Michael Todd - Don't Waste Your Faith
All right, I’m excited about this series because I believe it’s about to change something in the fabric of the way you think about God. Okay, I need everybody to hear me say this: this is not just a catchy title so we can lack substance. I’m trying to bring as many people into this because I believe it can change the fabric of their lives. The Bible talks about us having faith the size of a mustard seed, and today, as I was approaching this text, I was trying to figure out, «God, what do you want us to do?» He said the same thing I told you at the beginning of the year: «Focus.» I want you to focus on your faith because your faith is so important to everything you’re believing for.
Most people have an anemic faith; your faith is malnourished, your faith doesn’t get to work out, and it doesn’t have what it needs. We’re believing God for big things with barely any faith, and today I feel like I have a spiritual gift to impart to everybody who has ears to hear. This is something that I believe God has gifted me to live. I’m not saying that from a standpoint of being hopeful that God will do some things I’m believing. I have seen God take my mustard seed faith and turn it into the building you’re sitting in. You don’t hear what I’m saying to you! I have seen God take my mustard seed faith and turn it into the movie set that I just came off of yesterday. You missed it. Charles, could you pass me a mustard seed real quick, please? I just need the people to see how small, how expansive, how massive it is. You can’t even find it; we just saw it. You got it?
Come on, oh Lord, he dropped it! Is it gone? You got one? I just need one—I just need one mustard seed, just one. Oh, did you? Don’t you have another one? There you go, yeah. All right, thank you, bro! I got three more if I need them. It’s so crazy that the thing the Bible tells us can move a mountain is so small that I could lose it if not taken care of. The thing that God says can literally change an entire geographical standpoint starts off so small that I could honestly not even see it. Y’all can’t even see it. Come on, 4K—that’s some expensive camera! Now look how much magnification has to happen for anybody to see what could change my next year. This could change the family line that I come from. This could reshape the financial trajectory of everybody with my last name. This could give me the ability to forgive somebody who is unforgivable!
Okay, so y’all thought the mustard seed was for things, but some of us need God to do a miracle that’s going to take this much faith. To believe that God can heal the disease. To believe that God can undo the damage that has been done to us takes somebody to say a little bit of faith. As I started to think about this mustard seed, I was like, «I don’t really want to talk about it until next week.» Because the truth of the matter is most people don’t understand faith at all. So I can tell you could have the faith the size of a mustard seed. This is an analogy, but if you don’t understand the essence of what faith is, how faith is used, and how imperative and important faith is to your life, you will think this is just another message instead of something that needs to be built into the foundation and the fabric of who you are.
Somebody say, «I’m a person of faith.» I’m a person! You didn’t say it with enough faith! Somebody say, «I’m a person of faith!» I’m a person of faith! Every believer should actually be a person of faith because you can’t get saved without it, okay? This year, I want us to focus on our faith. Over the next eight weeks, I’m believing that something is going to happen on the inside of you that will be undeniable. People who have been at the starting line, afraid to do what God said to do, are going to find that thing on the inside of you that’s going to make you step out and be everything that God called you to be. I’m telling you, I believe something is about to be awakened on the inside of you, that something is about to be stirred up. I’m getting happy already! That something’s about to get stirred up in you that’s going to make your current situation frustrating. It’s going to make you look around and say, «This is below what my God promised me!»
You’re going to turn around and say, «I can no longer live another year in this paralytic position! I’m about to get up and walk; this will not be my story forever, and this will not be the place I choose to stay!» Somebody’s faith is about to get shaken! So be careful listening to these sermons because your personality is about to change. The traits that you’ve been like, «Well, I’m just a…» You’re going to have to denounce some of the things you’ve just been to walk into what God is calling you into. «Well, I’m a background person, but I will come up front if God is calling!» Y’all got to hear me—I’m used to being here, but if God’s calling me out there, I’m going to do everything He’s called me to do! This is the moment where you don’t just have a mustard seed; you plant it. See, the problem with most believers is we have something we’ve never planted, and we would rather show people a mustard seed—"Look, I’ve got a seed! I’ve got faith like a mustard seed!"—and God said, «Put it in some soil! Prove that this has life on the inside of it! Water this thing; take care of it; cultivate it!»
