Believing For A Miracle

As things in this world get worse by the day, many need people will need a miracle just to survive.  The Bible is full of miracles, are they a fabrication or were they real?  This brother has experienced many miracles personally which allows me to offer a testimony that supports the fact that the miracles written of throughout the bible are real.

Are miracles possible today?  For me?  For you? We already answered that.  Either the miracles in the bible happened or they didn't.  Either Gods Word is true or it is not.  We need to settle for ourselves what we believe and stand on it immovable.  What we believe determines what happens in our life.  If what we believed did not matter our faith for salvation would be foolish wouldn't it?  What we believe matters.

Faith

Casting down unbelief.  Mark 5, casting out demons, sick recovering, dead come to life, woman with the issue of blood.  Your faith has made you whole.  Believe He is God.    The tragedy for many is when they believe the Lord works somewhere else in someone else but He wont do it for them.  Why not for you?  Why won't the Lord work where you are?  No faith?  A whole generation today acknowledge Jesus as a great man who did great things but they do not acknowledge Him as God.  They no longer believe He can perform miracles, they dont even believe He answers prayer!   If we do not believe what He said, if we do not let Him be the God of the impossible, how will we ever see answers?  ...and He could do no mighty works because of their unbelief.

Hebrews 3:19 

... So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

Romans 11:20 

Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith.

Hebrews 4:6 

... Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:

Matt 13:58 
And so he did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief.

Christ stood in their midst and they did not receive because of unbelief.  They were hopeless people.  He marveled at their unbelief.

Why can't God do this in my life?  He can, believe.  Take Him at His Word.  Just have faith.  God is able, He is still on the throne!  Wherever the Lord is moving elsewhere He can and will move where you are if there is faith.  There has to be something in the heart that says "I believe God."  God is no respecter of persons if He did it for someone else He will do it for you.  Claim the promises for yourself.  Don't be satisfied with what God is doing elsewhere, believe for it here.  Set your mind and set your heart without faith it is impossible to please God.  He is looking for people who will trust Him in any situation, in any crisis.

Look back at what God has done and believe for what He is doing.  Lay hold of faith.  The devil watches and listens closely.  As soon as he hears murmuring and complaining and words of unbelief he takes advantage of that.  The devil is determined to rob our faith.  The devil is the father of all lies.  He targets the true believer with the most venomous of all his lies.  One of the biggest lie is you are too weak for spiritual warfare/battle.  The enemy comes with silky smooth voice when you feel down and weak.  He will cause weakness then tell you you are too tired to fight.  He is after your faith to rob you of your faith.  The devil has come to physically weary the saints.  Don't listen to the lie of the enemy.  Yes there is tiredness and weakness but shut the lies out and believe for the Lord's strength.  Don't complain, don't repeat the lies of the devil.  Fight, vocalize your victory.

Another lie, you are not making spiritual progress.  You are not growing you are not where you should be.  Don't compare yourself to others and dont measure yourself.  Leave your growth up to the Lord.  I believe in the God of the impossible.

One thing we can give God till our dieing day and thats our trust and confidence.  God wants simple determined faith and confidence in His Word.  Faith is the key ingredient to your miracle, hold onto it and fight for it at all costs.  When your faith seems low, ask for more hold on and fight through it the Lord will provide where you are lacking if you don't give up.

Patience

Hebrews 6:12 

We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised

The Bible promises many things, and how do we inherit those promises?  Through faith and patience...


The Lord Does All the Heavy Lifting

We play a small but important part in our miracle, we have faith.  Faith is something that can be built up and strengthened:

Colossians 2:7 

rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

But remember who is actually wielding the miracle power.  Remember you only play a small part in your miracle but you do play a part.  Play your small part and the Lord will work out His large part.

No Formula-Its not about being perfect or following a formula to the letter.  Do the things you know to do.  Do the things you remember to do.  Exert yourself but do not worry about following a formula.  What happened with Peter walking on the water?  Jesus told him to come out and he did.  Peter did not walk on water perfectly but the Lord grabbed his hand and kept him from slipping below the waves.

