For a miracle to get from heaven to earth, a divine connection has to be made. Miracles aren't magic. They don't just happen—poof!—because God decides to wave His miracle wand one day. No, miracles primarily occur when people put themselves in position to receive them.
To find out how to position yourself for a miracle, you can study the miracles in the New Testament. As you do you'll see patterns emerge. You will find certain elements were most always involved when miracles happen.
The first of those elements 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.
Galatians 3:5 confirms that. There the Apostle Paul, rebuking the Galatians for their legalism, asks this question: "Does He Who supplies you with His marvelous [Holy] Spirit and works powerfully and miraculously among you do so on [the grounds of your doing] what the Law demands, or because of your believing…?" (The Amplified Bible).
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, thy faith hath made thee whole" (verse 34).
- In Mark 10, when blind Bartimaeus receives his sight, Jesus says, "thy faith hath made thee whole" (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, "thy faith hath made thee whole" (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, "His name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness" (verse 16).
Just Do It
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, "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. Now there were six waterpots of stone standing there, as the Jewish custom of purification (ceremonial washing) demanded, holding twenty to thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to them, Fill the waterpots with water. So they filled them up to the brim. Then He said to them, Draw some out now and take it to the manager of the feast [to the one presiding, the superintendent of the banquet] (verses 5-8, The Amplified Bible).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. One time a man attended Healing School and during the meeting the Lord told him to run. He didn't want to run in the meeting so he ran out the door, ran outside and ran around the block. If you think that's silly, think again because he came back in healed!
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!
Kick Doubt Out
Once you've 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, "Do not be seized with alarm and struck with fear; only keep on believing" (Mark 5:36, The Amplified Bible). 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!
aka: Kenneth Copeland Ministries
For the last 50 years Kenneth and Gloria Copeland have been passionately teaching Christians all over the world how to apply the principles of faith found in God's WORD to their lives.
