[Editor's note: The following is a transcript of a prophetic word given by Craig Cooney on October 14, 2026.]
Beyond What You Imagined or Expected
Hi there. Good to be back with you as we open up the Word of God and see what God says in His written Word, but also what God wants to say prophetically to you and me in this season. Let me say this up front: not every single point I say today is for everyone. That just isn't how it works. But there will be certain things I say that the Lord will put a weight on that your spirit will resonate with. Those are the things I want you to take and pray into. And my first point and my overarching theme today is this: Everything is about to change...
At the beginning of this year, I asked the Lord for a word for the year... and the word He gave me this year was change. I actually stood in front of our church in January; I was teaching through Joshua at the early part of this year, and I told them that my word for the year is change. But little did I have any idea just how significant a shift that change would bring.
I had no idea that seven months later I would no longer be leading that church. We would have left the country and we would have flown 10,000 miles across the world. I was expecting a small change, a slight pivot, a short and slight transition, but God brought about a monumental change. And that's what I believe is going to happen for some of you.
There's going to be a change that is much greater than you anticipate and expect. Some of you have been asking for change—many of you have. You're longing for change. You're bored. You're restless. You know there's more. There's this sense of delay and walking around the same mountain over and over again. And you are so ready for change, but I believe the Lord would say, "Just how much change do you want? Because the change I bring might not be a slight alteration, might not be a tiny reorientation or a tiny recalibration, but it could be a massive shift in your life. Are you open to the kind of change I want to bring?"
Because a lot of us, you know, we say we want change and we pray for change, but essentially we want change on our terms. We want change that we can manage, change that we can control, change that is predictable, change where we feel like we're in charge of the change. But sometimes the Lord would say, "The change I'm bringing in your life is way beyond what you've imagined. It's much greater than you expect. You're looking for a small pivot, a tiny shift, and what I want to do will actually turn your life upside down before it turns the right way up."
For the Israelites, here, in Joshua 1, this was more than just a small change. This was more than just a a new season. This was an entirely new era. They were crossing the Jordan, but it was so much more monumental than that. They had a new leader. They would be in a new land. They would have a new diet. There would be a new consecration. They would build new homes. Everything was changing because of one change. The crossing the river and Moses' death would bring about many other changes.
That's what I've found in life: a significant transition in one part of your life will massively impact other parts. One relocation will impact your relationships, will impact your ministry, will impact your job. You changing job will impact your finances, will impact your friendships. One change in one part of your life will often have significant ramifications in other parts of your life.
The Past Is Gone—Don't Take It With You
The change here in Joshua 1 started with "Moses is dead. Now then, you..." (v. 2). This is a "now then you" moment. This is a time when God is saying, "The past is gone. Don't take it with you. You can't hold on to it. Honor it, be thankful for it, be grateful for it, build upon it, but recognize this is a new beginning. This is a new start. This is a completely new era I'm bringing you into—not just a new season, but a new era. And you need to be willing to let go of some things that have been part of your history that are not aligned with your destiny.
There are some things that you have been holding on to, and many of them were good things. Some of them are God things—things you prayed for, things that were a blessing, things that helped other people. But the Lord would say, "They have gone as far as they can go with you, and you can't take them any further."
You see, Moses wasn't a bad leader. Moses was actually a really good leader. God said, "Moses my servant is dead." (Joshua 1:2). But even some good things can't go with you into the Promised Land. Some things are simply not compatible with where you're going. They're not aligned with where the Lord is taking you. And as you hold on to those things, they will keep you tethered. But as you release those things—those ministries, even some relationships, some roles, some positions, some locations and places you're part of—God would say, "As you're willing to release those things (even some of them you find identity from—they've been part of your life for a long time), you will find there's an acceleration. You will find that things happen quickly."
Get Ready!
For forty years, the Israelites had wandered in the wilderness, and now a massive shift was coming. And God would say to some of you, "The transformation that I'm bringing you into is so much bigger than you realize. It's so much greater. It's a monumental shift. You have been praying for change, you've been longing for change, and I'm bringing change, but it's not going to look like how you imagined. It's going to be bigger. It's going to stretch you. It's going to pull you out of your comfort zone. It's going to reorient your life in many different areas. And are you ready for that?" (Photo via Unsplash)
God says, "Get ready." I believe the Lord would say, "Get ready, some of you, for a much greater and much more significant change than even you have been praying for, because the Lord wants to do something bigger and more significant in your life than you even realize."
