lot of physicians have. So that's what I've encountered. And I still distinctively, remember January 1st, 2025, I was like, come on angle, just pick something. And a lot of. Just sounded good to me. So I was going back and forth and I'm like, I'm gonna do two plans at the same time. Totally silly. This was actually not the only year I thought about doing two plans, but I digress. I found myself basically wasting time. The first day trying to pick a plan and I want you to avoid that and basically make a decision now and stop the year right when the shot fires January 1st. So there are three practical tips I wanna give you. Tip number one, and you might wanna write this down if you're not driving. So the first one's really simple. You actually have to plan. You have to set your intention. You have to make a plan. Because if we don't plan, we plan to fail. That good old saying is still very true. In this planning doesn't take a lot of time. We did take a few minutes and plan and say, Lord, I'm gonna sit with the Lord for few minutes and just make a plan with him. Bring him into the conversation and say, Lord, I wanna grow deeper with you this coming year. And show me how to do that and don't overthink it, but enter a conversation or just say to the Lord, I love you. I have not ever read the Bible in a year, back to back. Or maybe you have and you say, Lord, I've done this a number of years, but I wanna dig even deeper. So set yourself a goal, have an intention. What would you like to. Experience with the Lord this year. And how could you get there? So there's a lot of directions we could go here. I'm gonna focus just on reading the word, because I say this a lot and I sound probably like a broken record on many podcast episodes, but I just wanna impress upon you and. All of us, myself included, that we cannot depart from the word of God. That the word has always been critical, important that there is sadly a lot of biblical illiteracy and just a lack of hunger for the word I'm seeing. It's let me grab a verse that I like and run with it, but not really hungry for the deeper context and it. Deeper understanding of the word of God and the revelation in that word for us. But I also know by the spirit that this is a year in the years to come, you have to treat the word of God, literally like your lifesaver. I released a. Short version of a prophetic word about that in a graphic illustrated picture form. Knowing the word of God that contains all knowledge and wisdom is one of the four keys that we need in the days to come. That means the application for you and me is. Reading the word, probably memorizing it, knowing scripture in large sections by heart being very solid and you cannot get there without spending time in that word. You have to grab that for yourself, but I just want to impress that on you. This is really a command and instruction, an invitation from the Lord that is pulling us in and say, you better sit in my word. Because otherwise you will really be in trouble and you will be lost. There's so much confusion on false doctrine so much. What does the bible often say? If it's teaching a false Jesus? A false doctrine. It's actually doctrine of demons. So that's a whole sidetrack I got just now on, but. Maybe the spirit of the Lord is just leading me to impress upon that. That was not in my notes. I hadn't even planned to go down that rabbit hole again, but I don't think it's a rabbit hole. I really feel this very strongly in my spirit, so I. Take it to prayer, but there, there's no question you need to read the word of God. Okay? So if you are follow of Jesus and you're not hungry for the word, something is off. And then you need to ask the Lord, what's the blockage here? Take. Help me to walk this out and take your word seriously. So number one. Going back on track here was my little prophetic alert to you. The word of God is you are one of the key keys you have to have for 2026 and beyond. I'm gonna release those at the prophetic Word of the four keys at the Heal the Healers retreat. By the way, I will tell you more about that in the end because it is coming up fast. Number one, plan and set your intention. To start the year right with God. That means you have a clear plan and you've set a goal of what your Bible reading goal will be. Could be Bible in every year. It could be like doing maybe more longer dragged out reading. Again, I would remind you that it's actually not that hard to read the Bible. Many you will have time for it and again. You cannot actually not afford not to do it, I would say, but, so read the Bible in a year is like one simple goal. It takes you 15 minutes a day. Anybody can do that. So set a goal and an intention, and then I would encourage you with that goal. Don't just set a goal that is a smart or smarter goal. Write specific, measurable, actionable, and then r is, I like to think about as risky or stretchy. Some people say realistic. I don't really like that. And time pond. So reading the Bible in a year is very specific and meets all those smart goal formats. But I would also set aside a specific intention perhaps where you want to grow in areas with a lot. Oh, I wanna hear this most more clearly. Oh, I wanna read it. Sit in prayer or I wanna train myself to sit quiet with the Lord for five minutes so that I can hear his voice. Whatever it might be. Maybe you'll say, I wanna see more. I wanna hear in the spirit. I wanna