I can do… Phil 4:13 NKJV

We have been studying the great gift of working of miracles. Now, in review, who is the miracle worker? It’s you, in cooperation with God. With all the gifts of the Spirit, it’s not ‘all you’ and it’s not ‘all God,’ it’s you and Him together. I can do…through Christ. You ‘sync’ your desires with His, and seek to aggressively follow His lead.

…to another the working of miracles… 1 Cor 12:10 NKJV

Have you ever wondered why miracles seem to occur to the unsaved, or the newly saved, more than the more mature believers?

The Hindu woman had never been in a church. She came because she heard healings were happening. She couldn’t sit because she was so tormented by arthritis. We took her in front of the class. I laid hands on her and commanded the arthritic demon to come out! Then she sat down in complete peace. I said to her, “My Jesus has healed you. Are you ready to make Him Lord of your life?” She said, “Of course, my gods can’t deliver me!” And, she did.

The gift of working of miracles is the fifth gift listed in 1 Corinthians 12. Five is number for grace, the undeserved favor of God. To answer my question, I would observe that it seems that more mature believers tend to lose sight of the grace of God; that life with God becomes more legalistic ( got to do THIS, got to do THAT ) rather than relational, and the joy of salvation gets lost.

“Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matt 18:3-4 NKJV

The dear new one, in that same fresh joy, hasn’t learned yet that things from God have to be earned, as religion teaches, and so he joyfully receives. Jesus said that we have to become like little children to enter the kingdom of God. Yeah for play time!

Recover the joy of salvation, and the grace of God, and miracles will begin to flow again!

Now, let me ask the question – can you operate the gift of working of miracles as easily as you speak in tongues or prophesy? The answer is yes. Remember, it is a ‘gift.’ A gift is an expression of love. It’s not something you earn, or can be disqualified from receiving. You qualify because you are a born again child of the King. If you can discipline yourself to hear His voice and do what He says, you can operate in working of miracles as easily as any of the other gifts of the Spirit.

Let’s talk about how to prepare your heart to walk in miracles.

John G Lake would promise the public that there would be miracles, public demonstrations of the power of God, in his meetings. There were thousands upon thousands of healing miracles under his ministry and through his ministers. How could he walk in that kind of confidence? The key is in preparation.

But earnestly desire the best gifts. 1 Cor 12:31 NKJV

What are the ‘best’ gifts? Does God have ‘greater’ or ‘lesser’ gifts? No, just like He doesn’t have ‘greater’ or ‘lesser’ sons and daughters. We are all His BEST. So, why does it talk about the ‘best gifts’, and what does it mean to ‘earnestly desire’ them? This goes right to the heart of our cooperation with God.

The best gifts are the specific ones that He desires to be manifested in the particular situation. To bring those gifts into manifestation, He needs your cooperation. He needs you to earnestly desire in prayer those gifts that He wants to manifest, so that He can bring them forth by your act of faith. If you speak in tongues, you are to pray earnestly that you are given the interpretation of tongues. And you will! It works like that for all of the gifts. If you want to see miracles, if you know that others NEED to see miracles, pray earnestly for the working of miracles.

And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive. Matt 21:22 NKJV

What governs the ‘whatever’ of verse twenty two? The evil heart of fallen man, or the desires of God? Obviously, you can only ask God to receive the things that are OF HIM. You can pray for the gifts of the Spirit to come into manifestation. Think about that for a minute. How often do you pray for the working of miracles to be in operation in your life?

Let’s take it a step further. What does it mean to ‘earnestly’ desire, to earnestly pray?

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. James 5:17 NKJV

The phrase ‘he prayed earnestly’ could be more literally translated ‘prayingly, he prayed.’ You get the sense that in his prayers he gave it all he had, all of his heart, all of his strength, everything inside of him was poured out in prayer. We talk about the athlete who ‘leaves it all on the field,’ meaning that he has pushed himself to the ultimate degree to win the contest. When you have pushed yourself to your ultimate degree, which only you and the Spirit can determine, then you have earnestly prayed.

When I have honestly done MY BEST, my best effort, it’s easy for me to trust God, to release everything to Him, to do His best; and, He does. That’s when miracles happen!

but faith working through love… Gal 5:6 NKJV

Do you see the love in earnest prayer? A hireling doesn’t pray like that! It’s been said that if you have to hire a man to preach the gospel, you would be better off hiring him NOT to preach. The love you pour into your prayer energizes faith to see the miracle manifested.

Now, let’s talk about practical preparations.

Before I ever preach or minister, I try to get in two to three hours of praying in tongues. That’s just me! The Lord taught me years ago to always pray, like this, “Lord, without You I can do nothing, but through You I can do all things. Lord, right now, in this situation, I want to do my very best! I COMMIT MYSELF to ‘leave it all on the field’ so to speak, to accomplish your will. Amen.” I pray that before every teaching, preaching or ministry session…

The church hall was packed with over five hundred believers. I was ministering with two other ministers. I was given twenty minutes to lead everyone into tongues. As I had my doubts, the Holy Spirit spoke up in my spirit, saying, “What? You think I can’t handle this?” Then He showed me what would happen – when I first prayed, most people would not speak in tongues, but I was to have those who wanted to receive stay after the service, then lead them through deliverance without calling it deliverance, then have them line up, and I would lay hands on them individually, and they would all speak in tongues.

After the service, I sat on the altar, and a young girl in a white dress knelt before me, and asked to be filled. I said, “Let’s wait and see what happens…”

It happened exactly as He said. The line stretched out of the church and down the hillside. As I went through the line, everyone began to speak in tongues, little children, old people, young saints with glory in their eyes! At some point the pastor and ministers came back in and said they wanted to go eat lunch. I said, “Go without me. I’m staying ‘til everyone gets filled.” Someone asked me later if I was getting tired. No, I actually got more anointed as I went through the line! The Lord was in His house…

The last one to receive was the little girl in the white dress…

Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. Mark 1:35 NKJV

The early morning is your crucial time to meet with God and prepare for the day. Prayer is a two way conversation. You pray, God listens ( I actually had the Holy Spirit say one time, “I never heard you say that before!” When He said that, I fell on my face ). Then you listen, as God speaks. If you wait in that place of communion until He releases you, He will empower you with the gifts you need to be successful that day, including the working of miracles. Love you!

Remember dear ones, we must be about our Father’s business