Sin-Unrepentant sin can get in the way.  Sin that you ask forgiveness for from the heart, He is faithful to forgive immediately so do not let the enemy lie to you and tell you your sin is getting in the way of your miracle if you have asked forgiveness for it and truly are repentant.

The Enemy-will attack you all along the way.

Focus On The Solution-Jesus and Peter walking on water is an example of this.

Matt 14:25During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

27But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

28“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

29“Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

31Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

When Peter took his eyes off the solution (Jesus) and focused on the problem (the wind) he began to sink.  Keep your eyes on the solution.


What Does the Word Say?
Do not consult the flesh, do not take counsel from your fears, do not take counsel from the enemy.  Where is your miracle coming from?  From the Lord, so take counsel from His Word.  What does the Word say about your miracle, about His promises, about your situation?  When you find the promises take them before the Lord and stand on them.  Stand firm before the Lord in what you believe.  We can stand firmly because we stand on what He already said!

Feed Your Faith (By Hearing)

Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Find a servant of God you can listen to who you believe is led by the Spirit and feed on faith filled words.  The internet has resources, free mp3 and videos you can feed yourself with.  This one is very important because many days you will not feel like reading the Bible or praying or doing anything else that is helpful.  What can you do?  Sit there like a sponge and soak in the Word of God by allowing someone else to feed it to you.

Always Approach the Lord With A Promise

Legally speaking the Lord is not bound to respond to your emotional appeals or cries (although He does anyway many times) but He is bound to watch over His Word to perform it.

We bring the promises to the Lord in faith not only to remind Him of what He already said (the Bible is full of examples of men of faith doing this) but also to convince ourselves.

Jeremiah 1:12

... Then said Jehovah unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I watch over my word to perform it.

Always bring His Word back to Him so He is bound to perform it.  This is not 'forcing' the hand of the Lord per se but rather doing what He told us to do.  I feel weird about any idea of trying to strong arm the Lord but when He tells us to do something we should do it.  He is telling us to find His promises, claim them for ourselves and stand on them until we see them fulfilled in our lives.  He watches over His Word for this very purpose.

What else does He say about this?

Isaiah 55:11 "so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

The promises He has given us are not empty.  They were given for a purpose and they will achieve that purpose if we will do what He told us to do, combine them with faith.  The promises combined with faith are spiritual dynamite.  They have explosive power we just have to have the patience to see the reaction occur before our eyes.

Legal Precedents

What has the Lord done in the past and what has He promised?  If He did it in the past He will do it again.  If He did it for someone else He will do it for you.  The Lord can be held to His Word, He encourages us to hold Him to His Word so when we step out of the boat onto the water to walk on water with Jesus we can count on Him to not allow us to sink.  Remember, when Peter looked at the wind and his faith faltered Jesus scolded him for doubting but He did not allow Peter to sink down below the waves...He grabbed him and pulled him up.  What a loving and merciful God we serve.

Believe That You Have Received

Mark 11:24

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Self explanatory right?  Once again this is about standing firm in faith until you see your miracle/deliverance/answer to prayer.

There Is Nowhere Else To Turn

When the enemy drags you down into the pit of despair and tells you his lies, remember: if we give up on the only source of miracles (the Lord) we have nowhere else to turn.  Is the world or the enemy going to give you your miracle?  No, they will offer you lies and death.  If makes things easy when you have nowhere else to turn.  Either we stand on our faith or we will not stand at all.

Isaiah 7:9 

... If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.'

Remember the Israelites before they crossed the Red Sea.  Before them they had an impassable sea and behind them they had the Egyptian army, what choice do they have other than crying out to God?  And what was the result?  Deliverance..

Shorten Your View Of the Future-give the Lord your tomorrows.  Moment to moment dependence.

Navy SEAL training/special forces etc.  The only way most of the guys survive initial training to get into the teams is by taking the hellish days moment by moment.  They do not entertain thoughts of failure and they do not think about how much more hell they have to endure.  They just focus on the moment and conquer the moments one at a time.

