God has always worked miracles through people. Just think of the miracles of Moses, Elijah, and the disciples. If these people hadn’t partnered with God, there would be no miracles.
Our church has a responsibility to perform miracles in this city. We are among the few who have faith in God to perform miracles.
It’s our responsibility. It’s our calling. It’s our purpose. If the sick are to be healed miraculously in Owasso, it will be through us. If demons are to be cast out in this city, it will be through us.
If there is to be a financial powerhouse for the Kingdom of God in this city, it will be us. We are the ones who are willing. We are the ones who are able through our faith in the power of Jesus Christ.
That’s why today, I will help you tap into your faith for miracles. It’s already bubbling up inside you. I will help you pull it out and put it to work.
Let’s start by remembering a true story from the Azusa Street revival.
This incredible revival occurred in 1906 in Los Angeles, California. In a former warehouse and stable, creative miracles were released daily for three and a half years.
Missing limbs grew out where there were none, eyeballs filled in empty sockets, cancerous growths fell off, and lives were restored day after day as they encountered the glory of God.
Sister Lucille, who was part of the revival, would tell about the miracles performed on people with very bad teeth. She would have them open their mouths and stick her finger on the rotten tooth or bare gum if there was no tooth.
Many times, the new tooth would push her finger up. On the really decayed teeth, all the bad stuff would come out, and she would use a handkerchief to rub the bad stuff off, and there would be a new tooth. Even crooked teeth would straighten.
Lucille told the true story of a child whose adult teeth grew rotten and black from the start. The mother asked, “Will God heal this?” Lucille said, “God will heal anything. I love praying for teeth.”
Lucille asked for a handkerchief and a cup. She laid the handkerchief over the child’s mouth. She prayed, and then a handful of blackened teeth just dropped out of the girl’s mouth and into the cup.
Completely toothless, the child just kept looking at her. Lucille told her, “Now, Jesus is going to give you a new set of teeth, and we’re going to have fun getting them in there.”
She went through the child’s whole mouth, pressed on her gums, and teeth grew in one at a time. That little girl’s teeth grew in perfectly.
To top it all off, the child said she felt nothing when the rotten teeth came out. And when the new ones came in, she said, “It kinda tickled.”
I share this story with you because in 1910, it was prophesied that in about a hundred years there would be another revival like Azusa Street. Only this time, it would not be in one place. It would be all over the world.
There will be a return of God's glory and miracles. This revival will not be with just one person or just pastors. It will be with everybody in the Body of Christ. This time, the revival will not end until the Lord returns.
Who’s ready to participate in these amazing miracles of God? Let’s prepare for this revival by renewing our minds with the Word of God. We’re going to rid ourselves of wrong thinking.
Many people believe that God withholds miracles. They think God only dishes out miracles as He wants to, when He wants to, or when we’ve done everything perfectly. This kind of incorrect thinking prevents miracles.
The miracle already exists. Healing already exists. Prosperity already exists. Freedom already exists. But we hinder it all through our own doubt and unbelief.
It’s not that God has been withholding this revival for the last hundred years. Nope. He’s just been waiting for us to get to a place of receiving the miracles that already exist.
It reminds me of electricity. It has existed since the beginning of time, but we didn't figure out how to use it until the 1800s.
Before then, people doubted its power. They were scared of it. So they didn’t use it.
Adam and Eve could have used electricity to cool their tree house. Electricity was available to them, but they had yet to figure out how to use it.
God's promises are the same way. He promised you healing, protection, and prosperity. If you don’t have these things, you haven’t figured out how to use His promises.
He’s not withholding these things from you. Your fear and unbelief keep you from receiving what He’s already provided.
Did you know that the Bible only contains about 30 partial days of the ministry of Jesus? He went around healing for three years, and we only know a small fraction of it.
The Bible explains that if all the miracles of Jesus were documented, the world couldn’t contain the amount of books it would take. And we are to do an even greater amount of miracles.
I am done with this unbelief. Are you? At what point are we, as the people of God, going to stand up in faith and trust that God is willing and able to do whatever we need Him to do?
Thank God, Jesus told us how to get there. He gave us four simple ingredients for faith to work. Take a look:
Mark 11:22-25 NLT - Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.
In this short lesson from Jesus, He gives us four things that determine our ability to receive miracles from God:
Let’s break these down so we can get on with an endless supply of miracles. God’s will is for there to be no shortage of miracles in our lives.
Look at your neighbor and shout, “No shortage of miracles!”
Of the four, this one probably seems the most obvious. Of course, I have to have faith in God to receive a miracle from God. But the question I will answer today is, what is faith?
