Expect A Miracle With Your Faith Plus Action

READ PSALM 37:1-13

MEDITATION: The first element to position yourself to receive your blessing; your miracle is faith. Whenever a miracle takes place someone on earth is believing. It might be the person who needs the miracle. It might be the person who is ministering. It might be someone praying for the one who is in need. The situations may vary, but the fact remains that it is faith in God which connects the power of heaven with the need on earth. For a miracle to happen someone has to believe that God is willing and able to do it—and do it now. “Does, then, the one who supplies the Spirit to you and works mighty deeds among you do so from works of the law or from faith in what you heard?” (Galatians 3:5) The answer is obvious. God works miracles because we believe! We could look at one miracle after another and see that truth in action.

• In Mark 5, when the woman with the incurable issue of blood receives her healing, Jesus says, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction” (verse 34).

• In Mark 10, when blind Bartimaeus receives his sight, Jesus says, “Go your way; your faith has saved you” (verse 52).

• In Luke 17, when the leper is not only healed but his body parts are restored and made whole from the disease that had eaten them away, Jesus says, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you” (verse 19).

• In Acts 3, when Peter and John heal the man who was crippled from birth, they give glory to the name of Jesus. And Peter says, “And by faith in his name, this man, whom you see and know, his name has made strong, and the faith that comes through it has given him this perfect health, in the presence of all of you” (verse 16).

It’s interesting to notice that the power of God isn’t mentioned in most of those instances, just the faith of the people. I think that’s because God’s power and His willingness to heal and work miracles never changes. The variable is people’s faith. Faith is the definitive factor. As important as faith is, however, that alone won’t get the whole job done. You can’t just sit around believing on the inside and doing nothing on the outside. For faith to come alive you have to take action. As James 2:26 says, “For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”

You can see the connection between “doing” and receiving in the very first miracle Jesus ever performed. I especially like to think about this miracle because it was clearly not a miracle Jesus planned to do. It was one that was drawn out of Him by the person who most wanted that miracle—His own mother Mary. John 2 tells us that she and Jesus were attending a wedding in Cana of Galilee and the host ran out of wine. Mary looked to Jesus to do something about it. He told her His time to do such things had not yet come but her faith was unshaken. She continued to expect a miracle and she turned to the servants and said: “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

What happened when the servants did what Jesus said? They saw a miracle. The water was turned into wine! It would serve us well to always remember what Mary told the servants that day. She said, “Whatever He tells you to do, do it.” That’s one of the major keys to receiving a miracle.

Whatever the Lord says to you—do it. If the Lord tells you to get up and run, get up and run. If He tells you to dance and shout, then dance and shout. Whatever the Lord tells you to do, do it! If he tells you to repent of something, you repent. If he tells you to forgive someone, forgive them. He knows what you can do that will bring you into position to receive. So listen for His instructions, then obey!

Once you have believed and acted on your faith, refuse to doubt or fear. When the devil comes to you and says, You’re not going to get that miracle. You don’t deserve it. Remember how many times you’ve failed God. Refuse to entertain those doubt-producing thoughts. Instead, just answer him and say, “Bless the Lord, I don’t get what I deserve. I get what Jesus bought for me. I get the mercy of God. I get a miracle!”

Every time I think about refusing doubt and fear, I think about the story of Jairus. Initially, when he came to Jesus his daughter needed a healing. She was very sick and Jairus believed if Jesus came and laid His hands on her she would be healed. But before that healing could take place, Jairus’ daughter died. Suddenly the girl didn’t just need a healing, she needed a miracle.

Do you know that Jesus wasn’t disturbed by that? He knew that God could work a miracle just as easily as He could perform a healing. So he said to Jairus, “Disregarding the message that was reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid; just have faith.” (Mark 5:36) We know that this worked because the little girl was raised up whole.

That’s a good word for all of us who are positioning ourselves for a miracle. No matter what the devil says, no matter what circumstances may say, no matter what our natural senses might try to tell us, if we’ll refuse to doubt, refuse to fear and keep on believing God, our miracle will surely come!

What are you believing God for this Lenten season? Do you know that God has great things in mind for you? Do you believe that no matter what is visible about your situation right now, that God has a miracle with your name written on it? What action is God asking you to take concerning your circumstance or situation? Is anything preventing you from taking that action?

ACTION: PRAY PSALMS 23, 55 AND 91 OVER THE CONTENT OF YOUR PRAYER BOWL AND BURN THEM.