see what the spirit of the Lord is showing me Whatever it might be. Set yourself a goal and an intention for the year, and I would say. Write it out. That's really important. Because what we write out, we make a declaration it's more forefront of our mind. You can remind yourself that you made yourself into the Lord this promise, this intention you setting. So number one, plan, write out that goal and set your intention. Number two is read the word and I. Talk about that a lot. But what does the Bible say? Why is it important? It seems I remind ourselves about this all the time, but the reading of the word of the Lord of the Bible is so important. Psalm 1 19, 1 of five says Your word is a lamp. For my feet, a light on my path. So the word of God is a light to us. It gives us direction for the course of our life. And to understand who God is, who we are, how he longs for relationship with us. So read the word is key. Now, I did a lot of bible reading type of podcast episodes, and I'm not gonna regurgitate all those. I'm just gonna point you to a few key episodes that I encourage you if you have not listened to or not listened to for a while. Go back to those episodes. They're quick episodes about different ways to read the Bible as a busy physician and give you different tips. So write these down. These are episode 32, 34, 39, and 40 Again. Episode 32, 34, 39, 40. I have a lot more. There's some older episodes too. I just grabbed a handful for you so you can get right to work. Plug those in. Your players. You commit to work or walk around or run errands or whatever. So read the word is really important. So for that, you want to have a very clear plan what you're gonna read. Meaning what Bible Reading plan you pick and you wanna do that today and not January 1st. As I mentioned for my personal story, I probably raised it half an hour just sitting there trying to find the perfect Bible Reading plan. So listen to some of those episodes that will give you guidance of what I think are some good tools that I have tried and tested that I find theologically sound. Now I'm not a. Theologian, I don't have a degree and I did not go to seminary. I certainly learned from a lot of people that do and have said in the word for many years. This is just what I found personally helpful. And I think as physicians we arrive a certain way. But everybody has a different flavor. So take it with, for whatever it's worth, but I think it will be helpful to you. I give you tips in those episodes of, how do I pick a Bible reading plan? What kind of plans have I tried and find good? So go back to those episodes, but basically go ahead. I recommend go through the Bible app or if you are super old fashioned, just get an old printout, Bible reading plan. It works as well. Put it in front of your Bible. Those little old one pagers that you could just check a box works really well for us physicians who are total box checkers. So these are options, but I use the Bible app on my phone. Not to read the Bible. I'm actually old fashioned. I have to have the paper version. Phone is too distracting. Also, I'm a big believer in still printed materials. That's just my belief system. I don't ever read the Bible on my phone. If I would be far more easily distracted and reading it on paper even helps my brain. I just absorb things better this way. But I use the Bible app as a guide. Basically, it's my checkbox. Because every day the Bible reading plan will tell me what I need to read. I check the boxes of there. I see my progress, but I don't use the phone to read, if that makes sense. So pick a plan and then just run with it. Don't overthink it either. And you don't have to pray fast over which Bible reading plan you pick. You might wanna ask. The Lord if he has something particular. But also just trust your instinct. As long as you're leading the word of God and not some other stuff, you're gonna be fine. And in whether you wanna commentary or not on your Bible reading plan, meaning there's usually commentary or devotional along with it. Some people like it, some people don't. I also have a podcast episode where I go over that, one of those talks about why I chose sometimes. Not to have a commentary like this year, because I want to be shielded from basically opinions even. They are amazing. That was true for me this year. I finished my Bible reading a couple months ago already, but in any case, I digress. So read so that means, pick a plan. So read the word. The third part that I wanna encourage you to do that is very important as we process the reading of the word and our thoughts, our revelation, our aha moments with the Lord is journal. Habakkuk two, two says, then the Lord replied, write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a her can run with it. Now, I understand there is prophetic words here released that we can take to a larger prophetic implication of what was said here in Habakkuk. But I do think this verse has a lot of validity when we talk about writing things down. Write down the revelation, meaning the a hearts, the thoughts, the things that kind of jog your memory, the emotions that came up, the questions that came up during your Bible reading, and really write them out. This will be an amazing tool to you to not only process what you are reading, but also process your own journey and let. The Lord mold you through his word, and a lot of that processing happens by