You’re Built for Miracles

We all love reading about when Jesus opened blind eyes and deaf ears in the Gospels.

Or when He healed the sick and cast out demons. We have no trouble believing He worked miracles. But sometimes we wrestle with the idea that we are to work miracles. Or even if we can.

We can. And we’re supposed to. That’s His Word!

As Christians, we have no trouble believing John 3:16. We know that we know that God so loved us, He sent the gift of His only Son so that none would perish and all might have eternal life. So why do we wrestle with John 14:12? Jesus Himself tells us that if we are believers we will do the works that He did, and even greater. We can believe God to deal with all the sins of all the world, but we have trouble believing that He wants to work a miracle through us? What’s the deal with that?

The Bible is not a salad bar. We don’t get to pick and choose what bits we like and what bits aren’t going to go onto our plates. If we believe one part, we need to believe it all. If we believe we are saved by the Son, then we need to believe that in Him we can do exactly what He says we can. Work miracles. To the glory of His name.

Jesus not only told us that we can do the works that He did when He was here on earth, He went out of His way to get specific about what many of those works were. In Matthew 10:7-8 He flat-out says that we are to go out there and heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, and cast out demons. He tells us that wherever we go, we are supposed to declare that “the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” You know whose hand He is talking about? Yours!

We tend to call the fifth book of the New Testament the book of “Acts,” but the full name is actually the “Acts of the Apostles.” Everything done in that book is done by a believer. God wanted to make it clear to everyone who reads the Bible that if they walk with Him, they are meant to be a miracle worker.

The book of “Acts” is filled with example after example of believers just like you working miracles to bear witness of the reality and victory of Jesus Christ.

In Acts 3:2-7, Peter prayed for a lame beggar and immediately the man’s feet and ankles were healed, strengthened, and restored.

In Acts 8:4-8 (NKJV), Philip was in Samaria. He “preached Christ” to the people of the city. And “the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip.” You know why? Because of the miracles Philip worked in the name of the Christ he was preaching. Demon-possessed people were set free. The paralyzed and lame were healed. And there “was great joy in that city” despite the dark social and political times. All because Philip put on display how great and how real and how mighty Jesus truly is.

And then there is the Scripture we started this chapter with. Acts 19:11. Where we see that God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul. How cool is that?!

Now before you start thinking, Sure, but that was Peter and Philip and Paul. They were mighty men of God, pillars of the first-century church. I’m just me. I want to point out to you that it says that God was performing the miracles through the hands of Paul. God empowered Paul to do it. And Peter. And Philip. And many other men and women in the Bible, and throughout church history. All God needs is a believer willing to step out. A believer willing to pray in faith that Jesus is who He says He is, has done what He says He has done, and has empowered us to put His reality on display to a world that desperately needs to see Him as much as hear about Him. All God needs is a believer willing to extend his or her hand, declaring the Kingdom of Heaven is here. A believer like you!

That’s what the book of Acts is for—to help you see what God wants to do through a believer. He wants you to see what He can do through you.

Have you ever read a book on revival or one of the great revivalists, and thought, I want to see that! That is exactly how God wants you to respond. He wants you hungry to see the miraculous in and through your life. That’s one of the reasons He raises up great men and women of God. He is putting on display how great He is through those men and women. In the hopes that even just one more will understand what He can do through him or her too.

Years ago when I was new in ministry I read every book I could find on historic revivals and the great revivalists. I found champions like John G. Lake, Smith Wigglesworth, and William Branham especially inspiring. I remember when I was reading the six-volume biography of Branham, I was about halfway through the second book when I was hit by all God had done through this man, even in the early years of his ministry. I wanted to see that level of the miraculous as an everyday occurrence in the church again.

I laid the book down and cried out to the Lord, “Where is the God of William Branham today?!” Almost immediately I heard the Lord answer deep in my heart, “Where are My servants like William Branham today?” I knew in that moment exactly what God was getting at. As He brought back to mind all I had read about Branham’s humble early life in the first volume of the biography, I realized that God does not need the brilliant. He does not need the gifted. He does not need the influential. He does not need the best of the best, the wisest, or the most charming. He simply needs the willing. Those who are willing to believe His Word, willing to trust in His truth, willing to step out in the measure of faith they have been given, and willing to declare that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!