The End of Delay
I believe the Lord would also say this... "Delay is over." The Lord would say to some of you, "The delay is over."
For forty years, they'd been wandering in the wilderness. They'd been dwelling in the desert. They'd heard about the Promised Land. They knew about the promises, but they'd never experienced it. In one sense, they'd been living in delay, not because of what many of them had done, but because of what the people before them, their parents, had done—their unbelief. But the Lord would come along now and say, "Get ready. The delay is over."
Some of you have been experiencing delay in your life. It has been hard. It has been long. It's been frustrating. It feels like you're treading water, that you're in this holding pattern, just going round and round [like] it says in Deuteronomy [2:3]; you're going around the same mountain over and over again. That is how life has felt for you. It has felt like you are moving but never making progress or advancement. Others seem to be moving on and you feel stuck. And the Lord would want to say to some of you today, "The delay is over. Things are about to shift for you. And you will not live with hope deferred. You will live with promise fulfilled."
The Bible says hope deferred makes the heart sick (Proverbs 13:12). I believe the Lord would want to say to some of you, "You will not live with hope deferred. You will live with promise fulfilled." And He would say to you, "My promises still stand. The words I have spoken to you, the things I have said to you, the prophecies you have received, just because they haven't happened doesn't mean they won't happen. You're coming out of the place of delay."
Don't miss what He's doing because of disappointment—disappointment because it hasn't happened. Don't lower your expectations to meet your reality, but raise your expectations according to what God has said. Don't allow what hasn't happened to cause you to miss what He's doing right in front of you in these days, because your delay is coming to an end.
Closeness to Breakthrough
The next thing I believe the Lord would say to some of you is this: "You are so much closer than you realize." You are so much closer than you realize. You see, what I realized as I read Joshua 1, here, is that they weren't actually at the edge of the Jordan. I have always pictured this (in Joshua 1) as them standing at the edge of the Jordan, where they can dip their toes in the river; they can see the Promised Land. But as I studied it, I realized they were nine miles away from the Jordan in the valley of Moab, in the plains of Moab... nine miles away. They couldn't see the river. They couldn't see the Promised Land. And so, when God spoke to them and told them, "You're about to cross over," they had to take it by faith, because at that point, their surroundings and their circumstances looked exactly the same as they had for the forty years before that.
Maybe you look at your life right now and you hear a word like this and you roll your eyes because nothing has changed. You look at your surroundings, you look at your circumstances, you look at your finances, you look at your relationships, you look at your job, and nothing has changed.
I believe the Lord would say, "Don't miss what I'm about to do just because you can't see it yet. You are so much closer than you realize. Don't allow cynicism in your heart to cause you to disregard what I'm telling you. Don't miss it, because the door is opening in front of you." But if you are not even paying attention, you may miss what the Lord is doing in your life. You are so close.
The Appointed Time: Cross the Threshold
I believe He would say, "This is the appointed time. This is the appointed time."
You see, we work in chronos time, chronological time. But there's also kairos time. Kairos is the appointed time. It's the time of fulfillment. It's a time of a moment of divine opportunity. It's a time when God opens a door that hasn't been opened. He gives you a window of opportunity that doesn't stay open forever. They [the Israelites] had this opportunity thirty-eight years before this, and they missed it because of fear. And I believe the Lord would say to you, "Don't miss the appointed time."
We mark calendars according to years and months; God marks calendars according to appointed times. And when it's the appointed time, things happen quickly, things happen swiftly, God moves powerfully; things that have been stuck get unstuck, things that have been delayed get accelerated. And I believe, for many of you, you're moving from delay to appointed time. The time of fulfillment is here, and you're standing at a threshold, and God says, "Cross the threshold." You're standing at an open door, and God says, "When I open a door, do not look at it; go through it. This is the appointed time. Don't shrink back. Don't hide. Don't be controlled by fear. Don't allow insecurity or the voices of others or uncertainty or a feeling of not being ready." The Lord would say to you, "You are ready."
For Israel, here, everything in the last forty years had been building up to this moment; their entire lives had been preparing them, and I believe the Lord would say the same to you: Your entire life has been preparing you for this moment. So as you stand at this threshold, don't miss it. Cross over, because this is the time of fulfillment. (Photo via Pexels)
From a Season of Survival to a Season of Building and Establishing
The next thing I believe the Lord would say to many of you is this: "You're coming out of survival mode. You're coming out of survival mode."