writing. It also helps us when you get a certain revelation about either a scripture or maybe you're reading a scripture and it's answering something that you really had questions about. From the Lord. It is a record that you're keeping of a conversation that you have for the Lord. I have done episodes on journaling, so I'm not gonna rehash them here, but go to episode 29, I believe in 44, and read about the importance of journaling in your relationship with Jesus and the Holy Spirit and how he's. Speaking to you. I've journaled for decades, for initially personal development reasons, but actually also for Bible reading. I was amazed to find old journals where I have literally done a verse by verse, and I was like, wow, I did that. 10, 15 years ago. That's pretty cool. I didn't even remember that. I came across those recently. So journaling is a very powerful tool. That's how we also capture revelation, our conversation with the Lord, and you have a track record when he's answering some stuff. So doesn't get better than that. And you will really learn through that process actually to listen to the voice of God. So journaling is key. The other part that journaling can help because you might get ideas, so maybe not revelation from the scripture or directions from the Lord, but you might come up with. Dreams, hopes, visions, ideas, goals, doing a scripture, reading that seemingly pop in your head and you're like, where did that come from? Chances are there is a good chance that the Holy Spirit was steering something up as your reading, and the Lord is opening up blueprints to you sometimes for specific goals whether it's your own goal or whether it's the Lord. You will figure that out in your journey with him. But I would say this, Proverbs 16, verse nine says this, the heart of man. Plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. So when we write things out, we start to plan. And actually what is on our heart is not unimportant to the Lord. Now if it's a fleshly desire. He will correct us. But if it is a hope, a dream, a vision, chances are he might have put that into you there. And he will then give you the steps to actually walk that out. So that's why you should journal as well, so that you can catch the visions, the goals, the ambitions, the blueprints, and actually walk them out with the Lord. So in summary, three steps. Number one, plan and set your intention and a goal for what you want your. Growth with Jesus. You walk with Jesus and the Lord and his word to look like this coming year. Write that down somewhere. Keep that in the forefront of your mind and then also set a quick intention. Set a specific goal of what Bible Reading plan you will follow. You do that today. I would really encourage you. Pull up the Bible app today. If you're in a phone car right now, do it tonight. Spend five minutes after dinner and just do it. It doesn't take that long of a time. And again, if you need some guidance, listen to some of those podcast episodes I mentioned. I will put them in the show notes as well. And then number two start reading with a reading plan and follow the reading plan. Read the word of God because it will be a lamp unto your feet. And then the third one is journal on the word, on the quiet time with the Lord, so that you capture vision, capture, revelation, ahas. Lessons about your life. Reflections about sometimes when things are really tough. I journal a lot of those out and as I journal and the Lord feeds me with revelation and showing me things, I write those out because that helps me to grow and correct my course of action. So I hope this blessed you. Now, I wanna leave you with this though number one. Go take action. Do not sit on this and start the year I bless you in the name of Jesus to be having a fruitful year with the Lord. Not a man's eyes, but a fruitful here with the Lord. That the Lord will bring you to a whole nother level of relationship and revelation with him. No matter how crazy medicine will look like that you will walk out your salvation with fear and trembling and walk with the Lord. So that's my prayer for you also. I am hosting the Heal the Healers Physician Retreat for this exact purpose. To start the year right with the Lord, we are focusing on the theme, hearing the voice of God. That means we will go through a process. I will do several teaching sessions. There will be time for you to actually put in what I'm teaching you into practice meaning there will be times for you to reflect with the Lord, to sit quietly. I will give you journaling prompts to pray and being intentional and hear from God himself. For you for this next year, what's the Lord saying to you personally for this next year? Maybe there's some month where you need to be aware of, oh, I need to be conscious here. And maybe the Lord is giving you a forewarning or a caution to prepare you for something or perhaps he's already sending you encouragement now when we are going through this process for this coming year and for certain month, and you will be surprised what the Lord will speak into your year as we are sitting with intention with him. You might like. I'm not sure I can hear the voice of God. That's exactly why we are doing this retreat. But if you are somebody who is I am a prophet, I hear the voice of God regularly. I love the sound of his voice. You will obviously. Get something out of that too, because as we are coming together as a