Sunday's Challenge

Weekly Challenge — Step Out of the Boat

Jane’s central challenge was simple and direct: God may be calling you to step out of the boat into a fresh season of trust and obedience. Here is how to apply that this week:

Challenge 1 — Identify your boat

What is the area of your life where you have been playing it safe — where God has been nudging you to step out but fear, comfort, or uncertainty has kept you seated? Name it honestly. Write it down.

Challenge 2 — Ask: am I all in?

Examine your level of commitment to God’s call on your life. Is there an area where you are holding back — finances, time, relationships, a calling — where full surrender is still incomplete? What would “all in” actually look like for you this week?

Challenge 3 — Trust God for one day

Jane’s story from the Philippines started with a simple response to God’s question: “Can you trust me for one day?” If trusting God fully feels overwhelming, start there. Choose one day this week to consciously place every anxiety, every need, every decision into his hands — and watch what he does.

Challenge 4 — Really pray

Set aside time this week — not quick, routine prayer, but extended, earnest, listening prayer. Bring the specific thing you are trusting God for. Press in. Ask him to show you what is going on. Be still enough to hear.

Challenge 5 — Share your testimony

Think of one miracle — large or small — that God has done in your life. This week, tell someone. A neighbour, a friend, a colleague. “We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.” Your story matters more than you think.



  Miracle Testimonies

THE MIRACLE STORIES:

1. Ivan’s three months that became 44 years

As a brand new Christian, Ivan deliberately stepped away from ungodly influences and volunteered for just three months with a children’s ministry in Sydney. He had no love for kids and no intention of staying. That single act of trust and obedience led to a lifetime of full-time children’s ministry and global training work.

2. The phone bill paid to the cent (Adelaide)

Ivan moved to Adelaide with no guaranteed income to run a struggling ministry and bookshop. In his very first week, he received a phone bill he could not pay. That same day, a lady came into the bookshop and purchased a collection of small items — paying in cash. The total was exactly the same as the phone bill, to the cent. God’s word to Ivan: “I’m in control here, not you.”

3. Jane in the Philippines — 500 pesos and a pair of shoes

Working as a young missionary in a remote Filipino village with almost no money, Jane grumbled to God one Sunday morning about not being able to afford shoes. God’s gentle response: “Can you trust me for one day?” She went to church and the pastor announced that a missionary in the US had sent money — 500 pesos for each full-time worker. It had never happened before and never happened since. It was exactly enough for shoes.

4. Poland — believing for 100, receiving 350

Ivan was told he would be lucky to get 10 children to a Pentecostal outreach in predominantly Catholic Poland. Ivan said to himself, “If they say 10, I’m going to believe for 100.” On the first day, 350 children came. Over five weeks, around 3,500 children heard the gospel.

5. The flip charts for India — $70 becomes $25, delivered to the door

God put on Ivan’s heart a specific set of evangelistic flip charts for 200 churches in northwest India. The cost: $70 per set, totalling $14,000 — money they did not have. Ivan chose to trust and obey. When he called the Australian director, the man offered a remarkable deal: $25 per set instead of $70, with delivery arranged to the exact location in India. The full $5,000 appeal was funded. The materials were waiting when they arrived.

6. Thursday prayer, Friday call, Tuesday email (Sri Lanka and China)

After withdrawing from two long-term mission fields, Ivan and Jane prayed on a Thursday offering themselves for two new nations. By Friday they received a call about Sri Lanka. By Tuesday, an email about China. Over eight years they trained around 2,000 leaders in China’s underground and government-approved churches.

7. The $2 coin that fell from the air (2012)

After three months of severe financial drought, Jane pressed into deep prayer and sensed a spiritual blockage. She prayed against it and felt God say the money would flow the next day. The following morning, a $2 coin fell from mid-air while she was putting on her socks. It was followed by a $100 cheque, a $75 online transfer, and further gifts — by Thursday Ivan had the full $1,000 needed for Mexico, with China to follow.

8. The car — $5,000 for Uganda (most recent)

Three days after returning from India, a friend called to say her doctor had told her she could no longer drive. She offered them her car to sell for ministry. It sold for $5,000 — now designated for a building project at a school in Uganda, Africa.

Jane closed by naming what she called the two greatest miracles of all: the miracle of forgiveness — that Jesus paid the debt for our sin on the cross — and the miracle of eternal life. Both are freely available. Both require trust and obedience.

“It’s often in that position of trust and obedience that we see the miraculous hand of God doing what he wants to do.” — Jane


Lessons from Sunday

1. One of the best positions for a miracle is trust and obedience

Miracles are not always spontaneous. Sometimes God is waiting for us to step out. Peter did not walk on water from inside the boat. The miracle met him in the moment of obedience. Positioning matters.

2. You need to be all in

Half-hearted commitment produces half-experienced faith. Ivan turned his back on destructive relationships and gave himself fully. God takes what we fully offer and does extraordinary things with it. Don’t hold back.

3. God often speaks through financial trust

The majority of Jane and Ivan’s miracle stories were financial. For many of us, money is the last area we surrender to God. Yet it is often the very arena where he most clearly demonstrates his faithfulness.

4. Sometimes you need to really pray — not just pray

Jane drew a powerful distinction: sometimes we pray, and sometimes we really pray. When the financial drought of 2012 was at its worst, ordinary prayer had not broken it. Pressing in deeply and listening brought both revelation and breakthrough.

