Question 1

What are miracles?

Accepted Answer

Isaiah 41:19-20“I will plant trees in the barren desert—cedar, acacia, myrtle, olive, cypress, fir, and pine. I am doing this so all who see this miracle will understand what it means—that it is the Lord who has done this, the Holy One of Israel who created it.”Acts 14:3The apostles stayed there a long time, preaching boldly about the grace of the Lord. And the Lord proved their message was true by giving them power to do miraculous signs and wonders.Hebrews 2:4God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose.Miracles are supernatural events that point people to God. They are visible signs of God’s power, authority, presence, and love for his people. They help us know him, rescue us, encourage us to keep going, further God’s Kingdom work, and help us see his hand in our lives.Exodus 7:11-12Then Pharaoh called in his own wise men and sorcerers, and these Egyptian magicians did the same thing with their magic. They threw down their staffs, which also became serpents! But then Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.2 Thessalonians 2:9This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles.Not all miracles are from God. Satan and his demons have the ability to perform miracles, although they do not have the same power as God. We can tell when miracles are not from God because those who perform them will do so only to destroy, to advantage themselves or their own interests, or to lead people away from God.

Question 2

For what purposes does God use miracles?

Accepted Answer

2 Kings 17:36“But worship only the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt with great strength and a powerful arm. Bow down to him alone, and offer sacrifices only to him.”Daniel 6:27“He rescues and saves his people; he performs miraculous signs and wonders in the heavens and on earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”Micah 7:15“Yes,” says the Lord, “I will do mighty miracles for you, like those I did when I rescued you from slavery in Egypt.”Sometimes God uses miracles to rescue people.Exodus 10:1Then the Lord said to Moses, “Return to Pharaoh and make your demands again. I have made him and his officials stubborn so I can display my miraculous signs among them.”Sometimes God uses miracles to show his power.John 4:50-53Then Jesus told him, “Go back home. Your son will live!” And the man believed what Jesus said and started home. While the man was on his way, some of his servants met him with the news that his son was alive and well. He asked them when the boy had begun to get better, and they replied, “Yesterday afternoon at one o’clock his fever suddenly disappeared!” Then the father realized that that was the very time Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” And he and his entire household believed in Jesus.Sometimes God uses miracles to strengthen belief in him.Matthew 8:3Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared.Sometimes God uses miracles simply to show his love.Matthew 14:14Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.Sometimes God uses miracles to show his compassion.James 5:14-15Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.Sometimes God uses miracles to heal.John 2:7-11Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” When the jars had been filled, he said, “Now dip some out, and take it to the master of ceremonies.” So the servants followed his instructions. When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over. “A host always serves the best wine first,” he said. “Then, when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. But you have kept the best until now!” This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed his glory. And his disciples believed in him.Sometimes God uses miracles to help. This miracle was not for a life-and-death situation. The bride and groom would have been humiliated, and their hospitality to their guests would have been hurt, but more wine was not absolutely necessary. Still, Jesus granted the request. God cares about the little things in our lives as well—not just the life-changing ones—and he is not above intervening if we ask.Hebrews 2:4God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose.Sometimes God uses miracles to authenticate his message.

Question 3

How should I respond when God performs miracles in my life?

Accepted Answer

Luke 17:15-19One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.”Luke 19:37When he reached the place where the road started down the Mount of Olives, all of his followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen.When God has performed miracles in our lives, we should praise and thank him.Psalm 9:1I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done.Mark 5:18-20As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon possessed begged to go with him. But Jesus said, “No, go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.” So the man started off to visit the Ten Towns of that region and began to proclaim the great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed at what he told them.When God has performed miracles in our lives, we can best show our gratitude to God by telling others what God has done for us and giving him all the credit.Psalm 107:1Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.Luke 18:1, 7-8One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. . . . “So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”2 Corinthians 12:7-9So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.God does not always perform the miracles we request. Sometimes, he has deeper purposes that we cannot see. Even when God doesn’t give us exactly what we ask for, we can know that God’s love for us is eternal and unchanging. Our prayers always play the important role of inviting God to take action in our lives. Jesus encourages us not to give up praying, reminding us that if even sinful humans are swayed by persistence, surely our heavenly Father is listening! We can be confident that God always has our best in mind, whether or not he immediately responds to our requests.

Question 4

Is something wrong with me if I pray for a miracle and God doesn’t grant it?

