As a pastor I get asked every now and then, “Why are there not more miracles in our day, like there were in the Bible?” I suppose there are two answers we could explore.
One of the answers must surely be that we do not really expect miracles.
Another answer is that when they do happen we often dismiss them by rationalizing them, or chalking them up to coincidence or to some unknown reason that scientists will surely be able to explain some day.
The bottom line is that we are not living in an age of faith. And faith is to miracles as cause is to effect.
Many say, “If I saw miracles I would believe.” But the biblical answer is, unless you believe, you will not see miracles.
Consider and excerpt of the first reading from Monday of this week:
At Lystra there was a crippled man, lame from birth, who had never walked. He listened to Paul speaking, who looked intently at him, saw that he had the faith to be healed, and called out in a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet.” He jumped up and began to walk about. Acts 14:7-10
Note that Paul was able to heal the crippled man because he saw he had the faith to be healed. Faith precedes miracles. There are many places in the Scriptures where faith and miracles are linked:
- When Jesus had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith will it be done to you”; and their sight was restored. (Matt 9:28-29
- “O unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” …Jesus rebuked the evil spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” (Mk 9:19-29)
- Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive [the Demon] out?” He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matt 17:19-20
- Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” (Lk 18:42)
- Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that moment. (Matt 9:22)
- Jesus could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. (Mk 6:5-6)
- Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour. (Matt 15:28)
- “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. (Mark 10:52
- Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:19)
And on and on the quotes could go.
The key point is that faith is the essential ingredient for miracles. There must be faith not only on the part of the one who works it, but even more so on the part of the one who receives the miracle. For it may sometimes happen that the one through whom the miracle is accomplished, has only poor faith, but the one receiving it has the faith to be healed, and thus God grants it.
Of this I have (to my shame) been a witness. But, I will say I have grown. For on some occasions in my priesthood God has worked miraculous cures when I was sent to anoint the sick or to pray over and with people.
- On one occasion, many years ago I was sent to anoint a man near death. He was filled with cancer, in the pancreas, liver and bone. No hope said the doctors. His daughter sent me with the confident expectation that I could heal him. But, truthfully, I went more with the intention of giving “last rites” in order to prepare him for death. But God was not defeated by me, the faith of that man and his daughter prevailed. The next day his vitals changed and the surprised doctors found no trace of cancer in subsequent scans. He lived on another ten years and I always called him Lazarus.
- On other occasion a few years ago, I was summoned early one morning to the hospital. The doctors had announced a certain end for a parishioner and her tearful relatives were gathered in a death watch. The decision had been reached to pull the breathing tube, and the doctors offered no hope and were “sure” the woman would die in moments after the tube was pulled. But this woman had surprised us before. And by now, I had learned my lesson, that God was in charge, no matter what the doctors said. And I told that family just before I anointed her, not to be so sure what would happen or when, that God was in charge, and that people don’t necessarily go right away even when the doctors say so. And when I finished the anointing, I prayed, “Lord, If you want to, you can heal her, I know you can” and the Amens murmured among the family.” Next morning, Mrs. J was up for breakfast, issuing orders to family and stating that hospital food was disagreeable to her.
- And I want also to give God the glory for the many miracles he has worked in terms of spiritual healing, healings in my own life and soul, healing in the lives of many I have known. Deliverance from anxiety and depression, deliverance from anger and addiction; the sudden and miraculous capacity to forgive, or to let go of crippling grief; the gradual healing to go from serious sins to freedom, to go from tepidity to deeper and deeper love of God. Yes, I walked along side of many who exhibit miraculous healing, of this same healing I too am a witness. And the healing defies any rational explanation.
Yes, even a little faith, mustard seed faith. Just the faith that says, “Father Pope, will you pray for me?” Or, “Father I will pray for you.” Faith the size of a mustard seed. If I take one step God takes two. The miracles are many.