We all agree that we should have faith in God. Yet, we don’t really have faith in God.
If we truly had faith in God, we wouldn’t get worried when we experience symptoms in our bodies. We wouldn’t worry when we lose our job.
We wouldn’t worry about anything because, when you have faith in God, you know that no matter what it looks like or feels like or sounds likes, God is going to come to the rescue each time.
So, what is faith? Let me show you:
Hebrews 11:1 NKJV - Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Faith is substance, and faith is evidence.
If you just read over this quickly, you probably miss what it means by the word ‘substance’. To help you understand, I looked up the original Greek word:
Hupostasis - that which has actual existence, steadfastness of mind, resolution, confidence
Wow. So faith is knowing that whatever you’re hoping for already exists and you’ve already decided that this is how it is going to be. You’re confident, and nothing is going to shake you.
Let me sum it up this way:
It’s when you get to the point that you notice a symptom in your body and your first thought is, “Trespasser! Get the heck of here.”
And it doesn’t matter how long it takes for the symptom to leave, because you are fully confident that by His stripes, you are healed.
It’s when you get laid off from your job and your first thought is, “Alright. This means God has something better for me. Everything I need has already been provided.”
How do we get this kind of confidence in the Word of God? The book of Romans has your answer:
Romans 10:17 NKJV - So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Hearing and hearing and hearing and hearing. Notice it doesn’t say reading. It says hearing. So if you are reading silently, let me encourage you to read out loud.
This is why it’s so important for you to come to church as many Sundays as you can. Because we’re dedicated to helping you hear and hear and hear the Word of God.
But Sunday is not enough. If you want to be confident in the Word of God, you need to make a point to hear it every day as if your life depended on it. Because if you want to live the abundant life Jesus already gave you, it does depend on it.
So Hebrews 11 shows us two things. First, faith is confidence in God’s Word. Here’s the next one:
This may sound weird, but everyone believes in things they can’t see.
Our WiFi signal is all around you right now. But just because you are not connected to our WiFi doesn’t mean it’s not there. It’s always there. You just don’t see the evidence of it until you connect.
There are TV signals all around us right now. The fake news is all over this room. And I rebuke it! But there is no evidence of it until you plug in a TV and adjust the little antenna to pick it up.
God is broadcasting all His power and blessings 24/7. We can’t see it, but it is all around us. He’s just waiting on us to tune in. He’s waiting for us to connect.
When we ask God for something and don’t see it happen immediately, most people question God, “Are you here? Can you actually do it? Will you do it for me?” They assume because they haven’t seen anything yet, it’s not real.
We need to have more faith in God than we do in WiFi. We know that anybody can access the internet if they just connect, yet we believe the lie that God’s blessings are not for everybody. Ridiculous!
When we only pay attention to the physical realm - our symptoms, the bills that need to be paid, our broken relationships - we cower down and beg for God to show up and help us.
But when we open our spiritual eyes, we see that Jesus already defeated sickness. The windows of heaven are already open and pouring out blessings. God’s already given me wisdom on how to nurture relationships.
This is what moves you into faith.
So, when you experience a symptom in your body, you don’t act like it’s not there. You simply respond with peace. Jesus already took care of this. I don’t have to fear or spend hours on WebMD. I can rest knowing that this will not overtake me.
Just like the scripture said, faith is evidence of the things you cannot see. To make it even more clear, you could say that faith is the spiritual evidence of the things you cannot see physically.
Faith is when you open your spiritual eyes and see that what has been done in the spiritual realm is more powerful than what is currently occurring in the physical realm.
This is about the point where some of you are thinking, “Kade this isn’t normal. This is weird.”
Well, you’re right. This isn’t normal. But if you wanted normal, you wouldn’t be at NoLimits Church. You might as well let go of what’s normal because you don’t want it anyway.
The Apostle Paul explains this really well:
1 Corinthians 2:14 NLT - People who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.
If you think all this is foolishness, you can keep your criticism or simply ask God to open your spiritual eyes so you can understand.
He wants you to understand. He’s just waiting for you to stop being so stubborn.
Now that you know what faith is, let’s move on to Jesus' second point:
Let’s review that scripture again. This time, take note of how many times Jesus references speaking.
Mark 11:23-24 NKJV - Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
Wow. Apparently what we say is important. But also notice that if we want what we say to be done, we must believe what we are saying and have no doubt. Not even hidden doubt!
Let’s go to a healing miracle of Jesus to help us understand this.
Jesus was heading to someone's house to heal their daughter. On the way, he was followed by a crowd of people. Everyone was fighting to get closer to Jesus.