Most Christians are walking around with jars of mustard seeds. I shouldn’t be able to see your mustard seed. It should be under something. I shouldn’t be able to talk about it! Look, it should be under prayer, under decisions; it should be under actions! My mustard seeds have to be under something for them to grow. Okay, let me stop; I’m getting ahead of myself. I haven’t even touched my notes yet. All I’m saying to you is this is the season where you no longer use what you haven’t had as an excuse for what God can give you. Amen?
One year, one decision, one choice can change your entire life. Today, I just want to show you how important faith is to your entire faith journey. Write this down: faith is paramount. It’s paramount! Now I know y’all have only heard that word when you see it in a movie, Paramount Pictures, but the reason it’s a mountain there is because it’s the top; it’s the peak; it’s the paramount. If you’re going to get anything out of this journey with God, you need to know faith is something that is so important to God that He weaves it into the fabric of every area of our spiritual walk. Very good! He requires—somebody shout at me, «Faith!» Y’all, okay, you’re going to have to wake up today.
Somebody shout at me, «Faith!» There it is! I’m just going to give you some facts about faith, and I’m going to give you a bunch of scripture, and I’m about to rattle these things off because I feel my health coming on right now, and I don’t think I’m going to get through this whole thing because when I start to talk about faith, I start to see invisible things happen. When I start talking about faith, something on the inside of me—the devil messed up and let me do this series because I knew God told me to do it! But as I’m standing here, Charles, there’s another level that’s about to come out of me. And see, this is the thing: I’ve used my faith so many times, and I’ve seen God do so many things that now it feels like I’m waiting for other people to catch up. But I just made a decision right now that I’m about to die empty, that everything God showed me when nobody was here, I’m going to see it come to pass.
That everything He placed in my spirit, I’m going to do it! I will not stop believing what God said to me! I will not dumb down His word because if He said it, it’s settled! He needs me to be faithful! Oh my God, something just happened on the inside of me! I’m sorry, y’all. Okay, I’m going to try to contain myself for the rest of this. Okay, Hebrews 11:3. Every time you see the word faith, I need you to shout it out, okay? Hebrews 11:3, put it on the screen if you can for me. All right, Hebrews 11:3, we’ll go NLT version. It says, «By faith…»
How was it done? How was it done? Not intellect, not planning, not resources, not connections—by what? I need you to understand that because all of those other things are necessary; they’re just not the starting ingredient. Many of us get stopped because we want our starting ingredient to be something more dependable. I need the starting ingredient to be an investor, a guarantee, a promise. This is the blueprint of how God formed the world, so He’s trying to set a precedent that what we need before we need anything is faith. He said, «By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed…» Yeah, so for everybody worshiping the universe, you can’t worship it because it was a created thing.
Just real quick, just neat—just the universe brought—no! God brought you! Okay, let’s stop. «By faith we understand the entire universe was formed at God’s command; that what we now see—every person, every piece of technology, every piece of shapewear you’re wearing, all of these chairs…» Y’all know some people are uncomfortable; all of these screens—all of it! It says literally, «What we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.» Guys, let me give it to you in just the Mike Todd version of it: write this down: faith formed the world! It was God having faith to show us a blueprint! He said, «I’m going to show them—I’m going to show my kids how to do anything on this earth.»
No matter what family they come from, no matter what generational patterns have been in their lives, I’m going to show them how to do anything by faith. By faith I can raise these kids; by faith I can step into this position that I don’t have any education to do. I cannot just hang on; I can innovate; I can become a leader! My deficiencies actually make me a perfect candidate to find a new way to do something that my education would have held me down from doing. Oh my! Somebody shout at me, «By faith!»
By faith! By faith! God can use this marriage that was broken and deformed and jacked up and turn it into something that is a lifegiving force to other couples who are older than me, younger than me, or more broken than me! Somebody shout at me, «By faith!» By faith! Worlds are formed! By faith, if you want a new world, start with faith! What about your world do you not like? Start with faith! Start with seeing what God says about this! Okay, I got to keep moving. Ephesians 2:8 and 9—"For it is by grace that you have been saved.»