The gift to be sought – Perhaps in times like these where we often do not expect miracles or dismiss them too easily when they occur, the gift to be sought is the gift of the fear of the Lord.
At its heart, the fear of the Lord is the awareness of the wonderful things God is always doing in our life from moment to moment. It is the gift of wonder and awe before the displayed majesty of our God, and a desire not to offend him out of love and respect.
And frankly, one way we might offend against his glory is to walk right past the glories he is doing from moment to moment, being ungrateful, unaware, and seeing as routine, the magnificence of what he does. The color purple, the magnificent stars, the quirky yet wonderful people in our life, indeed, our very own existence, all these and countless other wonders are on daily display. And seeing them for the miraculous gift they are begins to open our minds to the possibility of miracles too.
The gift of the fear of the Lord helps to increase our awareness of God and our faith in Him. And faith is the door to even greater miracles.
Are you ready for a miracle? The Lord has a related question for us: Do you believe that I can do this? (Matt 9:28)
It is true, God sometimes says no, and we have discussed that HERE before. But perhaps we ought also to check our attitude, and ask why we might be quick to presume he will say no or has said no. Scripture says, “Ye have not because ye ask not” (James 4:2). Why not ask with confidence and leave the answer up to God.
Why are there fewer miracles today? You tell me.
Here’s a song about wonder and awe.
I think that miracles do not receive the same recognition as they did in the time of Christ and the apostlesmbut the potential is just as great as it was back then. You are correct that faith is the medium through which the Spirit performs God’s miracles and faith is as challenged today as it was in Christ time. The Church has been the source of faith and documentation of miracles so who should know better than the Church. The potential for miracles is no less than in the apostles time. It’s strictly a matter of faith between God, the recipient and those who witness it. The world and the faith has spread out but I have faith that God is performing miracles as much if not more since the time of Christ. There just isn’t a physical celebrity to credit them to. The main stream media needs a celebrity.
I do not believe that healing is based on faith alone. Many of Jesus’ healing occurred on those who had no faith at all. I believe all healing is divine, not faith based. The problem with faith based healing is that if the healing doesn’t occur, then we are saying the unhealed person must not have had enough faith. I know many very Godly persons who have begged for healing and not received them. Healing is based on the power of Jesus Christ alone. If the healing occurs or doesn’t occur, God should still get the glory. Healing should always go back to giving God the glory, not based on the amount of faith a person has.
Good day Monsignor, I had been reading your blog for many years now and this is the first time to the best of my recollections that you mention God’s miraculous healings with you as His instrument. I am very touched by our Lord’s love and kindness to us. Thanks for an inspiring article.
amen, father
Here’s one that found a few months ago from 1999 http://youtu.be/_gAD-uQltyA
When Jonah preached to Ninevah the people repented and their hearts were changed based on his word. That miracle still happens every day a couple of millenia later.
This is a great way of putting, what seems to be, the absence of miracles in our lives. I know in my life, there are times I feel uncomfortable knowing a miraculous thing is about to occur, and I now wonder if this is the reason for the absence of miracles occurring around me. Very good food for thought here, much appreciated.
“The gift to be sought – Perhaps in times like these where we often do not expect miracles or dismiss them too easily when they occur, the gift to be sought is the gift of the fear of the Lord.”
This corresponds with a sermon that Fr. Vincent Benoit, O.P. gave a few yeas ago at Holy Rosary parish in Portland, Oregon. He raised the possibility that we do not have as many miracles or as great miracles as in earlier ages of the Church because of our profane treatment of holy persons, places and things. In particular he referred to a vein of humor that is very prevalent among clerics. Of course, there is nothing wrong with humor, but when the persons of the Blessed Trinity, or Our Lady, or the saints are made characters, or “straight men,” in our jokes and stories, or when consecrated persons- especially superiors- are make figures of fun, an invisible line is crossed. By some strange twist of logic this is apt to result in the riposte, “The Lord save me from sad faced saints,” but there is a very wide gulf indeed between joy and sacrilege, a line that we no longer seem to be able to discern.
