Miracles: What the Holy Spirit Taught Me

 

 

Miracles Still Happen Today

Miracles from God still exist. Many people say that the age of miracles passed away with the twelve apostles, but that simply is not true. How do I know that? Because I’m the recipient of a medical miracle myself — one that happened right before my oncologist’s eyes! If you’ve never read my riveting testimony The Bride Wore Black, I can tell you that this divine intervention by God surprised even me. Why? Well, hold on to your hats, I’m about to share some biblical truths about miracles that may blow the minds of some religious spirits.

If you or a loved one is in dire need of a healing from God, I have good news for you. Perhaps the doctors have said your only hope for survival is through a miracle. That’s okay, my good news applies to you too. Read on to see what the Holy Spirit has taught me about the fascinating phenomenon of miracles.

I Need A Miracle

The year was 1987. I was in the prime of my life — a 29-year-old with not many cares in the world. With my live-in boyfriend of almost ten years, (oh my, I think I just confessed a major biblical sin!) I was trying to raise my 10-year-old daughter the best I knew how.

I knew a little bit about God and Jesus, but not much. Growing up, my mom would take me to the Methodist Church every week. In fact, it was mandatory. As I grew older, I tried hard to miss an occasional Sunday, but under the penalty of death it never happened. Sunday School was okay, as I got to be with my friends, but I found the church service to be boring.

I learned that Jesus loved me, and that Jesus loved me, and that Jesus loved me. That’s about all I can remember. No one carried a bible, therefore, we were not admonished to read it. There was no mention of “salvation” from the pulpit, so obviously there were no altar calls to receive Jesus Christ as Savior. The presumed notion was that if you attended church you were a Christian. I don’t recall any sermons (unless I slept through them) about biblical healing, or miracles of healing, or how to receive your healing. And, yep you guessed it, no altar calls that offered prayer for healing. After religiously attending that church for 18 years (I stopped going after high school graduation), I didn’t even know Satan was a real entity… who comes to steal, kill, and destroy people (John 10:10).

So what was I supposed to do when given a stage-5 invasive cervical cancer diagnosis, and death sentence to go along with it, before my 30th birthday? I never heard the term “spiritual warfare,” and most certainly was ignorant of spiritual-type battles. My Mother, having spent almost two decades in that church herself, didn’t have a clue either!

My gynecologist said he could no longer help me. I needed a highly specialized type of surgery that only three hospitals on the East coast (back in the day) could perform. And even with the extensive surgery, there was no guarantee I would leave the hospital alive. Those were the exact words from my medical team, and a stark reality of truth from a medical perspective. I needed a miracle, but they’re reserved for church-going, “good” people. That’s what I thought, anyway. So I did the only thing I knew to do. I prepared for my death!

Enter, Patty the Prayer Warrior!

As I scrambled to make arrangements for my extended hospital stay, and someone to care for my daughter if I didn’t live, my mom made mention of my desperate situation to her neighbor, Patty. You see, Patty not only attended [a pentacostal] church, she was a true disciple of Jesus Christ. She knew the holy scriptures, and how to make them come alive. She knew the source of my terminal cancer was demonic, and what to do about it. She knew it was God’s will for me to be healed, and how to access the miracle-working power of God.

Patty, along with the other prayer intercessors from her church, immediately began petitioning God to spare my life, heal my body, and save me. Here’s the sad truth: I sat in church all those years, and didn’t know I wasn’t saved! (Sadly, tons of spiritually ignorant people, just like I was, die every single day; Hosea 4:6.) Back then, I didn’t even know what the term “salvation” or “born again Christian” (John 3:3) meant. But hallelujah, Mother found someone who did, and here’s what happened next…

The Making of a Miracle

Patty did what true intercessors do… she prayed. Oh sure, she was well aware of my sin-shattered life. She knew I was living my life independent of God, a million miles away from His will for me. But she never condemned me, nor passed judgement regarding my rebellious lifestyle. She knew apart from God’s intervention, I was a young mother on my way to hell. Eternity… that was the driving force behind her prayers! (She sure could teach the judgmental church a few things, couldn’t she?) She didn’t spend less time praying for me simply because I didn’t attend church and wasn’t a Christian, she actually spent more. She and her family prayed countless hours on my behalf. Regularly, she would wake up in the middle of the night and pray for me. God knew I needed it — nighttime in the hospital was always the most painful and most fearful for me.

Despite all the complications and setbacks, a month after surgery, I was allowed to go home for Christmas. While in recovery at Mother’s house, Patty the prayer warrior came to visit. She asked permission to pray for me. I still remember the beautiful prayer she prayed, as she laid her hands on me. Over the next 12 months, she never gave up praying and believing for my healing. Even as I received the devastating news of the cancer reoccurrence, she didn’t waiver in her belief that God wanted me healed. Her faith was amazing!

But why did this matter? I was the one needing the miracle, and I didn’t know the first thing about faith.