Oh, we thank God for His grace, but it’s not grace alone; it’s by His grace through faith. Y’all, stop yelling! Faith! Y’all, that quick! I gave you one scripture, and now, I give you one more! You forgot about faith just that quick, and I think it’s an example of how quick we can see God come through for something, and then we try to get another formula the next time we need to use our faith. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve seen God; we believed God, and He did it, and then hopefully the next time it doesn’t take all that. Hopefully, I don’t have to believe like that; hopefully God does it a different way because that was a lot. I just want to let you know that faith is always going to be attached to anything God is a part of. You will always have to use your faith! «For it is by grace you have been saved through…» Through what? And this is not from yourselves; it is a gift of God—not by works so that no one can boast!
Let me write it how I would write it: faith is the guts of the gospel. Anybody that’s going to see God do something and somebody be saved has to have faith that when I talk to them, God’s going to make something change in their heart. I was at the airport yesterday, and the Holy Spirit told me to walk up to this guy in the bathroom and invite him to church! And I’m going to be honest—I missed that opportunity. Oh, y’all don’t want me to tell the truth? I’m going to be humble, open, and transparent! I was like, «My God, God, I don’t want to dab him up in here! I ain’t seen him wash his hands yet! This is awkward!» But what I told God was, «If you give me another opportunity, if my man is not gone…» I’m just being honest! I said, «I’m going to tell him… Mim is my witness.»
We get to the carousel to pick up our luggage, I walked straight up to the guy, and I said, «Yo.» He was tall; he looked like an NBA player—this dude was like 7'1», probably six-something, but it felt like seven. I said, «Yo, what’s up, bro?» He had his headphones in, so I did 15 seconds of my speech, thinking he could hear me. That was embarrassing. He popped out, so I had to start again and asked, «Hey, bro, you live in Tulsa?» He said, «Yeah.» I followed up with, «Hey man, have you ever heard of Transformation Church?» He replied, «No.» I said, «Perfect! I have a church for you to come to, bro—you should come this Sunday.» He asked, «For real, where’s it at?» I started, «It’s, um…» Then I asked, «Can I get you on Instagram?» We began conversing, and he said, «Let me just give you my number.» I panicked, thinking, «Give him my number.» Does he know who I am? He doesn’t know me, and I don’t know him, but God said, «Invite him to church.» He told me, «I want you to have faith that I guided you to him; I want you to have faith that I’ve been setting this up before you were born. I want you to have faith that it doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from; he needs to be involved.»
I don’t know if he’s here today. If you are, bro, what up! I just told our story. All I’m saying is, I texted him the location and told him to think about it because the guts of the gospel will require someone to have faith. Here we go; let’s keep going. I’m just giving you some facts about faith in the Bible. Hebrews 11:6 states, «But without faith, it is impossible to please God.» For he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. I always like to flip this one because sometimes the negative doesn’t inspire you, but the positive will. Watch how I put it: faith pleases God. It doesn’t matter if the outcome of your faith is the result you wanted. Every time you exercise faith, God says, «There my boy goes; there my daughter is.» They stepped out in faith. No, they didn’t get the job; no, it didn’t work out for them; no, they didn’t marry that person—but they exercised that faith! They are getting stronger in their faith.
See, too many of us attach our faith to an outcome when faith should be attached to obedience. Your obedience to do what God said may not change the end result, but it changes you. I still trust God; I still believe God; I still stand on His Word. This is where many believers get messed up because we think faith is the result when actually, faith is the action. Did you hear what I just said? Don’t miss this: your faith at work is never the result, because God may want something different to happen. In your ability in that moment, you may be using all the faith you have while God is like, «Look at their little self down there believing that this person they just met is their husband—oh no.» But they are really praying about it; they’re coming to me, acknowledging me in all their ways, and giving me the opportunity to direct their path. That’s why I had to expose Rome so she wouldn’t get caught up with him because that was a front, and I really have Jonte over here ready and willing. He just has a couple more things to get in order. It’s never about the outcome; it’s about obedience. Okay, some of y’all are looking like, «Come on, Dante, get it together.»
Okay, so we just told you faith formed the world, faith is the guts of the gospel, and faith pleases God. Hebrews 11:1 says, «Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.» Let me put it in simple terms: faith is the future. Most people think that the future is waiting on them; actually, the future is being created by your faith today. What do you have faith in for today? Because that is what’s going to show up in your future. Now, how would you live if you really believed that your future was based on your faith today? Most people think life is happening to them; they don’t understand they have been deputized to participate in the creation of their future. Oh my gosh, this is why I can’t get any amens; they don’t understand this, Brent. But if you could understand that God has chosen to partner with you to engineer your future, this is not just «it just happened to me» and «this just happened to me.»