You see, the wilderness was survival mode. It wasn't awful. It just wasn't great. It was bland. It was blah. It was boring. It wasn't God's best for them. And many of you have been living in survival mode.
In the wilderness, they were thankful for God's provision, but they knew there was more. And you're thankful for what God has given you; you're thankful for what He's blessed you with, but deep down you know... there's more for you. You know God has put more inside you. You know that you've got promises and prophetic words that are pointing to more. And the Lord would say, "Don't settle for less when I have promised more. You're coming out of survival mode."
In the wilderness, you have just enough. You live from day to day, paycheck to paycheck, but you never fully thrive. You never fully get to express everything the Lord has put within you. It's this kind of "mid" life. It's a "five out of ten" you're living. And many of you have been living in that place where it hasn't been a one or two, and it hasn't been a nine or ten. You've been living in the land of "mid," where everything is kind of bland and monotonous and predictable and boring, and you've been getting by week to week, day to day, month to month. And the Lord would say, "I'm bringing you out of survival mode. I'm breaking that survival mentality off you. I'm breaking that poverty spirit off you. I want to break that spirit of 'just enough.'"
That was what I lived with for a long time—a poverty mindset of just if I just have enough, as long as I'm not in debt, as long as I can just pay my bills, as long as I can just get by. And a number of years ago, the Lord began to challenge that. He said, "Craig, if you have just enough, how can you bless other people? Because I want to bless you to be a blessing, but I can't do that if you have just enough." And He began to challenge that poverty, survival mindset that I have had ingrained in me for so long. And He said, "I want you to live with an abundance mentality of more than enough. You're coming out of survival mode."
For some of you, I believe this has to do with property. God wants to give you your own property.
You see, when they [the Israelites] were in the wilderness, they were always on the move. They were living in tents. They were living in temporary dwellings. But when they crossed over into the Promised Land, they could build their own homes. And as I was studying this, I felt the Lord say to me there are some of you listening to this, and the Lord wants to give you your own home. Some of you have been renting for years. You've been praying that you would get your own house, and it hasn't happened. And I believe that in the next three, six months—by the middle of next year, 2027—you will occupy your own home.
I was preaching (probably a year or two ago) in our own church, and just in the middle of my message, I got this word, and I said to the congregation, "There's a couple in here; they've been renting for four years, and you want to buy a home, and the Lord is going to give you your own home."
A couple came up to me afterwards, and they said, "That's us. We've been renting for four years. We want to buy our own home. We have an offer on a house which has come up right beside, nearly, where we're renting right now. Would you pray with us?"
I prayed with them, and you know what happened? They didn't get that house, and they were disappointed. But they held on to the word of the Lord, and about a month later, another home just down the road came up—a much better home at a better price—and within six months, they were living in that home.
A few weeks after I gave them that word, I was preaching about four hours away from my own church at another church, and I said the same; I felt there was an anointing for people to purchase their own homes. And a girl came up to me afterwards (she was probably in her mid-thirties), and she said, "Craig, I have wanted to buy a home. I had a bid on one and I thought I was going to get it, and I got outbid by thirty grand." And she said, "I'm disappointed, but I'm believing the word of the Lord."
You know, she messaged me about two weeks later, and she said, "Craig, you won't believe what happened. The real estate agent called me. The other deal fell through and I got it for thirty grand cheaper than they paid for it."
I believe, for some of you, God wants you to occupy. You've been transient; it has felt like you've never been able to settle, and I don't mean "settle" in a bad way. But I believe, for some of you, even some of the pioneers among you, there is this desire right now to settle. And like I said, not in a bad way, but you want to have a place you can call home, a place to raise a family, a place to grow a business, a place to get established, a place to put down roots, a place to find community. There is this longing. You don't want to be a vagabond. You want to keep that pioneering spirit. But for some of you there is this desire to get established in a community so that you can impact and grow and build something. (Photo via Flickr)
I believe the Lord would say, "You're coming into a building season. You're going from a wandering, provisional, temporary, vagabond season into a building and establishment season—building businesses, building homes, planting churches, starting ministries; establishing, initiating, growing, getting things off the ground and seeing them flourish. You see, in the wilderness, they couldn't plant. They couldn't build. They were always on the move. They couldn't settle. But in the Promised Land, they were able to occupy, build, grow, plant, and flourish.
