Dear Church,
Pray, with expectation, that Almighty God is responding.
Recently some great Christian scholars have written books containing testimonies of miracles. J. P. Moreland has given us A Simple Guide to Experience Miracles. Eric Metaxas published his book Miracles: What They Are, Why They Happen, and How They Can Change Your Life. New Testament scholar Craig Keener has written his massive, exhaustive two-volume study Miracles: The New Testament Evidence. He recently published another miracles book, Miracles Today. And Lee Strobel has contributed The Case for Miracles. If you are in need of some encouragement, check these books out!
Both Keener books, and the Strobel book, contain a miracle that happened in my church family. It’s about a man named Carl, who broke his ankle. This was sad for several reasons, to include that Carl was a long-distance runner who has run in the Boston Marathon more than once.
The Sunday after his accident, several in our church family prayed for Carl’s ankle to be healed. To our joy, it happened! When Carl revisited the orthopedic surgeon the following week, the radiology report caused the doctor to tell Carl, “You never had a broken ankle.”
I have the MRIs of Carl’s foot before receiving prayer (broken ankle), and five days later (no broken ankle). You can read Carl’s story in Keener, Miracles Today (pp. 76 ff.), and in Strobel’s Case for Miracles. (pp. 105 ff.)
When Carl came before our church, on a Sunday morning, and gave his testimony, there was great joy and thanksgiving, given to the God who still heals! Our people were gifted a fresh infusion of hope, which leads to the expectation that God is moving in our midst.
A Jesus-follower in the first century would go to church gatherings expecting prayers for the sick, demons being cast out, spiritual gifts manifesting, and maybe even a dead person brought back to life. What they would see in many American churches today bears little resemblance to that. Why would such things normally be expected? Because...
• Jesus did these kind of things.
• Jesus said his followers would do these kind of things.
• The Church was birthed in these things.
I often tell my church family, “We are a praying church!” In a praying atmosphere we offer many prayers, and experience miracles, signs, spiritual gifts, deliverance from demonic oppression, and wonders.
My dear sisters and brothers, where prayer focuses, God’s power falls.
Therefore, as you pray, be expectant!
Love, PJ
COUNSEL
Pray today with your physical eyes wide open.
Pray today with your spiritual eyes wide open.
Pray this: “God, let me see the things of earth, through the lens of heaven.”
From my book 31 Letters to the Church on Praying.
