What "There's Nothing That Our God Can't Do" means
"There's Nothing That Our God Can't Do" is a declaration of God's power. It calls a congregation to praise God as the one for whom nothing is impossible, and to trust him with whatever they are facing. This page covers the live recording by Passion with Kristian Stanfill, released as a single in December 2019 on sixstepsrecords and Sparrow Records. Stanfill wrote it with Brandon Lake and Jonathan Smith. Other artists have since recorded it, including Women Who Worship and Evan Craft, so your congregation may have met it in more than one form.
The scriptural frame is the angel's word to Mary in Luke 1:37, that with God nothing shall be impossible, and Job's confession in Job 42:2 that God can do everything. Both texts hold power and purpose together. God can do anything, and what he does is always wise and good.
That balance is the key to leading the song well, and the sections below keep returning to it.
What this song does in a room
You start the song, and a man near the front whose wife began chemotherapy on Tuesday sings louder than anyone around him. A few rows behind him, a woman who buried her son last spring stops singing. They heard the same title, and it landed in two different places.
A song that declares God's power will always meet both people, and leading it well means holding them together. For the first, the song is fuel for faith and prayer. For the second, it can sound like an accusation, as if her son died because someone did not believe enough. Your framing decides which song the room hears.
Framed as praise of who God is, the song does real good. The claim is simple enough for a room to catch quickly, and it lifts people's eyes from their circumstances to God. As a call to worship, it reminds a tired congregation that the God they gathered to meet is not small.
What this song is saying about God
The song claims that God is all-powerful, and Scripture agrees without hesitation. What Scripture never does is separate that power from God's wisdom and goodness, and each text behind this song shows the connection.
In Luke 1, the angel tells Mary that nothing is impossible with God, and Mary answers by surrendering herself to God's word. Her response is trust. In Matthew 19:26, Jesus says that with God all things are possible while answering a question about who can be saved; the impossible thing God does there is rescue people from sin. In Job 42:2, Job confesses that God can do everything after a season of loss God never fully explained to him.
So the song's confidence is confidence in God's sovereignty. God can do anything, and he will do what is good. Sometimes that means healing or rescue. Sometimes, as Paul learned in 2 Corinthians 12, it means grace sufficient to carry what God chooses not to remove. Both come from the same powerful God.
Scriptural backbone
Luke 1:37 is the root: "For with God nothing shall be impossible." Read it with the next verse, where Mary answers, "be it unto me according to thy word." Matthew 19:26 records Jesus saying, "With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." Job 42:2 gives Job's confession: "I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee."
Daniel 3:17-18 is a useful companion text. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego tell the king that their God "is able to deliver us," and then add, "But if not," they still will not bow. That is the posture this song needs: full confidence in God's power and full surrender to his will. Ephesians 3:20 closes the circle by praising God as the one who "is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think."
How to use it in a service
The song works well as a call to worship or early in a set, when you want to turn a room's attention to God's greatness. It also fits after a sermon on faith, prayer or the promises of God, and on missions Sundays, when a church is reminded that no place or people is beyond God's reach.
Consider pairing it with an honest song of waiting or lament, before or after. That pairing tells the congregation that declaring God's power and grieving unanswered prayer belong in the same church.
Use care at prayer-ministry nights and healing services. The song can carry a time of prayer for the sick, as long as your words around it trust God's will and stop short of promising outcomes.
Avoid using it to rally a room around a building campaign or a budget target. The song is about God, and attaching it to an institutional goal shrinks it.
Things to watch for as the worship leader
Watch your spoken words more than the song. The most common misstep is an exhortation between choruses that promises more than Scripture does, such as telling the room that everyone who believes will be healed this week. Speak about God's ability and God's goodness, and leave the outcomes with him.
Watch for the person who stops singing. If someone goes quiet, it may be grief, not unbelief. A sentence from the front, saying that this song is true even on days we cannot see it, keeps the door open for them.
Check the range with a few untrained voices before Sunday, and decide in advance how many times you will repeat any section. Declaration songs can run long when a band is enjoying them, and a congregation tires faster than a stage does.
Watch which version your church learned. If people know the Women Who Worship recording, compare structures before you introduce the Passion form.
A note for the team behind you (techs, vocalists, band)
Drummers, consider a steady, confident groove and let dynamics carry the build; rushing a declaration song makes it sound anxious. Bass players, lock with the kick and keep the lines simple. Keys players, a sustained pad under the quieter sections gives the room a floor to stand on when the band pulls back.
Vocalists, keep the melody clear and the harmonies supportive, since a congregation needs to hear the tune before it can declare anything. Techs, if your church has congregation mics, ride them up on the final passes. If the song leads into a ministry time, prepare a clean transition so the screen and the sound do not drop out while people are still responding.