I believe, for some of you (and I feel the unction of the Spirit on this right now), the Lord wants you to have your own land. He wants you to have your own home. And for some of you, you're going to be amazed that He's going to actually allow you to purchase it at a better price. Some of you will even find miraculous financial resources coming for it—towards it... The Lord is saying to some of you who have longed for your own home, "It's going to happen. I'm going to establish you, and I'm going to give you a place where you can grow and flourish and thrive."
Leaving the Past Behind
The next thing I believe the Lord would say through this passage is this: "There are some things, people, and places that can't go with you, and you can never go back to them."
You see, once they crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land, they never crossed back over to go back into the wilderness again. This was a final demarcation line. They never looked back and said, "Well, I wish we had stayed in the wilderness." And the Lord would say, "There are some things that you can never go back to." There are some relationships, there are some people, there are some habits, there are some things that have become ingrained in you that the Lord has said, "I want you to leave that behind and never look back."
For some of you, there are some numbers you need to delete. There are some bridges you need to burn. There are some contacts you need to get rid of. There are some people that are destructive in your life that keep leading you in the wrong direction. The Lord would say, "If you're going to cross over, you need to count the cost, because you can't go back to them."
There's even, for you some of you, some churches and ministries that you found so much identity and security in—and even status and position—and you know the Lord's calling you out of them, but you like the status; you like what it gives you. The Lord would say, "You cannot go back to that. If you're to enter into the promises I have for you, I want you to release that, and I want you to know that that part is your history, and it is no longer to be part of your future. And there is a price to pay; there's a cost to count."
The Lord would say, "I want you to count the cost." Jesus would often say this. No one builds a tower unless they count the cost (Luke 14:28). There are sacrifices to make. And it's almost like the Lord is saying, "How much do you want this? The price you're willing to pay, and the sacrifice you're willing to make will demonstrate to Me just how much you want what I have for you, because if you're not willing to let that go and leave it behind for good, it means you don't want what I have for you."
So the Lord would say to you, "There are simply some people, some places, and some things that you need to say, 'That is dead. It's part of my past, and I will never go back to that because I'm entering into the new thing that God has for me. Moses is dead.'"
He would say, "Stop trying to resurrect things that I have killed. Stop trying to resuscitate things that I don't want in your life. Stop trying to rebuild things that I have dismantled in your life. Stop going back to things that I have brought you out of. Do not go back to the wilderness. Don't even look back. Don't be like Lot's wife. Don't look back when I want you to move forward, because looking back will make you forfeit everything I have for you."
There's a cost for some of you to enter, and you must be willing to pay the price and trust God, that even though you can't see what He has on the other side yet, it's better than anything you're leaving behind. Because I have discovered over thirty-six years of following Christ that I will never give up anything for God that I will look back on and think, I wish I hadn't given that up. I will never outgive God; I will never out-sacrifice [Him]. Anything I have ever let go of or released or sacrificed or given, God has blessed me abundantly for. And Jesus said He would do that—pressed down, good measure, running over (Luke 6:38). You will never outgive God. So believe that anything you release, anything you sacrifice, God will give you it back in abundant measure.
The Best Is Yet to Come
The final thing I want to say to some of you is this: The best is not behind you.
Even after forty years of wandering in the wilderness, the best was before them [Israel]—even for Joshua. Scholars tell us that Joshua was seventy or eighty years old when he crossed the Jordan with the people. The best wasn't behind him. The best was before him.
I believe the Lord would say to you, "You're not too old. It's not too late. Your memories are not going to be greater than your dreams. Stop always looking back at the good old days, because the good old days are before you. The best days lie ahead of you. And just because it hasn't happened doesn't mean it won't happen. Just because the things I promised you haven't happened, I want to tell you that your best days, the glory days, the glory of this latter house, will be greater than the glory of the former house." (Photo via Pexels)
I want to say to some of you right now who have had disappointment, who have had hurt and heartache and rejection, and things have fallen apart—marriages have fallen apart, relationships and churches and businesses have fallen apart—I want to say to you that the best days are not behind you. The best days are before you... You're not too old, and it's not too late.