Contrary to common thinking, I think there are MORE miracles happening in modern times than in ancient – the difference is that the modern miracles are, as you say, not publicized (for various reasons: the witnesses tell no one else, those whom the witnesses tell do not repeat the event, the press ignores “one off” reports as not worthy of publication, etc.) If we assume that the number of “living” saints has multiplied approximately at the same rate as the Church’s overall population, that would mean that, necessarily, the number of miracles that actually happen (but are not necessarily reported/publicized) is 100,000 times greater than in Apostolic times. Consider, for example, the miracles that occurred and continue to occur at Lourdes France, both scientifically verified/certified and unverified/unreported. Such events are happening, I believe, at a steady rate all over the world. As you reported, Monsignor, such events DO occur, and if we suspect we have witnessed one, we first must use our reason to analyze the experience to ensure we are not missing some natural explanation for the event. If such analysis results in no natural cause-and-effect explanation, we should embrace the resut of our reason, though it is beyond our ability to logically explain. We who have witnessed miracles are not only blessed to have experienced them in some manner, but also we have been given the rare opportunity to testify to others when appropriate of what we have seen, heard, felt, and experienced in that miracle: the reality of our loving God Whom we witnessed touching our world with His healing care and concern. Those witnesses who are given such experiences are given them for themselves AND for those who were not present, but who will benefit from hearing of them from the witnesses.
Partly it is because we are so jaded. Nowadays, when people get ill or are in an accident, or undergo childbirth, it is expected that everything will go fine, that the baby and mother will both be healthy, and if the hip surgery doesn’t result in somebody walking about normally and playing golf, that somebody must have screwed up.
Before world war two, children died of minor cuts that got infected, strep throat was a killer, childbirth was fraught with danger, and a broken hip meant a lingering death. The slightest cold was an excuse to stay home from school for a week, lest it turn into fatal “double pneumonia.”
We are used to folks at deaths door getting better with iv antibiotics and improved surgery. We may lose that lack of appreciation for these “every day miracles” now that the antibiotic era is almost over. (Superbugs are beginning to overwelm our resources, just as pharmaceutical companies are in the process of dismantalling their research arms in order to stay solvent).
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-07/drug-defying-germs-from-india-speed-post-antibiotic-era.html
But even passing over these “every day miracles” God has given me two miracles:
The first was before I was a Christian. (I was a believer, but not a Christian. I thought God was unjust). My daughter (adopted from El Salvador at age 3, with severe malnutrition) was in kindergarden, and her teachers, councillors and the three pediatric specialists from very impressive institutions told me that she was mentally retarded, bipolar, would never learn to read, etc. etc. etc. I BEGGED God that I would do ANYTHING if only… And He did. Two weeks later we heard about this poorly known syndrome known as auditory processing disorder. Then how sleep apnea can mimick ADHD, in short, the Lord, who once showered fish into the nets of two out of luck fishermen, showered 6 seperate neurological diagnoses into this out of luck neurologist. Diagnoses neither I, nor my numerous specialists had considered, most of which I’d never heard about, all of which were treatable. It took a long time (probably a good thing, since my daughter has been EXTREMELY GOOD for my prayer life 😉 however she is a senior in college, and should graduate this fall.
More recently, my Buddhist nanny was told, and the MRI showed that she had end stage pancreatic cancer. I had worried about what might happen to her and other nonChristians since I was six, and there was a period (six months ago) that I thought that perhaps I could kind of do an emergency baptism without her knowledge (sort of sneak her into heaven) However I just got an overwelmingly urgent sense that this would be just about the most evil and counterproductive thing I could do. I just got a clear message that “even God would not rob her of her free will”). So I didn’t. I just prayed she would be accepted anyway. The next day, her daughter called me up to say that the tumor had vanished, the laparoscopy was normal. The pathology was negative, and the latest scans showed nothing, and by the way she was looking into joining the church!
