499 Reasons to Believe God Is Just Getting Started
OPENING PRAYER:
Stir my faith, God, to believe You for things I can't yet see. Help me remember what You've already done so I can trust You for what You're about to do. Give me eyes to see that You're not done—You're just getting started.
"Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21 (NLT)
Paul wrote these words as a doxology—a burst of praise—after praying for the Ephesian church. He wanted them to understand that God's power working in and through His people isn't limited by human imagination or capacity. The phrase "infinitely more" literally means "superabundantly beyond." God doesn't just meet our expectations—He shatters them.
REFLECT:
Pastor Todd Carter shared that in just the last five years, Pathway Church has broken its baptism record every single year. Last year alone: 308 baptisms. In our 10-Year Vision so far: 499 baptisms. Through our micro-campuses (16 launched, with 400+ people attending weekly): 267 decisions for Christ and 76 baptisms in just this calendar year so far! Through global partners: 30+ churches planted, we’ve exceeding their 10-year goal in less than two years. Total churches planted toward the vision of 100: 46 churches in under two years!
Those aren't just impressive numbers—they're evidence of what happens when a church stops trying to fill seats with programs and starts actually living out the mission Jesus gave us. Todd said it himself: this has been "a ride like none other" in his 40 years of ministry. But here's what Rob Dakin, the elder board chairman, said that should wreck our small thinking: "I don't pray for 100,000 people to be reached. I'm praying for millions on a daily basis."
Think about that. The official 10-year vision is 100 churches, 10,000 new followers, 100,000 lives impacted. And we're already nearly halfway to the church-planting goal in less than two years. But one of the elders is secretly praying for millions. Not because he's being grandiose or unrealistic, but because he actually believes Ephesians 3:20—that God is able to do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. He said, "Why not? Because it's all about God in the first place. He's the one that's doing it in the first place. It's not about us at all."
This is the kind of faith that moves mountains. Not faith in our own abilities or strategies, but faith in a God who specializes in doing the impossible through ordinary people who are willing to steward their assignment. The 499 baptisms aren't the finish line—they're evidence that God is just getting started. And the question for us isn't whether God can do more than we imagine. The question is whether we'll believe Him for it and position our lives to participate in it.
APPLY:
Write down the "official" prayer request you've been bringing to God about your assignment—the reasonable, realistic thing you've been asking Him for. Now write down the secret, audacious, "millions" version of that prayer—the thing you're almost afraid to ask for because it seems too big. Bring both to God, but this week, pray the audacious version every single day. Ask Him to expand your faith to believe Him for infinitely more than you're currently imagining.
I WILL STATEMENT:
I will identify one specific assignment God has placed on my heart and take one concrete step toward it this week.
CLOSING PRAYER:
God, forgive me for limiting You with my small prayers and safe plans. You are able to do infinitely more than I can ask or imagine, and I want to live like I believe that. Expand my faith. Stretch my vision. Help me steward my assignment with the confidence that You're not done—You're just getting started. And use my life as part of the evidence that You do the impossible through ordinary people who trust You. Amen.
PRAYER REQUEST:
Share your prayer request and pray for others.