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We’re half way into January. Have you given up on your New Year’s Resolution yet?

Maybe you didn’t even make one because you know from past experience you’re not going to follow through with it anyway. Try. Fail. Forget. Give up. Try again next year.  Maybe.  It’s a vicious, annual cycle.

Growth and change are hard for me too. I have the best intentions but I’m not naturally very disciplined, I’m way too in touch with my own weaknesses and I’m afraid of failure. So you can imagine that making New Year’s resolutions or any resolution to try to make progress in an area of life is not something that comes easily for me.

It’s so easy to settle into the mindset that “I can’t do it and this is just the way things are”, isn’t it?

Moving From Can’t To Can

At church once, my pastor was teaching us a Bible study method called SOAP. You read a passage of Scripture, make an observation of what stands out to you from the passage, write down what application God is speaking to you from the passage and then pray about the application. That night we all read Ephesians 3:16-20 for practice.

I admit I wasn’t thrilled about the passage selection because, while I love it, I’ve read it a million times. Ephesians is my favorite book of the Bible and I found myself wondering what new application I would get out of a passage I knew so well.

Until…

I reached Ephesians 3:20 and a phrase in that verse stood out to me that I’d never noticed before.

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. (Ephesians 3:20)

Here’s my application from that night: God can accomplish more through me than I think He can, not because of my own ability, but because of His power at work within me.

This was significant to me because to this day I consistently struggle with feeling inadequate at pretty much everything. In that moment, though, a new thought came to mind. What if I actually can do the things I think I can’t? What if they are actually possible not because I am able but because God is able and because of His power at work within me, not my own power?

So here’s my question for you.

What do you think you can’t do? What do you think God can’t accomplish through you?

Can’t understand the Bible? Can’t have a strong prayer life? Can’t forgive that person? Can’t use your gifts? Can’t fulfill the calling He’s given you?

Can’t excel at school or your job? Can’t learn that new skill? Can’t break that bad habit? Can’t overcome that sin? Can’t share your faith with someone?

Not so. God can accomplish more through you than you think He can.

How? Not through your own ability, but through HIS mighty power at work WITHIN YOU. It’s true. You may, in fact, be limited in your strength, resources, connections etc. You name it. We all are in some way or another. That comes with being a human being designed for dependence on God. But God works through us to accomplish more than we could ever ask or imagine. Even the very thing you think He can’t.

What if you actually can do the things you think you can’t? What if they are actually possible not because you are able but because God is able and because of His power at work within you, not your own power?

Pursuing The Possible

I’m going to pursue God for His power to work within me to accomplish the things I’ve convinced myself I can’t accomplish.  Will you join me?

Pray these things specifically over those areas of your life in which you think you can’t do something:

1. Pray and ask God to help you believe that He can do infinitely more than you can ask or imagine through His power at work within you.
2. Pray for His power to be made evident in your life.
3. Ask Him for guidance on how to pursue progress and growth, one step at a time, and act on what He shows you.

You can do it, not because you are able, but because He is.

Let’s Talk: In what ways have you seen God do more through you than you thought He could?  In what new areas are you believing and praying for Him to do that again in your life?  Discuss this post in the comments below.

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