In the crowd was a woman who had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding. She spent all her money on doctors trying to fix the problem, and they all failed. Actually, they made it worse.
I’m not against doctors, but not a lot has changed in two thousand years. It’s quite common for doctors to take your money, give you lots of medication, and leave you worse than you were before.
Like I said, I am not against doctors. They have their place. But they can’t replace God.
And they are under a lot of pressure these days by a corrupt medical system that has nothing but a love of money. The system doesn’t care about you. It just cares how much money it can get from you.
So, beware. And find a good doctor who hasn’t bowed to the corrupt system. They’re out there, but they’re few and far between.
If you didn’t like that, stay tuned. I’m likely to say something else you don’t like.
So, this woman had given up on doctors. But she heard about Jesus. As she was working her way through the crowd, she thought, “If I could just touch the bottom of his robe, I’ll be made whole.”
She fought her way to Jesus, touched the bottom of His robe, and immediately the bleeding stopped. She was healed instantly of her terrible condition.
Take note. Before the miracle happened, this woman spoke faith. Take a look:
Mark 5:28 NLT - For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.”
Miracles require speaking faith. Even Jesus spoke faith after the miracle took place:
Mark 5:34 NLT - “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”
What made her well? Her speaking? Jesus’ speaking? Jesus’ touch? Jesus’ anointed robe? No. Her FAITH made her well. But she didn’t just have faith down in her heart. She spoke faith.
Now, let me show you what it looks like when your speaking sounds like faith but has no real faith backing it up. Thankfully, the disciples illustrated this for us so we know we’re not alone.
Jesus had just been up on a mountain having an experience of heaven. His appearance was transformed and His clothes became dazzling white. Moses and Elijah even came for a little chat.
I’m sure this was very refreshing for Jesus. I can imagine Him coming down from the mountain with a big smile on His face only to be greeted by a fussy crowd of people.
He asks what all the fussing is about and one of the men in the crowd spoke up and said:
Mark 9:17-18 NLT - “Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal him. He is possessed by an evil spirit that won’t let him talk. And whenever this spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid.
Okay. I mean, this isn’t the most uplifting situation. But, Jesus is a pro at casting out demons, so what’s the big deal? Well, the man keeps talking:
Mark 9:17-19 NLT - So I asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn’t do it.”
Uh oh. I imagine Jesus’ smile disappeared at this point because He immediately rebuked His disciples pretty sternly. Take a look for yourself:
Mark 9:17-19 NLT - Jesus said to them, “You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”
This is what happens when your speaking sounds like faith but there is really no faith backing it up. People get aggravated at the lack of results, and so does Jesus.
They brought the boy to Jesus and as soon as the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a convulsion. The boy fell to the ground and started foaming at the mouth.
Put yourself there with Jesus at this moment. You’d probably be scared spitless. But Jesus was completely calm while all this was going on and engaged in a little small talk with the parents.
He asked how long this has been happening. The parents explained how it had been going on for a while and how the evil spirit would often try to kill the boy. Then they said, “Help us, if you can.”
Uh oh. Not only are the disciples lacking faith. But the parents are too. So Jesus gives them an opportunity to hear the Word of God. Why? Because faith comes by hearing. Take a look at what He said:
Mark 9:23 NLT - “What do you mean, If I can?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”
This brings out a new layer in the importance of speaking faith:
When someone is struggling to receive a miracle, our response tends to be, “I’m so sorry. I don’t know why it’s not working. Maybe God wants to use your suffering to help others.”
Stop that nonsense and use the opportunity to speak faith by speaking God’s Word over their lives. “You are more than a conquer through Christ. By His stripes, you are already healed.”
Then we think, “Yeah, but what if I give them false hope? What if I speak healing and then they die?” Well, wouldn’t you rather your last words to them be filled with faith rather than doubt?
Take every opportunity to speak faith. Resist the pity party and speak God’s Word instead.
When I became a pastor, I was invited to a pastor’s prayer meeting. On my way there, I imagined a very powerful time of prayer. Ten pastors who preach God’s Word every Sunday would come together to pray. Wow, this is going to be good!
Imagine my surprise when I had to endure about thirty minutes of griping and complaining. Every one of them had some kind of struggle or overwhelming challenge in their life.
Then it came time to pray, and their prayers followed suit. Their prayers sounded religious, “Oh God, if it is your will, deliver me from this destruction,” but in reality, they were just griping, complaining, and doubting.