Accepted Answer

Philippians 2:26-27I am sending him because he has been longing to see you, and he was very distressed that you heard he was ill. And he certainly was ill; in fact, he almost died. But God had mercy on him—and also on me, so that I would not have one sorrow after another.2 Timothy 4:20Erastus stayed at Corinth, and I left Trophimus sick at Miletus.God occasionally used Paul to perform miraculous healings. Yet in these passages, Paul describes the illnesses of two companions where no miraculous healing occurred. But Paul does not blame himself or God. Rather, Paul acknowledges that at times God, for his own good purposes, chooses not to perform miracles.Luke 22:42“Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”John 16:33“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”2 Corinthians 12:7-9So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.James 1:12God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.1 Peter 1:6-7So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.1 Peter 4:12-13Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.God doesn’t promise Christians easy lives. In fact, he promises the opposite. Sometimes, trials and struggles are necessary to grow our faith, refine our character, or accomplish God’s purposes. If God chooses not to remove a trial from our lives, we shouldn’t be surprised or fearful. We are in good company. Just as God strengthened the Christians of the past, he will strengthen us.Exodus 17:7Moses named the place Massah (which means “test”) and Meribah (which means “arguing”) because the people of Israel argued with Moses and tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord here with us or not?”Deuteronomy 6:16“You must not test the Lord your God as you did when you complained at Massah.”Psalm 66:18If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.Ephesians 6:18Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.James 4:2-3You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.1 John 5:14We are confident that he [God] hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him.Sometimes, we ask for miracles with the wrong motives. Greed, pride, and other sinful attitudes may be influencing our prayers, and God may be holding back to prevent us from indulging and growing those attitudes. Other times, we may try to force God into doing a miracle because we want to see one, rather than respectfully asking him to meet our needs. The more in tune we are with God’s guidance and his will, the more confident we will be to invite his hand to work.Matthew 7:11“So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.”Matthew 8:7-13Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.” But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed.” . . . When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!” . . . Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened.” And the young servant was healed that same hour.Matthew 13:58So he [Jesus] did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief.Matthew 17:19-20Afterward the disciples asked Jesus privately, “Why couldn’t we cast out that demon?” “You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”Mark 9:22-24“Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.” “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”James 1:6-8When you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.We may tend to be tentative in asking for God’s intervention because we feel that we are asking a great favor. We know God doesn’t always respond with a miracle, so we feel foolish for asking; yet we figure, “Well, it couldn’t hurt.” This is not the way God wants us to approach him. As our loving Heavenly Father, he wants us to approach him with trust and confidence in his goodness. We will not likely see God’s miracles at work if we cannot approach him with confidence.Luke 18:1-8One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’” Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”Ephesians 6:18Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.Persistent prayer reaps rewards.1 Kings 17:1Now Elijah, who was from Tishbe in Gilead, told King Ahab, “As surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives—the God I serve—there will be no dew or rain during the next few years until I give the word!”1 Kings 19:3-4Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”James 5:17-18Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.We may think of biblical figures as legendary, almost superhuman, but they were flawed humans just like us. Elijah struggled with fear, despair, and even suicidal thoughts—but he served a great and glorious God who protected and cared for him time and time again. We serve this same God, and he listens to our prayers as well.

Question 5

What keeps me from seeing more miracles in my life?

Accepted Answer

Exodus 8:17-19So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded them. When Aaron raised his hand and struck the ground with his staff, gnats infested the entire land, covering the Egyptians and their animals. All the dust in the land of Egypt turned into gnats. Pharaoh’s magicians tried to do the same thing with their secret arts, but this time they failed. And the gnats covered everyone, people and animals alike. “This is the finger of God!” the magicians exclaimed to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard. He wouldn’t listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.We won’t see a miracle if we are too stubborn to believe a miracle can happen today or if we think God won’t perform one on our behalf. Even Pharaoh’s magicians saw this miracle as an act of God, but Pharaoh was too stubborn to admit it. He convinced himself this couldn’t be from the hand of God. When we get rid of pride and stubbornness, we will be surprised to see how much God is doing in our lives that we have never noticed before.Exodus 16:2-3There, too, the whole community of Israel complained about Moses and Aaron. “If only the Lord had killed us back in Egypt,” they moaned. “There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death.”Numbers 14:1-4Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!” they complained. “Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” Then they plotted among themselves, “Let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!”The Israelites saw more grand-scale miracles during the Exodus than perhaps any other generation in Israel’s history; yet they doubted God’s provision and complained about his instructions. They even wished they could go back to slavery in Egypt! Ingratitude and bitterness can blind us even to God’s greatest miracles and blessings.Job 38:33-35“Do you know the laws of the universe? Can you use them to regulate the earth? Can you shout to the clouds and make it rain? Can you make lightning appear and cause it to strike as you direct?”Psalm 106:2Who can list the glorious miracles of the Lord? Who can ever praise him enough?Psalm 139:13-14You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.Romans 1:20Ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.Colossians 1:17He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.We may think a miracle is always a dramatic event like a dead person coming back to life. But God’s hand is at work all around us—in ways maybe not as dramatic as the parting the Red Sea but no less powerful. The birth of a baby, healing an illness, the earth’s awakening each spring, salvation by faith alone, the work of love and forgiveness to change someone, hearing the specific call of God in our lives. These are just a few. If we think we have never seen God’s power at work, we need to look closer. He is active all around us.