God is saying, «Would you please get in the game? Would you please put your faith into action? Would you please stop being held back by excuses and actually become an engineer? Build something with what I’ve given you.» Pastor Mike, how can I do that? You can actually start using your faith. Watch this word—now! Did you see the beginning of that verse? It said, «now faith.» That means wherever you’re at, you can start now. Oh, I love the Bible because it shows you that in the broken place, now is the time to start building that future. In prison, now is the time to start creating a life of integrity. While you’re working on getting out of debt, now is the time to think and act like a millionaire. Why am I saying this? Because your present faith is creating your future.
1 Corinthians 13:13 says, «And now these three will remain: faith, hope, and love.» Only one person yelled, «Faith.» Thank you! Thousands of people—you in the pink, I see what God is doing in you. Here we go! In 1 Corinthians 13:13, it says, «And now these three remain.» Say it with me: «Faith, hope, and love.» But the greatest of these is love. I love that God gives us that. In the beginning, it was faith, and when everything else passes, faith will still be there. Put this in your notes: faith finishes when everything else fades. It said, «By faith, the worlds were formed.» So, at creation, it was faith, and He said, «When everything else is said and done, I will not look at your accolades. I will not look at how much money you’ve made. I will not consider how many people liked your photos on Instagram or Facebook. I will not count how many people you influenced; I will see how you exercised your faith. How did you put your faith to work daily? How did you put your faith on display for the world to see?»
I’m a person of faith. What does that mean? I have faith in what? No, no, no. My faith is on display. I want you to ask yourself this real question: how would somebody know that you’re full of faith? Because you come to church? There are faithless people sitting in the crowd right now. No, I’m not going to be idealistic about this because when we stand before the throne of judgment, God is going to say, «So what did you do with those 72 years? What did you do with those 13 years? What did you do with those 32 years? What did you do with those 95 years?» The Bible mentions in another scripture—I didn’t put it in my notes, but it says, «When the Son of Man returns, will I find faith?» Not, «Will I find big churches?» Not, «Will I find people who are balling out?» Not, «Will I find people whose aesthetic is physically pleasing?» He said, «Will I find faith?» So it must mean that faith is important.
I would like you to know that if you’ve been using your faith as a side thing in your Christian walk, you have mislabeled what God thinks about faith. Okay, so now someone’s like, «All right, Pastor Mike, I need some faith! How much faith do I need?» My question would be, «What are you going to do with it?» Because the amount of faith you need is determined by what you will do with that faith. Okay, if someone asked me, «How much faith do I need?» I would say, «To do what?» This is the problem. I have to make this clear: many people are wasting faith because faith is the substance that formed the universe. Think about how powerful that is! It takes invisible things and ideas and brings them into reality. The clothes you’re wearing right now weren’t real until someone imagined them. They had the faith to go into the invisible realm, grab something out of there, strain through opposition, get patents, figure out new technology, lose family members, and walk away from guaranteed money to pull something out of the invisible so you could put it in your closet. The car you drive? Someone pulled that out of the invisible, had to work through fear, judgment, not having enough, and not having cars designed like that.
The Wright brothers in North Carolina had to get together, agree, and pull out of the invisible with all their strength—even through failed tests, and with people dying—to create airplanes. It’s so common now that we forget it was once invisible. If you downgrade or devalue what faith can produce, you’ll never use it right. One of the biggest epidemics in the body of Christ right now is that people use their faith incorrectly. Okay, let me give you five things not to waste your faith on. Write them down because this is why some of you came today.
1. Don’t waste your faith on things discipline can delete. «I’m believing God that when I go take this test, I don’t have diabetes.» That’s a fork problem! Now, we’re in a huddle praying for you to believe God by faith for what putting down the fork would accomplish. You use all your energy, time, and effort, and end up saying, «Oh God, they said if I could just lose the weight and get my A1C down.»
I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, but when you’re done using your faith for that, often you don’t have any more faith left for miracles. Why don’t we see miracles like they do in the East? Because we have too many options! Miracles come from desperation, and here in the West, we have too many options. When the doctor can’t see you because there’s no doctor and you have to genuinely believe God, that can change your level of desperation. But we can choose to know we’re on the verge of diabetes and still hit Wingstop.