Are you willing? Then let’s get you started.

Activate the Power to Work Miracles

Like with everything about the Kingdom here on earth, it all begins with knowing you already have all that you need in Christ.

For me it was Matthew 10:1. I remember sitting in my chair by the woodstove in my cabin up in the woods of Montana reading that passage of Scripture for the first time and getting so excited when I saw that Jesus gave His disciples authority to heal every disease and sickness. I actually jumped up out of that chair and declared to the roof timbers, “I am a disciple of Jesus Christ! That means He has given me authority to heal every sickness!” I couldn’t wait to find someone to pray for.

In First Corinthians 12, the apostle Paul was mentoring the church to help give them their jump-out-of-the-chair revelation that they could move in power and flow in the gifts of the Spirit just like him. In verse 10 he let every believer know that the working of miracles is not just for well-known, traveling apostles. It is for everyone who has the Holy Spirit of God. Paul comes right out and says that we have been given Holy Spirit power for the “working of miracles.”

Note that Paul didn’t say that we have been given power for miracles. He said it was power for the working of miracles. That very important detail is the key to unlocking this realm of power.

That word working is sometimes translated as “effecting,” “perform,” or even “acts.” In the original Greek the word is energeo, and it has two very important meanings. The first is “to be mighty.” The second is “to be active.” Put the two meanings together and you get the key to unlocking this realm. If you want to be mighty in the working of miracles, then you simply need to be active in the working of miracles. The more you step out in faith, the more you will see. And even when you don’t see something right away, being active in this realm is what helps you grow mighty in this realm.

Every minister I personally know who operates in any significant level and regular occurrence of the miraculous, went through a time when nothing seemed to happen, but they continued to step out and pray for people over and over again anyway. They did it because they knew who their God was, and what He had given them and called them to. So they prayed. Again and again. They celebrated even the tiniest of improvements. And one day, from being so active in the working of miracles, they saw an explosion of being mighty in miracles.

Before we move on, let me settle something that often comes up when I teach on this. It is not that being active in the working of miracles earns you a greater level of power or authority. It is that choosing to operate more regularly in the power and authority that you have, works to establish the realm more fully in your life.

Think of it like having a big, blue crayon. You will never see a page colored blue if you don’t take it out of your box of crayons and use it. You didn’t earn the big, blue crayon by coloring with it more and more. You already had it. Coloring with that big crayon more often, simply worked to cover the page more completely. You grew more mighty in the manifestation of the color blue, by being more active in coloring with that big, blue crayon.

I can’t promise that the first time you ever step out and pray for someone you will definitely see a miracle. But I can promise that if you never pray for anyone, you will never see God work a miracle through you.

The following are some practical ways for you to activate the power of working miracles.

1. Be on the lookout

Find someone every day to pray for. You can be on the lookout for people with canes, casts, walkers, or wheelchairs who might need a healing miracle. Or simply start a conversation with someone by saying, “Hi,” and then listen to what is going on in their lives. Maybe they need a financial miracle or a miraculous breakthrough in a relationship or work situation. Almost everyone has some situation in their life where they would love to see God show up. I would actually ask people that question during my miracle outreaches. I would listen to their story, let them know I genuinely cared, and then I would ask, “If God is as real as I know He is, where in your life would you most want Him to show up for you right now?” Over the years, many people who started out claiming they did not believe in God have let me pray with them from that simple approach.

2. Be expectant

When you pray, believe and receive. Expect the miracle. And remember that every time you pray, something happens. I can’t tell you the number of times I did not see an immediate miracle, but days, weeks or even months later I would get an email or a text with the good report of what our amazing God had done!

3. Never give up

Keep being active in the working of miracles. If you do, you will grow mighty in the working of miracles!