There ARE miracles. Every day. Thank God.
Of course miracles didn’t suddenly drop off at the close of Acts or with the death of John. Throughout the ancient and Medieval period we read of numerous miracles. I think it was Chesterton who attributed the disproportionate amount of miracles in the Medieval period (vs. our own) to the greater Faith of those living in then. Perhaps we have become too much like Peter when he tried walking on water and not enough like him when he saw the risen Christ.
Jesus himself could not do miracles when the town was in unbelief.
God will not force himself. If a miracle would override a lack of faith it is unlikely to occur. Such will not create faith, but some reasoning and a logical conclusion. Faith, like love, cannot be forced. So it preceedss
Some years past, I had the privilege of helping a seriously injured young boy seek and receive a miraculous healing. Whilst playing baseball near Atlantic City, NJ, he received an injury that tore the corned from his eye. His eye was dressed and bandaged, and arrangements were made for him to be examined and, if advisable, undergo surgery at the eye hospital in Philadelphia. In addition to the discomfort, the boy was understandably afraid. He was old enough to understand the implications of his injury. The boy and I knew one another from church. Before his parents arrived at Shore Memorial Hospital, young Jason asked me if God could heal him. I assured him that God could indeed heal him, and related a couple of the occasions cited in the article. Jason asked how we could get God to heal him. Together we prayed for God’s miracle. Jason’s parents arrived and took him home.
At the end of the next day, I received a call from Jason’s father, full of joy, informing me that Jason’s eye was found to be healed when the bandages were removed that morning. “It is a miracle” he exclaimed. And it surely was. I am not a “special” person, not a priest, just a parent on the spot who knew young Jason and his family. Clearly it was Jason’s great faith that attracted God’s healing miracle that day. God can and does work through anyone whom He chooses, provided that the recipient has sufficient faith.
Look around. Because of his great love of us, God, who created and maintains all of creation, can and surely does work miracles in our individual lives as well. We need ask, in faith. God will do the rest.
I don’t know about this one, Monsignor. We may not be living in the age of faith, but was there ever really an age of faith? 1st century Palestine does not seem so very faithful and yet miracles abounded through our Lord and his apostles. Pope Benedict in “Introduction to Christianity” (written as Ratzinger) says that there was never an age in the Church when most people were fervent and holy — that sadly the reality is that oftentimes the Church is borne by the faith of the few. All this is to say that, shouldn’t a miracle be possible if an individual person has faith — even apart from the “age?” And if this is so, some of us should have seen more miracles. I have prayed for many miracles, and personally I count the birth of my daughter as the one miracle I’ve seen, but overall miracles seem pretty few and far between. It does make you wonder why God was so active in biblical times and so absent now.
Well, holy is not what I had in mind when speaking of an age of faith. What distiguishes modern times is the rationalism and reductionism and the general dismissal of the supernatural by most. This is somewhat a unique quality of the past 200 years, though its roots go back to Descartes and the “Enlightenment”
I witness a miracle every week, and you, Msgr, perform a miracle every week, when the bread and wine are confected into the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of the Lord.
Perhaps we aren’t paying enough attention.
St. Seraphim of Sarov was once asked why there were no miracles any more. He answered, “One reason: lack of resolve.”
Of course, at his glorification, there were many miracles. As one witness said, it was like living during the days of Christ’s earthly sojourn.
Beautiful song/video. Wonder and awe much better than shock and awe. I often find the idea of asking for a miracle confusing, especially as to the precise miracle I should ask for, especially with respect to miracles for myself. In a way, I am tempted to ask to be a completely different person with a completely different life–and that would stupid. (I better stop typing in this comment box before I really put my foot in my mouth.)
“Yes, even a little faith, mustard seed faith.”
Monsignor – I pray for you everyday in my daily Rosary intentions. Please pray for me and my family
Deo Gratias.
Grace and other miracles are not an action by God.
They are a transaction.