5. God’s provision is specific, not general

The phone bill was paid to the cent. The 500 pesos was exactly enough for shoes. The flip charts arrived at exactly the right location. God’s provision is not vague or approximate. When he moves, he moves with precision.

6. Stepping out does not mean the answer arrives immediately

In the 2012 China story, Ivan had already booked flights and organised visas before the money appeared. Trust means moving forward before you can see the full provision. Obedience often precedes the miracle.

7. Your testimony is a weapon and a witness

Revelation 12:11 — “They overcame by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.” Sharing what God has done is not optional or merely inspiring — it is part of spiritual warfare and gospel witness. Your miracle story is meant to be told.

8. The greatest miracles are forgiveness and eternal life

Above all the provision miracles and financial surprises, forgiveness of sin and the gift of eternal life are the most remarkable miracles available to any human being. Both are freely given. Both require trust and obedience to receive.


5 Day Devotional

  DAY 1 — Get Out of the Boat

“Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.” And he said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. — Matthew 14:28–29

  Reflection

Peter’s miracle did not happen while he was sitting safely in the boat with the others. It happened the moment he got out. Jesus did something extraordinary — but Peter had to make a choice first. He had to trust the voice he heard over the waves he could see. For many of us, the miracle we are waiting for is on the other side of a step we have not yet taken. God is not asking us to see the whole path — just to take the next step. Trust does not wait for certainty. It moves toward the voice of Jesus even when the wind is blowing.

  Question

What is the “boat” in your life right now — the safe, comfortable position you are reluctant to leave? What is Jesus saying to you about it?

  Prayer

Lord, I confess that I have been waiting for certainty before I step out. But you are calling me to trust your voice over my fear. Today I choose to get out of the boat. Whatever that step looks like for me — give me the courage to take it. Amen.


  DAY 2 — All In

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” — Proverbs 3:5–6

  Reflection

Ivan did not volunteer for three months while keeping his options open. He turned his back on destructive influences and gave himself fully — even though it made no logical sense at the time. Proverbs 3:5–6 is not a verse about partial trust. “With all your heart” means nothing held back. Leaning “not on your own understanding” means releasing the need to have it all figured out first. The people who see the most remarkable things in God are consistently those who have decided to be all in — not because they are more talented or more deserving, but because they have stopped holding back.

  Question

Is there an area of your life where you are trusting God with most of your heart but not all of it? What are you still holding back — and why?

  Prayer

Father, I want to trust you with all of my heart — not most of it. Show me the places where I am still leaning on my own understanding. I release those areas to you today. Make my path straight, even when I cannot see where it leads. Amen.


  DAY 3 — I’m in Control Here, Not You

“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 4:19

  Reflection

The phone bill was paid to the cent. The 500 pesos was exactly enough for shoes. The flip charts arrived at exactly the right place. The $2 coin fell from the air. God’s provision is not approximate — it is precise. When he said to Ivan, “I’m in control here, not you,” he was not being harsh. He was being kind — inviting Ivan out of the exhausting work of self-sufficiency and into the rest of trusting a God who sees every detail and is never caught off guard. The area of finances is often the last frontier of our trust. But it is also often where God most clearly shows his hand.

  Question

In what practical area — especially finances — are you still operating as if you are in control? What would it look like to genuinely hand that over to God this week?

  Prayer

Lord, I confess that I act like it all depends on me. I hold tightly to my finances, my plans, my security. Today I release control to you. You have been precise in your provision before — I trust you to be precise again. I am not in control here. You are. Amen.


.

DAY 4 — Really Pray

“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” — Jeremiah 33:3

  Reflection

Jane drew a quiet but powerful distinction: sometimes we pray, and sometimes we really pray. For three months the financial drought continued. Ordinary prayer had not broken it. It was when Jane pressed in deeply — seeking God earnestly, listening carefully, and asking him to show her what was actually happening — that she received both revelation and breakthrough. There is a depth of prayer available to every believer that goes far beyond the routine and the rushed. Jeremiah 33:3 is a promise: call, and he will answer with things you did not know to ask for. But it requires calling — genuinely, persistently, attentively.

  Question

When did you last really pray — not just say your prayers, but press in, listen, and wait until something shifted? What is one thing you need to bring to God in that kind of prayer this week?

  Prayer

Lord, I want to move from routine prayer to real prayer. Forgive me for the rushed, distracted conversations I have called prayer. Today I press in. I am listening. Speak to me about the things I need to know and the areas I need to surrender. I am not in a hurry. Amen.


  DAY 5 — The Word of Your Testimony

“They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” — Revelation 12:11

  Reflection

Jane and Ivan did not keep their miracle stories to themselves. They shared them — in newsletters, from pulpits, in conversations — and God used those testimonies again and again to build faith in others. Revelation 12:11 tells us that testimony is not just inspiring — it is a weapon. It overcomes the enemy. It speaks life into people who are in the middle of their own drought, their own unanswered prayer, their own boat. Your story does not need to be dramatic. A phone bill paid to the cent. A coin from the air. 500 pesos for shoes. What matters is that God did it — and that you are willing to say so.

  Question

What miracle — large or small, recent or long past — has God done in your life that you have not shared with anyone lately? Who needs to hear it?

  Prayer

Lord, thank you for every miracle you have done in my life. Stir up the memory of your faithfulness in me today. Give me the boldness and the opportunity to share what you have done. Let my testimony be a weapon for your kingdom. Amen.