That’s too heavy for y’all. Many of you are wasting your faith on things that discipline could eliminate from your life. «Well, not everybody is at the same place.» No, they’re not! We’re all on different journeys, but tell me, where has discipline kept you from being where you need to be health-wise? And I’m not just talking about physically. You keep dating the same type of guy, you keep pursuing the same woman, and you keep entertaining situations. «I’m not doing that; I’m just flirting!» Shut up! You’re being undisciplined.
If you get attention, you’re like a dog: «Did someone call my name?» You sit there undisciplined, and now you have to pray for God to preserve your marriage. Now you’re praying she’s not pregnant, and now you’ve got to… See, I’m telling you, we’re using our faith for the wrong things because we lack discipline. I don’t care if you like it; I’m speaking the truth. Okay, if the church could ever stop using their faith for things that discipline could fix— «I’m feeling so tired, I’m so burned out.» Turn the TV off! Somebody needs to do it! You’re watching Netflix from 11 PM to 1 AM every morning because it’s your time to release, the time to numb out and not think about anything, and God is saying, «I need you to rest because I’m going to wake you up at 4 AM and give you an idea that will take you out of that job, but you won’t become disciplined.»
Okay, that’s only one of five. So y’all hold on! You only need healing where there’s no health. If you would become disciplined and go to therapy, you wouldn’t turn inward and become filled with rage, anger, resentment, and dark thoughts just because you won’t become disciplined. You’ll buy a purse nobody will notice after two weeks but won’t invest in your mental and emotional health. I need to say this: there are too many couples in here that have not invested in the greatest asset you have. If you would become disciplined and invest in that house, and if it’s cold in there, you have two separate cars so you don’t have to be together. You have these kids; they are your greatest accomplishment, but they’re just business deals. If you would invest in each other, it would change. That’s why we’re doing the Relationship Goals class, and over a hundred people were in there this past Wednesday night because somebody said, «I’m going to become disciplined about that.»
That’s why we did the Stride class, and people were out there working out on Wednesday night. Some of you need to be there this Wednesday; bring your shorts, spandex, and a big shirt, okay? Get in there and move something, shake something, drop something, do something, because I would rather you be embarrassed at the start than immobilized at the finish. Here we go; I’m trying to tell you how to use your faith, and you can’t use your faith if you waste your faith. So don’t waste your faith on things discipline can delete. I could do a whole sermon just on that one, but let me move to the next point because you need this one too: don’t waste your faith on things communication can correct. Lord God, just give me the faith to go in here and deal with these people. Oh God, I just don’t know how much longer I can do this job, but until you provide, I won’t move.
So God, give me the grace to deal with Sally. Lord, I want to slap Sally every day, but Father, it’s your grace and mercy that keep me from leaning in. I want you to think about this: I definitely think it’s important to acknowledge God in all your ways. I think you should pray about everything, but some are using your faith just to focus on your job because you won’t have a conversation. There you go, and you’ve adopted labels like «I’m non-confrontational.» How are you going to live this life? No, no, no, no. Sometimes when you adopt labels, you can say, «I don’t like confrontation,» but when you label yourself, «I’m non-confrontational,» you have to get over your words to do what’s going to help you. There are too many of us who have to jump over the wall we built to do what’s going to help us.
Have you ever thought about this: sometimes an apology is anointed? The communication of that apology could literally turn an enemy into an ally. There are too many people believing God to make another way because you cut off the way he made. Oh God, you’re believing God to send somebody else when the person he sent you just needs to communicate with you for a better understanding, and you wouldn’t have to use your faith for something that’s not here yet. Okay, that’s only number two; here we go to the next one: don’t waste your faith on things a budget can build.
Now, this one is strong because a lot of us use our faith to make it from paycheck to paycheck. Come on, a lot of us use our faith to say, «Oh Lord, if the gas doesn’t hit on the right day, and if the cable comes out…» The truth of the matter is most people I talk to who have financial problems have not been consistent with a budget for more than three months. You see how quiet it just got? Because everybody will get the planners, we’ll order something off Amazon, we’ll have it on an app, but consistency for more than three months? You can’t even find your real numbers. You all know you have to guess at the beginning of a budget, right? Like at the start, I think I was about 260 on gas and then about 345 on groceries, and entertainment like 22, 220. But without consistency, we spend our time saying, «God, would you just make a way? God, I shouldn’t have gone on that trip to Aapoko with the girls. Lord, it was fun, but God, this is not functional, and I just need you to do a miracle.»