They were fussing to God about the world falling apart and how hard it was to be a pastor during these times. I wanted to interrupt the prayer and say, “You all need to turn off the fake news.”
Good grief. If you listen to the news more than you hear the Word of God, you’ll find yourself in the same predicament. The weight of the world will be on your shoulders.
But you don’t have to carry that weight. Jesus’ yoke is easy. His burden is light. He gives you peace in the midst of chaos. He gives you joy in the midst of sorrow.
So, I painfully listened as these pastors finished their gripey prayers, and then it came my turn to pray, I took the opportunity to speak faith.
I prayed, “Lord, thank you for allowing us to live in this time. It’s an exciting time to be alive because you are moving. You’ve given us everything we need to be a light in the darkness. And how bright that light is in a darkness that seems so great.”
I continued along these lines and I imagine several in the room wondered what I was on. It ain’t drugs! Not even marijuana. It’s the Holy Spirit. I’m full of peace, joy, hope, strength, boldness, truth, and every good thing that comes from God.
You know why I prayed like this in the midst of everyone else complaining? Because:
That’s what Jesus did with this little boy. Take a look at how it turned out:
Mark 9:25-27 NLT - When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing, he rebuked the evil spirit. “Listen, you spirit that makes this boy unable to hear and speak,” he said. “I command you to come out of this child and never enter him again!” Then the spirit screamed and threw the boy into another violent convulsion and left him. The boy appeared to be dead. A murmur ran through the crowd as people said, “He’s dead.”
Well, crap. Sometimes you speak faith and it looks like you got the opposite result. And people will look at you and say, “See! You should have just complained with us instead of giving people false hope.”
But this crowd of doubters didn’t bother Jesus. And you shouldn’t let them bother you. When it looks like it didn’t work, here’s what you do next:
Mark 9:25-27 NLT - But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and he stood up.
Put action to your faith. Have faith. Speak faith. And put action to your faith. Just don’t give up!
Jesus gave us four ingredients to make faith work. We’ve covered two of them. Let’s continue on with the next: eliminate doubt.
Doubt would be easy to get rid of if we could find it. The problem is, it is good at hide and seek. But I am going to let you in on its top three hiding spots.
Sometimes you just don’t know. The Bible says faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God, but there are just some things you haven’t heard yet. So you doubt God simply because you don’t know something about God.
For example, you may have grown up in poverty. That’s all you know. You have no idea that God wants you to have more than enough, so you think that God must want you to be poor.
The way out of this kind of doubt is simple - invest more time into hearing the Word of God.
This is basically the same thing but requires a bit more tenacity to get rid of.
It’s like if I was teaching using a blackboard. If it was blank, all I would have to do is start writing on it. But if it was full of wrong teaching, I’d have to clean all that off first.
If you’ve been taught that God made you sick, or that this is punishment for your sin, or that God somehow gets glory out of you being sick or poor, then the antidote is the same: you need to hear the Word of God.
Look up every scripture you can find about God’s healing and provision. Listen to every message you can find on YouTube about God’s healing provision. Keep filling your mind with the truth until you get it.
So, these first two types of doubt - ignorance and wrong teaching - are overcome by hearing God's Word. Here’s the third one:
If you pray for someone to be healed and they end up dying, that circumstance is going to make you think, “This doesn’t work.”
If you’ve been sick for years, your circumstance is going to make you think, “God doesn’t want to heal me.”
So how do you overcome this kind of doubt? We find the answer in one of the healing miracles of Jesus. We already read the story when the disciples couldn’t cast the demon out of the little boy.
Why couldn’t they cast it out? Because of their unbelief. And clearly, it was hidden unbelief because they had no idea they had it. They had to ask Jesus what was up. Here’s what He said:
Matthew 17:21 NKJV - This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.
Most people read this story and think that Jesus was saying, “This kind of demon only goes out by prayer and fasting.” But He was not talking about the demon here. He was talking about their doubt.
This kind of DOUBT does not go out except by prayer and fasting.
So, the antidote to circumstantial doubt is prayer and fasting.
You’re getting excited, aren’t you? I mean, everyone loves a good fast. Not really. But at least we know what to do. When we have circumstantial doubt, prayer and fasting gets rid of it.
Are you realizing that God has never withheld miracles? It’s always been us who get in the way of our own faith. But now you know how to overcome doubt, so get to it.
Take every opportunity to hear the Word of God. And when doubt creeps in because of past circumstances, it’s time to hit your prayer closet and treat yourself to a good fast.