Dog training, how to train a dog not to pull on the leash?  Train them to keep their eyes on you by starting and stopping and every time they are watching you to see what you are doing they get a tiny reward.  The key is the dog gets rewarded for moment by moment checking to see what the master is doing and saying..

Don't Impose Deadlines On The Lord

The Lord seems to prefer to work your miracle at the last possible moment, or after what you think is the last possible moment.  Consider:

1Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. 3So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

4When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 5Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.

When you read the rest of the story you see that Jesus waited so He could perform a miracle.  He raised Lazarus from the dead.

38Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39“Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

40Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”

41So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

43When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

Our faith is being tested in this life and during the waiting period of our miracles.  The Lord wants to know that we are willing to wait however long it takes, in faith, for Him to work on our behalf.  When we do not impose deadlines on the Lord we let go and let God do what only He can do.  When we do set deadlines almost always we are setting ourselves up for failure.  The Lord is looking for open ended faith, not conditional faith.  Remember, "thy kingdom come, thy will be done?"

Don't Abort Your Miracle

This thing you are believing for is like a baby within you.  You can abort it through unbelief, unrepentant sin, or just giving up.  There are many similarities to pregnancy.  For example, I believe today the miracle I have been pregnant with just broke water.  I do not see the hard evidence of the miracle yet but as of today something changed within me that was like a light switch flipping on or like breaking water during childbirth.  I know that I know that I know without any doubt that it is close to complete.  It was like putting on a new pair of sunglasses in that I see everything now through a "post miracle" lens.  A corner has been turned.  I am using words to try to describe something that happens inside.

Let me say this is not a formula and each person is so incredibly unique that the Lord's way of dealing with you is likely not the way He deals with me but some things will be the same.  This awkward attempt at sharing with you this writer's journey is here because I was told to put it here otherwise I would not attempt to explain something like this.

Stay pregnant with your miracle until it is delivered in your sight.  Do not give up, do not get discouraged, do not accept the enemy's lies.  Hold on and in due time, after the season the Lord has set for your delivery you will see with your own eyes what you have been waiting for.


Think Bigger Than Yourself

Your miracle, when you get it is going to benefit more than just you.  Remember after you receive you now have a testimony that benefits others..So when you are suffering through your waiting remember your work of faith will benefit more than just you.  Believe for your miracle not just for yourself but also for those who will benefit from your testimony.  Words carry power, your testimony carries power.  Who knows how your encouragement to others might work out for them.  Believing and sticking to your faith might mean the difference between life and death in someone else's life when you share your true testimony with them.

Also, the darker the days get the more miracle power we are going to need just to get through each day.  The faith and patience that is built today could mean the difference between eating or not eating tomorrow, life or death who knows?  The Lord does not lead us through these sufferings for nothing.  We have to think bigger than ourselves.  There are a growing number of people today who have given up on prayer and faith.  You can be an example and a living testimony that the Lord still answers prayer and still works miracles.

When you get knocked down get back up.

Peter denied the Lord three times, did the Lord disown him?  Did Peter give up after failing?  Peter went on to successfully perform his work for the Lord.

The life of faith and belief is not a perfect line of success.  We are human beings and we are not perfect.  Along our walk we fight ourselves, the flesh, the world and the enemy.  Our walk ends up looking like a sinewave

Up, down and all around.  Sometimes we have more ups and sometimes more downs because this is a battle, this is a war.  The key is to not stay down.  We have to get up and continue to fight until we stand before the Lord.  Not until we leave this world will the fight be over.

After Your Miracle

During the fulfillment and after the actual miracle has happened in your life, the enemy actually has the nerve to ask you in your thoughts if it really happened.  For example after a person may be miraculously  cured of some disease, the enemy will come and ask you "did you really receive a healing?"  At this time at or after spiritual highs the enemy comes in with some of his worst attacks.  He does not want anything lasting following you forward.  What follows you forward?  The miracle obviously but also after you have seen your first miracle it becomes easier to believe for a second miracle.  Why?  Your faith has been built.  The enemy does not want this to happen so he comes immediately after your faith.

grace and peace