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