Make no mistake, the Lord is the one and only savior. But He is not going to do all the work all by Himself. He wants this to be a group effort. He will do the hard part, but He wants us to help out — help ourselves and help one another. If we do not want to help Him, even if only by accepting what He offers, even if only by acknowledging His existence, rather than ignoring Him or simply arrogantly presuming that we are entitled to grace and miracles as our right, then that offered assistance by Him goes wanting.
Very well thought out and written. It does take faith to bring miracles to birth. It’s too bad that a lot of mainline churches teach that miracles died when the original apostles did. That is not true, because we still have apostles and disciples living and breathing right now. I am one of them.
I have found, from the Prayer Shawl/Blanket Apostolate I started in my parish, that there are, indeed, miracles happening.
Not everyone receives a physical miracle, most of the miracles are the sense of peace and love experienced by those using the shawls and blankets and also those who knit or crochet them, but there have been a few physical healings we have come to know about – a priest who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s and was really down. One of his parishioners requested a blanket for him (the shawls and blankets are prayed over by those making them, and blessed by a priest before being given out). A few weeks later he was feeling hopeful and went on a pilgrimage to Lourdes. He arrived home cured. His doctor claims he must have experienced some side effect from medication he had been taking!
A young woman had been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and was in a hospice for the terminally ill. A prayer shawl was requested for her, and duly delivered to her. Some weeks later she informed her doctors that she was no longer feeling pain, and when they examined her, they were unable to find the cancer!
When we crochet or knit these items, we do not know who will receive them, as we must have an inventory of completed and blessed shawls and blankets ready to fulfill requests, but Our Lord knows who will receive them and we ask Him that the recipient will feel His presence and His loving arms around them in their need.
My fingers have been blessed by Our Lord, with the ability of being able to complete a shawl in less than half the time it used to take me before! I had thought I was crocheting quickly before (1 shawl in 7 – 10 days, working only in half hour blocks of time) and was amazed when I completed 2 in 7 days, just a month ago!
Joan – where can I find crochet patterns for prayer shawls?
Jan, you should find some here – http://cache.lionbrand.com/cgi-bin/patternList.fcgi?tXX=1&d=Adult&s=Crochet
They can be any sort of shawl, but I usually do only two or three different patterns. I prefer to make triangular shawls – they take less time.
completely off-topic
I am SO looking forward to you ripping apart the full-page ad on page A5 of today’s (05/08/12) Washington Post. There is so much wrong with it that I wouldn’t know where to start.
I haven’t seen page A5, but I can guess what the ad is.
One of the biggest things wrong with it is how incredibly tedious and boring these folks are.
I mean, come on, if you are going to spew anti-Catholic bigotry, at least make it interesting.
What about those of us who ask and ask, and (so far) are not given – and when we ALSO ask, and ask, for an increase in faith? I worry about the second part of the quote from James, Chapter 4. (sigh.) Lord, help me to say, not my will but Thine be done.
I see a miracle every day. The sun comes up. I see one every season. I see one every time a child is born. I see one every time the mass is said. I experience one every day of my life. My Lord sustains me. God Bless!
The daily Celebration of the Eucharist made present here and are our current miracles….. and many more…
and looking ahead, we will be inundated with miracles…………….
Towards the end of the book BETWEEN THE FOREST AND THE HILLS by Ann Lawrence, the fictional bishop is frustrated. The unfolding of some of the events earlier in the book has left him with a reputation as a miracle-worker, a reputation he has tried to stamp out; he sees that the events were providential, but not apparently miraculous. In his frustration he cries out to God, and is taken by surprise when the staff in his hand twists, puts down roots, grows into a tree, and flowers. A friend of his meets him at this time, so the bishop asks if he notices anything odd about the tree. (The friend should have recognized that there was no tree there minutes ago.) “Yes,” he said, “It’s a bit early for it to be blooming, don’t you think?” The miracle was meant for the bishop, not for the public.