A Documented Medical Miracle

Another return trip to the hospital. This time to determine the best combination of chemotherapy and radiation treatment for me. My oncologist had just taken the pictures and showed me the slides with the tumor (the big black hole, as he called it). As I lay flat on my back, this highly experienced and incredibly competent physician (who actually pioneered the type of surgery I needed) set out to do a biopsy. 45 minutes later, he confessed the reason for the delay. He was searching for the tumor, the same one he just photographed and showed me, but to his utter amazement it wasn’t there!

Initially, he called it a “freak” thing that just happened. He said the tumor totally disappeared, right before his eyes. He reminded me that he’d been practicing medicine for a [very] long time, and said he never seen anything like this, and could not offer an explanation. He told me to get dressed, go home, and come back 10 days later to repeat all the tests from the beginning. He said, “There’s got to be some reasonable explanation for this, and I will get to the bottom of it.” (I’ve since learned that miracles cannot be reasoned. They make no sense to our analytical minds.)

Wow… I had no clue what just happened, until I got home and called Mother (no cell phones 30 years ago!). She told me Patty (the prayer warrior) invited her over to her house at the exact time I was meeting with my doctor. She said Patty prayed and prayed and prayed, and then she prayed in tongues (Mother had never heard anyone speak in the heavenly language of tongues before). She said God told her I had just been healed!

As instructed, 10 days later I returned to the hospital, had the tests redone, and the medical miracle was indeed confirmed. This time, not only was there no tumor, but all scar tissue from the surgery was gone. My oncologist said it was as if he had never even done surgery on me! There was no need for chemotherapy or radiation… you can’t treat something that’s not there!

 

 

What the Holy Spirit Taught Me About Miracles

Obviously, this is the shortened version of my medical miracle testimony. As outlined in The Bride Wore Black, there was a whole series of miracles that took place. Over time, I became a Christian, and the Holy Spirit began teaching me biblical principles regarding miracles from God. I want to pass a few of the lessons along to you…

You don’t have to be saved. Don’t think for a moment that God only heals or releases miracles to Christians. I was not attending church, nor ever had a salvation experience prior to my miracle. Perfection is not a prerequisite to receive a miracle or healing touch from God. Looking back over my life, it’s embarrassing to me how distant from God I was when my miracle occurred. It’s shameful actually, but that’s the mercy of God!

Recently, I shared my healing testimony with a young Pastor who had just started a church. He could hardly believe God did this before I became a Christian. Unfortunately, much of the Church thinks the same way. Don’t spend any less time in prayer for an unsaved person than you would for a Christian. If anything, spend more time interceding, because they’re likely on their way to a devil’s hell.

Miracles are the dinner bell to salvation. Oftentimes, God uses miracles as a catalyst for salvation. Some people’s hearts are so hardened toward God or church-people, that miracles are the only way God can get through to them. How many times in the bible did God use a miracle to grab someone’s attention? Miracles are no less an attention-getter today than in bible days. There are many skeptics in the world — many people just like ‘doubting Thomas’ who have to see God in order to believe in God. Some even question God’s existence. But a miraculous demonstration of God’s power can surely soften an unbelieving heart.

God has always used miracles to attract people to Jesus Christ. Many examples can be found in Scripture, but one of the greatest demonstrations of this truth is recorded in John 6:2, which says, “Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His miracles which He performed on those who were diseased.” In the Greek text, this is referring to an enormously massive group of people!

As anti-Christian sentiment grows, the ministry of healing is one of the best evangelistic tools the Church has been given in order to build bridges into the lives of unbelievers. Miracles will get their attention, and then you can tell them about Jesus! I’m a follower of Jesus Christ today because of my medical miracle 30 years ago.

People can receive a miracle based on your faith. When I received my miracle I wasn’t attending church, I had never read the bible, I didn’t know one scripture, and I didn’t know how to pray. God sure didn’t use my faith to heal me. He used the faith of someone else, in my case Patty the prayer warrior.

There’s a great example of this in the bible. Mark 2:5 says, “When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven you.” And immediately the man was healed. If you read this biblical account, you’ll see that Jesus acted on the faith of the four men that carried the paralyzed man, not the paralytic himself.

There are multitudes of sick people just waiting for you to exercise your faith on their behalf. I bet you can think of at least one person right now in your sphere of influence that needs a healing touch from God. Think of the profound effect that a single miracle would have on your circle of friends. As a believer, you are commissioned and anointed to lay hands on the sick. And you have the right to expect those sick people to get well. That’s God’s promise to you in Mark 16:18. God wants to work healings and miracles through you!

In Conclusion

It’s sad that so many people think the miracle-working power of God is only a thing of the past. And yet, the bible says that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). That means God is able and willing to perform the same kinds of miracles that He did through Jesus 2,000 years ago. Miracles are God’s way of saying, “I am here and I love you!” I encourage you to introduce someone to the love of God through the life-changing ministry of healing!

 

QUESTION: Can you think of a person in your life who is in desperate need of a miracle? Have you prayed with that person, expecting God to release a miracle on their behalf? If you haven’t, why not? Perhaps you’re the person in need of a miracle, but like me 30 years ago, you have no idea how to approach a miracle-working God. I would love to pray for you! Please submit any comments or prayer requests via the reply box below.