When it comes to a lack of miracles, the main culprit is doubt. But it’s not the only culprit. Sometimes, it’s unforgiveness. That’s why Jesus gave us the fourth ingredient for faith to work:
Over and over in the Bible, you will find that forgiveness is a big deal to God. He wants you to live in a constant state of forgiveness toward others. Why? Because we have opportunities to forgive every day.
People are people. They give you weird looks. They gossip about you. They even assume things that aren’t even true. Even those closest to you will do these things!
Sometimes, we are able to forgive within a few hours or at least a few days. But other times, we hold grudges for a looong time.
Is it worth it? Do you really want to trade miracles for unforgiveness? Jesus made it clear: you cannot have both.
I’ve noticed that some people have a hard time forgiving. We’re going to break that stronghold today. Since you have the power of God inside of you, it should be easy to forgive.
There are three simple steps to get there.
You’re probably thinking, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ve already done that. What’s the next step?”
But can I propose that many Christians know about God’s forgiveness, but have yet to receive God’s forgiveness?
The reason I know this is because I hear from people all the time who think they don’t deserve anything from God because of their past. Or they think they deserve the sickness or hardship they are dealing with because of their past.
When you truly receive God’s forgiveness, you don’t think like that anymore. You don’t give any power to your past because Jesus wiped it away. Why would I continue to think about it?
And when I mess up again, Jesus already provided forgiveness for that too. My job is simply to receive forgiveness, turn back toward God, and move on. No regrets. Repent and move forward.
Have you really received God’s forgiveness? Because God is trying to hand you the gift. You just have to reach out and take it.
God is eager for you to receive His forgiveness. Let me show you in God’s own words:
Isaiah 1:18 NLT - “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord . “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.”
This is God’s invitation to you. He says, “Come. Let’s settle this once and for all.” Quit trying to earn it. Quit trying to do enough right things to cancel out the wrong things.
Just receive the forgiveness that God has given you in Christ.
So, the first reason that many people struggle to forgive others is because they haven’t yet received God’s forgiveness.
If you spend your entire life trying to earn God’s forgiveness, you will expect everyone else to earn yours. But when you receive the gift of forgiveness from God, you’ll be able to offer that same gift to others.
And that’s why the second step is:
Now that you’ve fully received forgiveness from God even though you didn’t deserve it, you have the capacity to give forgiveness even when they don’t deserve it.
God doesn’t expect you to forgive on your own. He set the example for you. He gave you the gift of forgiveness, and in the gift is the power you need to forgive others.
Here’s how the Apostle Paul explains it:
2 Corinthians 5:18 NLT - And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.
It is our task, it is our mission, to give to others what God has given us.
Don’t miss this. God works through people. If you’ve been trying to receive healing by yourself, it may not be working because you are being prideful about it!
God’s design is not a solo faith journey. He’s not looking for super Christians who believe for everything they need by themselves. No. He designed it so that we receive His promises through each other.
Somehow we’ve gotten caught up in this solo faith journey thing and we need to break out of it. You don’t have to believe by yourself. You don’t have to hide when you’re sick or struggling.
God designed this so that we receive His promises through each other. We can’t do it by ourselves.
For some of you, that just caused a major shift in your thinking. You can thank God for that. But grab ahold of it and don’t let it go.
So, receive God’s forgiveness so you can freely forgive others. And once you get to this point, here’s what you do next:
Aren’t you thankful Jesus didn’t wait for us to apologize before He went to the cross? If so, He’d still be waiting. But here’s what really happened:
Romans 5:8 NLT - But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
God forgave us when we didn’t even ask for it. When we had no intention of changing, Jesus gave up His life to save us.
He did this to restore your relationship with God. He also did it as an example. If we are going to forgive like Jesus forgives, we forgive first.
Even when they don’t deserve it, we forgive first. Even when they are the ones who caused the conflict, we forgive first.
And when you forgive first, there’s a promise:
James 3:18 NLT - And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.
The word righteousness sounds like a churchy word, so let me explain it to you. This is when you become who you really are.
It’s when you think like God thinks, act like God acts, and are fully living the abundant life God planned for you.
So what this verse is saying is that when you forgive first, you will find yourself living in the promises of God.
You just learned everything you need to know to work miracles on the regular. It’s no mystery. It is simple.
Hear the Word of God often. This will cause faith to come, and when it does, speak it boldly.
When faith isn’t working, go on a hunt. Find the doubt and eliminate it. Hearing the Word of God usually gets the job done. But occasionally, you’ll need to pull out the big guns: prayer and fasting.
Finally, decide now that you’d rather have miracles than unforgiveness. Jesus has made it easy to forgive. So, quit acting like it’s hard.