I think a lot of miracles are like that. I’ve had several things happen in my life in which I have no doubt that God was sending me a very distinct message, but I would be hard-pressed to prove that these events were miraculous. The message (“Stop dragging your feet; it is time for you to convert!”) was for me alone, so it is sufficient that I am convinced. I have friends with similar stories, so I think this is not uncommon, just not much talked-about.
As for why miracles are not more obvious, I would say it is so that the faithful have merit for their faith and so that the unfaithful do not merit a greater condemnation. It’s not so much that faith determines whether there can be a miracle, it’s that without faith the miracle will be rejected. This happened when the man was healed on the Sabbath and when Lazarus was raised from the dead.
Finally, the most obvious miracles take place where the Church does not enjoy the advantages She still holds in the West. Miracles from the persecuted Church in China or the Middle East seem much more likely, and indeed I have heard some interesting stories from that part of the world.
Joseph Finegan
I was addicted to alcohol my late wife threatened to leave and take the children(7) before I got into bed I said ” God if you exist take away my desire to drink” this He did and I now have 39 years of sobriety. From then on I truly believed in God and all that He could do. I prayed for help to give up smoking and now I am smoke free. I was prayed over for cancer of the kidney was operated on and they removed the kidney checked for cancer elsewhere in the body and found none. I went yearly for exams for about 5 years and none was found. Praise the Lord
Praise Him.
I used to think the only miracles were in the Bible, but now I see them every single day. God is so good.
I assume there are just as many miracles now as ever, but that they are performed in a quiet, personal way. If God advises us to pray in secret, it is reasonable to assume that most miracles occur in secret too.
Father bless!
I love your blog and spent the whole weekend reading through your posts. As one unworthy beneficiary of God’s mercy I agree with Brother Juniper, there are many miracles even in our times only that they are quiet and personal.
Would you pray for me Father as I am preparing to join the Church this year?
What about the fact that no one has ever caught an infectious disease by drinking from the chalice with others at communion? Sounds miraculous to me, especially during epidemics.
I would be very surprized if there were fewer miracles now that in previous times. The God who advises us to pray in private, does most of his miracles in private.
Most lack the courage to have Faith and are fearful of being wrong and the perceived humilation that it may bring to them.
I am not sure, but does not Jn10:38 point to Jesus (miraculous) “works” as giving faith to even those who do not believe in Him?
Also, Isa 29:13-14 seems to say (despite Our Lord’s using the first half only in Mk 7:6) that lip-service conditions will improve.
What a great reminder and explanation, Msgr. Pope! Your deatils about the anointings reminded me of one time at daily Mass when an older gentleman went limp, seemed not to be breathing, his wife disdraught, but the very holy priest left the altar quickly (it was not yet offertory time), in a flash got the holy oils, anointed the man, went back to the altar, and beofre the ambulance got there thew man was sitting up and breathing–and walked out! with the attendants when they wanted to check him out anyway! We all knew it was a miracle we had just witnessed! And Thank you for your reminder of miracles today and the faith so needed!!
I believe that these miracles are around us every day if we simply choose to see them. I believe the ability of the internet to share these should help us see MORE miracles every day. But only to those who choose to see them.
Thanks for sharing. http://seeingmiracles.wordpress.com/
Dont pray only in secret, do it in public, people need to hear God words and as long you pray doing it in a humble way and not to show off, it will be right way to do it. The World is not getting any better as time goes, but we can get better at giving God words to everyone around us. God is not coming to make better this world, he is coming to create a new one, a new beginning, you just have to get a little faith…God bless you sisters and brothers…
I’ve always been a doubter, not a positive person, and isn’t this the same as not really believing and having faith?
Something brought me to this web site, and I believe was God, because he wants me to straighten my faith. I have asked in the past for miracles, but not fully believing; so they didn’t happen. Now, I am asking for such a huge miracle, and I worried that if it came true, it would creat havoc in this media-crazed wrld.