I believe the Lord would say to some of you, "It will be different this time. It will be different." That didn't work out the last time, but it will be different this time. For the people of Israel, it didn't work out the last time, because they allowed fear to control them, but the Lord would say, "It will be different this time." Don't put the template on of the past and the pain of the past on this present moment, because it will be different this time. Because that relationship didn't work out the last time doesn't mean it won't work out this time. Because that business failed the last time doesn't mean it will fail this time. Because that church hurt you the last time doesn't mean it will hurt you this time.
Some of you, you're in a similar place, and you're feeling old fears coming up because of things from your past, but the Lord would say, "It will be different this time, because your best days are not behind you. Your best days are ahead of you." And for some of you, I really believe this applies to marriage. Some of you have been longing and praying for a spouse, and it hasn't happened. And you think it's too late and [you're] too old; it's never going to happen. And I think for some of you, the Lord would say, "You're not too old. It's not too late. I have somebody for you."
You know, I as I was preparing this, I was thinking of a girl, Emma, who had been part of our church. Emma served as a missionary in Kolkata, India, in the red light district, rescuing girls who were being trafficked. And she had always longed to get married and have a family of her own, but it hadn't happened, and she was forty-two. And at forty-two, working in the red light district, the only men she met were the pimps that she was trying to rescue the girls from. I'm sure there was a tendency to think, "How could this happen?" But I want to tell you what did happen.
We were sending a team out to Emma, a team of ten people from our church, for two weeks to work alongside her. We had ten flights booked. At the last minute, somebody dropped out, so we had one space and one flight seat available. We announced in church there was a space if anyone wanted to step in, and a guy called "Kieran" came forward, and we checked him out—great guy. He went to India with the other nine, and he not only fell in love with India, he fell in love with Emma. Within the next year, I officiated their wedding, and about a year after that, they gave birth to their first child. She thought (or she could have thought) it was too late, or she was too old. But I want to say to you, you're not too old, and it's not too late.
God hasn't forgotten about you. God has His hand on you. God has good plans and purposes for you. And this is a time when you're going to see (not just some of you) a small change or a subtle change—a slight repositioning, a tiny recalibration. But for some of you, one decision, one action, one act of generosity, one conversation, one DM, one phone call—you have no idea the significance of it. But that one thing that seems small will unlock many bigger things, just like small keys open big doors, just like crossing the Jordan opened a whole new realm and a whole new reality. One small interaction, decision, conversation, act of service, act of generosity will unlock something in your life.
Everything is about to change for some of you, so get ready. Get ready, because the Lord has so much more for you as you cross this threshold. As you step across what He is placing in front of you with courage, with faith, and with a conviction that the Lord is faithful, know He has gone before you and He has prepared a way for you.
Let me pray for all of us right now: Holy Spirit, would you cement the parts of this word in our hearts that are relevant for each person listening to me?
Get Your Hopes Up!
I believe the Lord would want to say to you, "Get your hopes up." For some of you, you have lowered your expectations because of things that haven't happened, and you've almost become a little bit jaded and cynical when you hear things like this. I believe the Lord would say, "Raise your expectations. Get your hopes up. You're not going to live with hope deferred. You're going to live with promise fulfilled. And I have so much more for you, and just because it hasn't happened doesn't mean it won't happen."
This is the time of fulfillment. This is the set time. This is a kairos moment. And when the door opens, the Lord would say, "Don't look at it; walk through it. You have no idea just how significant this season is for some of you. So don't be carnal, don't be casual, don't treat it lightly. Understand the significance and importance of this season right now. Because the shift I'm bringing is not a small shift; it is a monumental shift, and you will look back and you will say, 'Look at what the Lord has done. I am so grateful to Him!'"
May the Lord bless you. May the Lord keep you. May the Lord make His face shine upon you. May the Lord lead you, guide you, protect you, and may you know His love, His provision, His grace, and His peace in Jesus' name, amen.
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Craig Cooney
HOPE Church | Daily Prophetic
Email:Â contactdailyprophetic@gmail.com
Website:Â dailyprophetic.com
Craig Cooney has been in ordained ministry for over fifteen years, leading churches in the north and south of Ireland. He is married to Becky, and they have a son named Elijah, as well as a labradoodle named Henry. Craig is the author of four books: "The Tension of Transition," "SPIRIT SPEAK," "I Hear Yahweh," and "When the Lamb Roars." His passion is to help Believers to hear God's voice for themselves and apply God's wisdom as they navigate through the transitions of life.
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