faith in miracles

One morning, during my prayer time I asked the Lord what He would like to say to me. Immediately He said, “Believe.” My first thought was, “Well, I’m talking to You and praying to You, of course I believe You!” The Holy Spirit then dropped Mark 11 into my heart.  

“So Jesus answered and said to them, “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.” (Mark 11:22-24)

Wow.  This is what He wanted me to read about and believe? 

Mark 11:22 says “….Have faith in God.” The word, have, is the word “echo.”  It means to have, hold and keep it, take possession of it.  It also means if you had it and lost it, recover it. The word, faith, is the word “pistis.” It means trust, reliance, assurance, or conviction.  

In other words, verse 22 says, “Grab hold of the assurance and conviction of your faith in God.” Then, in verse 23 the word, say,  is the word, “epo.”  It means to speak, say, call or command.   

• Mountain (Greek: oros )  – things reared up, thing that has arisen or a thing that has lifted itself over you.
  
• Remove (Greek: airo) – to be lifted up, suspended or to be put away.  
• Cast into  (Greek: ball) – to be thrown violently, cast out or thrust down in.  
• Not doubt (Greek: diakrino) – it means judge, discern, pick apart, hesitate, doubt, stagger or waver.
• Believe (Greek: pisteuo) – means trust, reliance, assurance, confidence or conviction.  

Mountain-sized big

In other words, verse 23 says, “Command the thing that has arisen, the thing that has lifted itself over you to be put away, thrown violently into the sea.  And do not hesitate, doubt, stagger or waver, but have trust, reliance, assurance and conviction that those things He says will be done.”

Obviously, God was encouraging me not only to believe, but to believe mountain-sized big. 

After our daughter Lily’s surgery, she was promised she would live a fairly normal life. “Fairly normal” is not what God promised. He promised life and life abundantly!  Lily’s condition to this day is that she receives a treatment every four hours and she gets extra things added to this treatment each night.  

I am still believing for BIG miracles! I have no doubt there will be a day when I can give amazing details of the creative miracle God has done in her. But until then, what do I do while I’m waiting for God’s promise to be fulfilled? God told me to believe and part of believing is to wait expectantly.  

“For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.  Not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.  

“For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.” (Romans 8:22-25) 

Verse 24 uses the word hope.  The word, hope, in this text is “elpis.” It means a desire for some future good with the expectation of obtaining it. Biblical hope is looking forward to something with absolute confidence, expecting fulfillment.  

Trust and hope

When we’re tempted to be downcast by our circumstances, we can gain Heaven’s perspective by looking up to God and being filled with the kind of hope that can only come from Him. W.E. Vine writes that “It is not merely a trust in God, but it’s a hope that rests upon Him.” 

We have a certain hope that rests in God.  That even though we don’t yet see what we’re hoping for, we have a certainty and it should prompt a specific attitude and behavior within us. An attitude that says, “I know in Whom I believe and my hope rests in Him.” 

It’s this kind of Biblical hope that allows me to say to Lily, “I don’t know when your healing is coming; I just know that it is.” (see Phillipians 1:6) “There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you, would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish.”

Another part of waiting is being willing to persevere.  Perseverance in this text means abiding under. It’s a picture of steadfastly and unflinchingly bearing up under a heavy load.  It’s a triumphant facing of difficult circumstances knowing that even out of evil, God guarantees good. “May the God of hope fill you will all joy and peace in believing. So that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope.” (Romans 15:13)

What happens when you believe?  The God of hope fills you with joy and He fills you with peace.  You may still be waiting for your circumstance to change, for a relationship to be mended, for healing in your or a loved one’s body.  Or you may be waiting for a breakthrough in finances or a job situation.

I am continuing to believe for BIG miracles and it’s so easy for doubt to creep in and for human reasoning to get in the way.  But God says,Believe.”  Speak God’s truth to whatever situation you may be facing. I love that I serve a God who not only encourages me to believe but to believe mountain-sized big!  

This teaching is taken from Rachel Shafer’s book “Expect God.” (Foreword by Dutch and Cici Sheets). For further reading and information go to www.rachelshafer.com.