company of Christian physicians, there is real power in gathering together with the Lord in a company of believers, and especially as Christian physicians as we're listening to also, what does the Lord have to say to us for the medical field, for healthcare, for this coming year and beyond. And lastly as I mentioned the outset of this podcast episode the word of God is where all wisdom and revelation and knowledge lies. And it is one of the four keys that we need in this coming season. The Lord gave me a very powerful revelation. It was a incredible encounter. It actually, it had me weeping many times, I will release those four keys in an in depth teaching because I think there is a lot of meat there. I'm still unraveling now, and I have sit with this word now for about three months and bring it back and prayer and have read over and over it again. And there's always another level that the Lord is, showing me on this core revelation, I believe is very important for the body of Christ. I will teach it at that retreat. I will release the word, I will teach on it, and basically, any revelation or prophetic word has to have a. Interpretation that is biblical, that form the Holy Spirit in an application. So what are we actually gonna do with it? And I will teach a lot on that and also how you can hear the voice of God like this for yourself. So we're gonna do. Activations. We're gonna have practice, we're gonna have teaching. We have fellowship. We'll have worship. We have prayer together, we have ministry time together, and we are gonna share meals together will be amazing. Please register. Registration. Very important. Closes in 10 days. Registration closes January 9th. That's it. After that, I have to finalize the contract with the venue and the caterers. The retreat is January 16th and 17th in the Madison, Wisconsin area. You can sign up under inga homan.com/retreat. I will put it in the show notes. Onsite rooms are pretty much gone. I think I have one room left. That's it. But there is local hotels that you could certainly stay at and, I really encourage you to be in the room. This is gonna be a very powerful experience and I am excited about it. Don't sit on it. Take this time out with the Lord. I know it's coming up fast. I've been chairing it for a while, but I hope you make it to the room and really be there. And I believe that the Lord will reach rewarded. I remember. Just this last summer showed you close with a quick story this past summer. I've been going through some things and I was tuned into what's happening, what was happening at a, another church revival center far away from me and really felt latch to, I wanna see what's going on there because the spirit of God is moving. And I want to be in the room. I had no idea what to expect. It cost me, probably, I don't, it actually cost me a lot of money because I decided first to be on campground's of the church and then that didn't work so well for me. It was really hot. It was Florida, so I ended up being a local hotel. But it's all good. And I basically within days decided to fly out there. And was that easy? No. Did it cost a bunch of money? Yes. Was that an inconvenience? And do I have to clear my schedule and clear it with my husband and my kids? Yes. But. I believe that sometimes you have to be just flexible to move at that kind of speed. And this last year was this past, this years we are closing out was a year where I, I sensed from the outset, actually before we entered the year, this is gonna be a year of great flexibility and moving at flexible, nimble speed where the Lord sent me to a lot of places and that took flexibility, humility, trust, and provision. And the Lord really was gracious to walk me through that and I learned a lot through that process. And I would say. Yeah, I'm not any special. I'm not any special. If I can do it, you can do it because here is a thing, all that's required is obedience to the Lord. That is more important than our conveniences, our schedules, our pre-planned plans or whatever else we have on the agenda. I pray that I, and I pray this for you, that we never say. Lord, that sounds great, but next time, oh, this sounds really good. I will do that next time. I hope that I will stay nimble. Another key, by the way, staying nimble to move with a leading of the Holy Spirit, even if it cost me a lot. Of inconvenience, stretching time, money, et cetera. I pray that we will stay that flexible because I think it is needed more about that actually also at the retreat. But I had said enough now I bless you. I bless you in the name of Jesus that you exit this year with humility before the Lord with thanksgiving and praise in his courts and say, Lord. I wanna commit my life afresh and new to you in 2026, I lay it all down my preconceived ideas, plans, thoughts I had for myself, and I lay it at the feet of Jesus and I say, Lord, do with it. Whatever you want. Let us be fully submitted to you, Lord. And for lack of better words, sold out all the way for Jesus. Let there be nothing left of us. Prune everything out that is hindering to build that relationship. Thank you Jesus. I bless everyone listening to the sound of my voice, that they are strengthened in their faith and our relationship with you in Jesus name, amen. So don't forget to go to the show notes for the episodes I mentioned in the registration for the retreat. God bless you. See many of you there and care. Bye.