Lord, and when He does it, clock it! Clock it! God did it! And you do that, but you still don’t make a budget. So since you won’t build today what you need, what you want to live in tomorrow, you’re consistently believing God to make ends meet and to make a miracle. By the time God says, «Well, believe me to tithe more,» your faith is empty. That’s why half the time I was talking in the money series, some of you were just like—you know the whole series, every time I came here. They’re like, «It’s because you’ve used your faith just to get here.» And I get it; I’ve been there. I’ve been so dysfunctional with finances at a point in my life that it was like, «I can’t believe you for anything except to keep these lights on, make this car payment that has 168% interest on it, because that’s all my credit could afford.» What I’m saying to you is maybe we can believe today.
Somebody say, «Now!» That the outcome of the budget is not what God wants to see first; it’s the faith to stay consistent with it. And let me tell everybody that has this clothes shopping thing—there’s a difference between someone who has style and someone who just puts on fashion. Yeah, you can wear the same outfit over and over again if you have style, and people will make it a thing like, «Oh yeah, he wears black, she wears—oh my God, did you see that thing?» You don’t have to go and chase new things if you’re in a season of needing to build the budget. Bishop told me this a long time ago; he said just a season—a season of actually cutting back and doing what’s necessary—can produce a lifetime of freedom. A season of less can produce a lifetime of freedom, but do you have the faith to create it? Somebody say, «Now!» All right, here we go; we’re going to run through these.
Don’t waste your faith on things integrity can avoid. Somebody came up to one of our pastors the other day asking God to pray that they had favor with the judge on an infraction we’re going to keep covered, but we think they did it. I mean, all signs were pointing to guilty—even the conversation. I’m not saying let’s pray for favor, but the DNA—there are too many people using faith for things that if you were just integrous, we wouldn’t have to be believing for that situation to go one way that will get you out. If you just didn’t take things that weren’t yours—stop taking stuff that ain’t yours! The pillows at the hotel aren’t yours! Oh, I’m in somebody’s business right now. Those aren’t your pillows! For you to bring an extra suitcase to stuff those pillows down in there and then have an attitude if they charge you on the bill—prove it! Prove it!
If they came to your house—think about the situation that happened to me where I committed car insurance fraud. There was no reason! I got into a car accident when it was snowing outside; somebody hit me, then drove off the highway. So I felt like it wasn’t my fault, then I hit somebody else, and I didn’t have insurance at the time. The five-year process of embarrassment and money—I was a pastor. I had to get up in front of the whole church and tell them, «Y’all, I committed car insurance fraud!» I had my parents standing with me, business standing with me; it was like I murdered somebody! No, I’m serious! It was embarrassing; it’s on video somewhere, thank God it isn’t on YouTube, but I had to do that because I was not a man of integrity. The consequence would have been less if I had chosen integrity in that moment instead of ignorance. Today I’m asking everybody to stop using your faith for stuff you could just be integrous about.
Okay, last one: don’t waste your faith on things a schedule can solve. Some of you are believing for God to give you another day in the week. Come on, y’all, how many have ever said, «If there was just another day—if we could just get another day: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, another day»? But the truth of the matter is if you got another day, you’d do the same thing you’re doing with this one! I’m finding so many people using their faith at a low level, so today, at the start of this series, I’m not even halfway through my notes, but I think I’m about done. I’m asking you to raise the function of your faith. Raise the—everybody say «function!»
You’re using your faith too low—that’s good! You’re using your faith too low. This is the same faith that the worlds were formed by, and you’re using it to make sure you get $1,200 for the apartment payment. What I’m trying to tell you is God can fix that, and He can fix it permanently through character transformation. Oh God, and we would rather everything be a miracle than management. We would rather God come through every month—oh, He made a way! You’ve got a reason to praise because you didn’t plan; you’ve got a reason to praise because you don’t have priorities, and God made a way! But He said, «That’s a low—» that’s what y’all are using! Yeah, that’s what I gave you authority for. People don’t even think about the authority we’re given to cast out demons. No, nobody thinks about it. We think that’s crazy!