But, now, I am having great faith that God will answer my prayer for this huge miracle. I shall keep it silent between me and God, and I await his answer that will be YES. He wants me to have joy, but first He has made me find true faith in Him. my Miracle will come.
I love you Lord. Thank you for working on the miracle I ask for, for me and for my husband who is a positive person, and who always has faith no matter what. You, Lord, have him, but you will perform the miracle for both of us. Praise to you Lord. I believe.
Love, Elisa
I left my comment above, but put in the wrong email.
Dear Friends,
Unfortunately what you have here is circular reasoning. In the Bible; unbelievers in the Old Testament before Jesus had even gone to the Cross saw miracles and believed. Many came long distances according to the story because they had heard about miracles and then came and were astonished not just at the miracles but what Jesus said. Contrary to the Faith workers today who would preach as above that Faith is responsible and unless we have faith to believe can we attain – the Scriptures are completely opposite of this truth. After all if this was true then why would we even need Jesus to heal us? Jesus according to the Bible saved us because we could not save ourselves.
Incidentally the word salvation and Saving as well as Healing are actually one and the same – to be “saved” literally means to be healed – so if those of you who are preaching that people need faith to be healed better think again cause what you are actually admitting is that you do not believe in God are not saved.
God bless you all
Chovabub
why then out of 7 billion people are there no prophets that can come to me a miserable little girl in so much pain after my 23 year old sister who had a 2 year old was killed 2 months ago??? Why am I ALWAYS left in absolute misery? This is why I have come to this place of even questioning my faith. I absolutely HATE living nowadays…just want everything to end and I’m tired of praying for answers I never get. The answers to ALL my prayers must be NO then! I have begged for a sign from Him and have yet to see it. Other people in the churches and whatnot are going but I have yet to see a single person heal another or prophecy in the church. The Bible says those kinds of things would follow those who believe, so where are they???? I’m so tired and really thinking about ending it all.
I cannot imagine what you must be going through. I recently had a nervous breakdown over much less. I am getting better though. If you see this, I hope you are no longer thinking of ending it all; I came very close to doing that myself recently (very close), and I am so glad that I did not. Please know that there are people who love you – even if you feel that no one you know loves you, know that many people love everyone; these often go into medicine, social work, teaching, or clergy. Seek them out, and try to find the right one. You sound like a religious person, and clergy are free to speak too, so you might try them first.
God’s signs…they wouldn’t help if he gave them. If I had seen a rainbow emerge in prayer, snow in untimely season, a dove land on my head, or a cow on the roof of a cotton house, would that have made me any happier? Probably not.
We find out what we need to do the normal and mundane ways. There is so much comfort in that. It takes awful amounts of effort, and far too much time, but we get better if we seek help. Then it takes time still. I think this is God’s way; in it I feel the touch of God. I hope other people do too.
I feel your pain, but please hold on, just know that as long as the sun apears in the sky every morning then, the power that put it up and sustains it there is still alive. God has not gone into recess, he still reigns and he will come to your rescue. All you need is to renew your faith in God, pray and rejoice, dont think He is taking long in answering you, He will and your pains will be turned into testimonies. God will help you, in the name of Jesus, amen
Why does God discriminate against amputee? Aren´t there any cases of people regrowing lost limbs?. It can´t be that difficult for God. After all, some animals, lizards for instance, can regrow their tails.
Please pray for my family to be completely healed of cough and all infirmity.
May God bless you more.
I am going through hard times, pray for me and my family. Today out of no where I start to believe miracles happen. I have been blind taking miracles happened in my life as luck or this or that.
Amén, my dear Lord, I love you with all my heart, forever! I trust with all my heart and my soul in you, I LOVE YOU FATHER, MY LORD!!!!!!!!!!
The Jehovah’s Witnesses say the bible tells us there will be no more miracles in this age and any that occur are of the devil. I was not given a text from the Scriptures. What are they talking about? I believe with faith in God through Christ Our Lord all things are possible.