Miracles of Faith ~ Episode 227
What miracles of faith have you considered at length? Do you recall various scripture verses that discuss God’s healing power? Or the ability of Jesus not only to heal the physical body but more importantly the spiritual, the soul. In this podcast, join Felice Gerwitz and the challenge of the week to delve into the mystery and miracles that will change your life.
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Gosh, where do I begin? There have been so many miracles in my own life that I could take hours recounting story after story of healing, answered prayers, and events that would strengthen your faith and have definitely strengthened mine. In a few minutes, I will share a few with you. But first, let’s address what miracles of faith mean to you.
Meaning – Miracles of Faith
When we discuss miracles of faith it can mean many different things. The miracle of having faith to the more extreme. What do miracles of faith” mean to you, what comes to mind? Is it something spiritual; such as a deepening of faith or even a willingness to be open to faith such as a faith proclamation, (“Accepting Jesus as your personal Savior), or miraculous in the sense of healing?
I actually consider it to be both. Miracles of our faith happen when we least expect them and when we are open to seeing them in our daily life. Having a prayer journal that I’ve talked about before and a praise journal (even better) helps us to see with not only our eyes but with our hearts and give credit where it is due.
When I consider the miracle of my faith, it happened as a child, seeds planted by my parents, it floundered and then grew deeper when tested by fire. It could have withered and died but instead, it became stronger because I prayed the prayer of Peter, “Lord to who can we go?” But before I read Peter 6:60-69 it comes on the heels of the discourse Jesus gave when he told the twelve they must eat his flesh and blood – John 6:57-58- (Read on air.)
Can we truly say to the Lord, “Lord to who can we go? You have the words of eternal life – we have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” If that is true and you can say those words you will definitely see miracles in your life and attribute them to faith in God.
We should no doubt in our minds that God is who he says He is – but what about when prayer does not appear to be answered? We are told we should be confident in our faith and pray, but when it seems to have no effect then what? Read all of Luke 18 but in the parable of the Just Judge Jesus took us to task (and I say us because the Scriptures are for each one of us, not just the people at the time!) Here is Luke 18:1-8 (Read on air)
Wow, if the judge would grant mercy how much more will God? God cares about our suffering but God wants us to persist in prayer. Does this mean He wants us to work for it? Not at all – it means the more we pray the more our hearts will change and our desires will become more closely aligned with his over time. He may lead us to pray in a different way or to see that His ways are the best. I did a podcast sometime back about prayer and one of the ways the Lord answers is Yes, No, or not right now. Sometimes the healing we crave is deeper down in layers that need to be healed before what we ask for can be achieved. It’s the big picture we don’t see.
A better way to understand is to think of this as a parent to a child. We know how kids can ask for things or demand things that are not good for them, the most obvious is being with friends who will steer them in the wrong direction, such as toward drugs. Our child may consider us cruel, and unjust or a “punishment” for keeping them apart. Yet, after time maybe many years later they may see the benefit of the punishment and thank you. The same for our Lord. What looks like the most wonderful thing may be wrong for our eternal soul.
We know we can ask anything of the Father yet the Lord teaches in John 5:19-24. (Read on air.)
I think this Scripture is one to ponder and it makes me consider how amazing and awe-inspiring is our God! God can do anything. The prayer, “Please Lord make me a billionaire.” can be answered immediately but what would that do to our eternal soul?
Miracles happen I believe to increase our faith. I prayed once as I heard a tornado very close to my home (those thankfully are rare in my area), and as I did I received a sense of peace and it passed my home without any damage. Recently I shared about how our area was impacted by Hurricane Ian, and every time we prayed through that seemingly never-ending storm, individually and as a group I felt a sense of peace (and we did share in the destruction to our home and surrounding property) but we were all safe.
If I had to select one miracle in my life that really astounded me to the healing of God it would be a young man we prayed for that was struggling in his life. He had left a life of sin and was making an effort to include young adults to minister to the homeless by buying food and distributing it while sharing the gospel message. He was a friend of my daughter’s and she was always so encouraged when a group of her friends did this. And as a parent, I was rejoicing that my prayer, “Please Lord, let her find good Christian friends,” in college was answered. Yet, he was in pain, and one time while at my home on a Friday or Saturday evening, he really looked uncomfortable and asked for some over-the-counter pain medication. I supplied some, but on a whim, I asked if my husband and I could pray for him. He agreed. About a week later he called and asked if he could come to our home. He shared a miracle that happened. Apparently, he had some torn ligaments in his shoulder and was waiting to have surgery at some point. He was given shots for the pain and it had worn off, which was evidenced by the pain he exhibited when he was at my home. Well, he said later after he left our home the pain was excruciating so much so that he asked a friend to drive him to the hospital. Of course, we were in shock! Our prayers caused pain – oh, no!! But he quickly explained that while in the hospital they gave him a warm blanket but basically said they could not do anything for him because they did not have his records on his last cortisone shot and they didn’t know if they could safely give him another and he had to go to his primary care physician. So he did it first thing Monday and they were puzzled at his pain level and took exrays – it showed that the ligament in his shoulder was regrowing and that was why he was in such pain! His shoulder had miraculously healed. We began praising and thanking God! Nothing like that has ever happened in my life since then! But wow – what a miracle and how much so that this young man went to his young adults’ group and witnessed to what God had done in His life.
Friends I was hesitant to ask him if I could pray for him – and afraid that he might reject my offer. Have you done that, asked people if they want you to pray and they say no? I am so happy that I listened to that prompting of the Holy Spirit!
This week the challenge is to see the ways you can be used by God to pray for others and to document the miracles of faith you see in your own life and in others!
Add your own miracles of faith here for us to read and rejoice in God with you!
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