One of the main things Jesus said is you will be able to cast out demons, lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover! We are using our faith to go on vacation, and there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, except a vacation could be saved for—let me give you a mental picture as we leave of how I believe your faith is supposed to look. You should have faith like a Ferrari. How many people in this room have ever actually driven a Ferrari? Hands up! More than one, two, three—anybody else driven a Ferrari? Four—maybe seven people? Now thousands of people are here, and seven to eight have driven a Ferrari. Why? Why hasn’t everybody driven a Ferrari? How much does it cost? You ain’t nobody going to trust you with their Ferrari!
So, anybody else? Why has not a multitude of people driven a Ferrari? No access? What if I told you that a Ferrari is not supposed to be an everyday drive-around-the-city car? What if I told you the reason why most of us have never driven a Ferrari is that we’re not in the atmosphere? A Ferrari was made for daily function. To go to the grocery store and drop the kids off at school? It is not built for that. The power of a Ferrari! Can a Ferrari go to Whole Foods, and can it drop your kids off at school? Sure, but the mean speed limit is 40 miles an hour. Do you know what speed the Ferrari was built to go at? What they call, on the Ferrari website, is the Ferrari sweet spot. It was made to be at top performance between 80 and 140 miles an hour. So, using a Ferrari to go to Sprouts is an underutilization of the power of the Ferrari!
If you are using your Ferrari to go 30, stop, 40, stop, 50, stop—it’s because you don’t have access to the atmosphere that it was built to go in! There’s a place called the Autobahn; it’s in Germany. It’s the atmosphere the Ferrari was made to function on! This is 8,197 miles with no speed limit! You don’t get on this highway unless you’re going a certain speed. It was created August 6, 1932, and the common speed limit on the Autobahn is 90 miles per hour. Some of you have never made your car go 90! That Hyundai has never seen past 74. You wouldn’t know what to do—take the wheel! You wouldn’t know what to do! But I believe that the reason your faith is supposed to look like this Ferrari is because there is an atmosphere that your faith can get into where it actually goes at the speed that God called it to go. We are not just believing for low-level things; we are believing for things that actually change people’s lives!
This is why I needed to come and tell you this: raise the function of your faith today because faith performs at its best when there’s a demand on it, and most of us have not put a demand on the faith that God has given us! If you get on the Autobahn, you better put your foot on the gas because it’s dangerous for you! There you go! To be in that climate and that atmosphere but not actually using the car’s full potential. I came to prophetically tell some of you it’s dangerous for you not to use your faith at its full potential in the season that God is calling you to! Faith like a Ferrari! But do you know what it takes to get on the Autobahn? This is where I’m going to start next week: audacity. Most people don’t have the audacity to believe God. You don’t have the audacity to actually say, «You know what? Nobody in my family has ever believed God outside of this four-mile block! For some reason, something is rising up inside of me that God has called me to more than this, and it doesn’t matter if I don’t have a blueprint; I’ve got Jesus. As long as I have Jesus, I’ll be able to go wherever He decides for me to go.»
So today, I’m making a decision that I’m not going to stay at this low level of using my faith; I am going to raise the function of my faith, and I’m going to have the audacity to believe God. I don’t know who I’m talking to in here, but I believe something inside of you is about to rise up, and you’re going to have the audacity to believe that that neighborhood is not where you’re going to stay. You’re going to have the audacity to believe that when you walk in, things change. You’re going to have the audacity to believe that if you speak it, things start to shift around what God is saying. You’re going to have the audacity to believe that that marriage can be restored, that those children will be saved, and that community will reflect the kingdom. Somebody shout amen!
Standing all over this place, next week I’m going to unlock your audacity. I’m going to unlock it because I can’t get to having faith like a mustard seed yet, because if you get it, you won’t have the audacity to plant it. I have to help you understand why this is important. Before anybody leaves or moves, I need you to hear me say this right now: faith is the greatest thing you need to focus on. It’s by faith that everything in your life can go from where it is now to, watch this—not where you want it to be, but where God intends it to be. There is a divine transformation about to happen inside of you, and today is going to be the first impartation. Would you lift your hands all over this place? I feel the presence of God.
Father, I thank You that every area of our lives where we have wasted the faith that You literally sent Your Son to die for. You didn’t just give us audacity; You gave us authority. Today, Father God, I’m asking that we will walk in another measure of faith. Today, Holy Spirit, give us the audacity to pray prayers that are outlandish. Give us the audacity, Father God, to feel scared when we say it out of our mouths. Father God, give us the audacity not just to believe in the idea of it but to put the works with it in the name of Jesus. Today, God, I thank You that You’re starting the engine inside of everybody under the sound of my voice. There is no school you can’t go to, young man, young lady; have the audacity to believe that God will fund where He’s called you to be. I feel that there’s somebody about to make decisions based on facts. I dare you to add faith to the equation. I’m not saying ignore the facts, but I am saying fill out the FAFSA, make the presentations, do what you need to do for the grants. There is nothing God will not do for those who believe. God, I thank You for raising the faith of Transformation Church. We are a church of crazy faith, but You never called us to stay in the same place. I thank You for raising the function of my faith. Father, I thank You that I will believe everything You wrote on that crazy faith paper like never before. You said this building would be filled three times over every Sunday. Father, I agree with Your Word in the name of Jesus. I thank You, Father God, that I’m raising the level of my faith. It doesn’t matter what I see in front of me; I stand and declare, Father God, that I am re-upping on what You said. Father God, I’m standing on promises that You made me, that nobody else believed. So today, Father, in front of everybody, I am making a fresh commitment to believe every word that You say. You told me what You were going to do for MJ today, Father God. I stand in fresh faith, believing every word that You said. God, I will not back down off of Your Word and Your promises. God, today I stand in faith. Increase me, God, and I know that comes with trial, tribulation, disappointment, and confusion sometimes. But today, God, if faith pleases You, that is right where I want to be—in the place of faith. Father, let this church never see any mountain and think it cannot be moved, because You said if we have faith the size of a mustard seed, we could see miracles. I speak to the one right now who is at the end of their faith or has wasted their faith on a different season; would You renew their strength right now, God? You said in Your Word that those who wait on the Lord will find renewed strength. Today, God, I thank You that there’s renewed strength coming to that mother and father, and there’s renewed strength coming to that young lady who just got out of that horrible relationship. There is renewed strength for the person who just had to file their taxes and it was more than they thought. There’s renewed strength for the people who just moved from one home to another. There’s renewed strength, Father God, for the one who is burying a loved one and trying to figure out their life all over again— the one who is grieving and the one, Father, who is giving. I thank You, Father God, that You’re renewing our strength today. God, we trust You, and we will have faith in God.
If you’re in this room and you’ve never put your faith in God, we can’t talk about faith at all without you being able to receive the guts of the gospel. It’s by grace through faith that we are saved. Today, the only reason I can get up here and talk like this is because I’ve seen God move so many times. I was addicted to pornography, I was a liar, I was a manipulator. You just heard me tell you I committed car insurance fraud. If we went through all my stuff, you’d be like, «How is he talking to me?» By the grace of God!
I don’t know how people live without the grace of God. Today I want to extend that to you. Watch this now—faith. You can give your life to Jesus and accept what He’s done by faith. And if that’s you all over this place or watching online, you may be in your pajamas in bed, you might be on the couch, at the gym, or at your workplace. Today is the day of salvation, and the church here is going to begin to pray because we know this is a moment that changes everything for you. If you’re under the sound of my voice and you’re ready to surrender, that means you’re throwing your hands up: «God, I’m not doing it my way anymore; I’m doing it Your way.»
If you’re ready to surrender today, God wants to take you to a whole new level. He’s the only one who, if you give Him your heart, He’ll help you change your habits. Stop trying to clean up before you come to Him. He is the cleaner. Today He’s going to do what you could never do. He’s going to renew your name and give you a brand new life, but you have to receive this gift. On the count of three, I just want you to lift your hand up, online or in this room. One: you’re making the greatest decision of your life. Two: your name is going to be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. I already see my man’s hand right here. Three: if you want to give your life to Jesus, I see you, I see you, come on, I see you, I see you, Transformation Church; I see you up there. B, I see you. And more than that, God sees you!
Hey, Transformation Church, we’re a family; nobody prays alone. Would you lift your hands and pray this prayer out loud boldly with me? Say:
God, thank You for sending Jesus just for me. Today I give You my life. I believe You lived, You died, and You rose again with all power just for me. And today I put my faith in You. Change me, renew me, transform me. I’m Yours. In Jesus' name, amen.