Accessing Miracles

by Lonnie Lane

I received an email that simply said, “I am trying to figure out how I can access the help/miracles that Sid talks about on his programs. Thanks.” The implied question is: How do I make those things work in my own life and have those supernatural experiences be my own experiences? Brief as her question is, the answer is multifaceted. Having heard from this person before, I know she wants the key to live her life in the joy and victory in which Sid’s guests generally appear to live. I’m sure she’s not alone in her desire. I suspect there are many in Sid’s audience wondering the same thing. Wouldn’t we all like to be entirely free in every area of our lives? Maybe if we were, we’d be “raptured” like Enoch who “walked with God and was not because God took him.” (Genesis 5:24). Wouldn’t that be wonderful? The question before us now is how do we walk with God so as to access the help and miracles we need for ourselves or for others?

There are people far more qualified than I to answer this, but since I was asked the question, here’s how I see it. First of all, we must “know the signs of the times” we are in (Matt 16:3). We live in an incredibly expectant period in God’s redemptive history. There is more power available for the average believer in Yeshua now than there has been for almost two thousand years! The books and CD/DVD teachings of Sid’s guests (and elsewhere) provide much in the way of discipleship for moving in the power of God and knowing Him. Do you realize how unique that is to accessing God and His ways? What an incredible privilege we have. Not only do we have the technology for bringing you men and women you would never have opportunity to meet or learn from without it, but you can have their teachings in your own home or car for you to glean from. We in Western countries (still) have freedom to own Bibles. Most of us have several of them. Even this is unprecedented until recent times. And we have the Holy Spirit moving in much of the Body to bring the presence of the Lord such as was not a reality for most believers since the first century.

For millennia the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit were almost unknown among believers. They were considered experiences of the past, things that happened to the first believers who walked with Jesus, but not after that. There are various reasons for the gifts disappearing but without understanding of those reasons, the church justified their absence with the “cessation doctrine”, the one that says the gifts of the Spirit are not for today; they ceased. “Today” was anytime after the last apostle died, meaning John who died around 90 A.D. That’s a long time since then for the manifestations of the Holy Spirit to be absent, especially when you consider that the word of God says “He is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb 13:8). Here’s one of those places where Yeshua said, “Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men” (Mark 7:8). But today, the fact that Sid has so many guests that have the gifts of the Spirit manifesting in their lives and have supernatural experiences even beyond what the first century believers experienced tells us that God is in the process of restoring to His body the power and glory that lets the world know that He is alive and is testifying to Himself through His people.

I’ve met some of Sid’s guests. They are folks, just like you and me. For most of them, had you met them at a time in their lives before they were walking in the supernatural, they may have been struggling through some of the same things you are. Generally, when someone is walking in the supernatural power of God, it is because it cost him or her dearly to get there. People with healing ministries are often people who have been healed themselves. This means, at one time they may have been quite ill. The people who are blessed with incredible financial favor from God are often the people who had to learn how to have their financial needs met by God in a time when they were desperately in need of God’s provision for them. They had to learn how to press in and receive from Him. It doesn’t just come “blip” out of heaven and there you are, a miracle worker.

God is a “rewarder of those who seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). It does take some seeking, as in “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). That passage is talking about practical needs, but for those who know how to have their practical needs met by God, they likely had to come to a place where if God didn’t come through for them, those needs would not be met. Hudson Taylor was a pioneer of faith. An Englishman arriving in China in 1854, he was responsible for 18,000 conversions over the period of 51 years, in great measure through the missionaries he brought to China and trained. It is said of him that not since the Apostle Paul had a man accomplished such for the Kingdom.

If you want a faith booster, find a biography of Hudson Taylor and see how he prepared himself to receive from God in miracle after miracle. I had the privilege of taking a one-year course that he developed to train the China Inland Missionaries as a fairly new believer. It was taught by a wonderful woman of stellar faith who had been a missionary to the Congo for 50 years herself, having ministered with one of Hudson’s trained missionaries for years. This opportunity to touch such faith, and such …. I want to say, humble royalty (as in Kingdom royalty) was a great privilege. It was from these women that I was first introduced to such reverence for the Lord Himself. I didn’t know it existed. It was outside of my spiritual radar, of my understanding of the Lord until then. It is contagious, however, for those who wish to know Him that way.

One story about Hudson Taylor that is not often recounted tells how in need of food for a houseful of orphans in China during the Boxer Rebellion, he sat them daily around the table with plates before them, and would thank the Lord for the food in prayer and it would arrive. A knock on the door would be heard as someone brought sufficient food for them all. It happened repeatedly. Miraculous, yes, but he had to develop that faith and God responded to it by providing what was needed.

What I’ve observed in those who walk in God’s power is humility before God. A kind of “fear of the Lord” which exudes “wisdom”. (See Job 28:28; Psalm 111:10). A humble sense of reverence and tenderheartedness unto Him, a jealousy for His honor and an aversion to receiving any kudus or glory for themselves, knowing that unless the Lord does it through them, it cannot be done. They are aware of their weakness before Him and have no illusions that they could accomplish anything in the Spirit on their own. This may not be the character of everyone who operates in the miraculous, of course. But on the whole, it seems a requirement for God to pour out His Spirit and for His presence to be with them in that way.

I asked David Herzog, who operates in the glory realm at one of Sid’s TV shoots one day, preparing to film a show, what the difference was between someone who can pray for others and have them be healed, and when God comes and heals a whole room full of people at a conference all by Himself. I knew that not everyone who has a gift of healing or who can prophesy is always walking impeccably with God. Can that be the case if someone is operating in the glory realm, when God’s presence is tangible, when angels become visible and people see into the spirit realm, I wanted to know. David said that since “the gift and callings of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29), meaning once someone is given a charismatic gift, such as healing or prophesy, etc., they can be in sin and still operate in the gift. But when God’s glory is manifested, the person who is in charge of the meeting must be walking in righteousness and holiness in their lives. No compromises. Entirely sold out to God for God’s glory alone. That person does not lay hands on or pray for others in the usual way, but their faith and holiness becomes a portal for God to enter into the natural realm with great impact on those who are there.

The miracle kind of faith and righteousness doesn’t come overnight or without a commitment to God that has something of the Cross in it. There’s a dying to self in this kind of life. Which brings me to some other aspects as I see it, of wanting to operate in the power and miracles. It’s a matter of motive. What exactly is the reason for wanting to access the miraculous? Is it for God’s glory, or for your benefit? I can certainly understand wanting to be healed and made whole as only God can do. We can all understand that. The Lord knows many of us have sought Him for supernatural healing and aren’t healed yet. I emphasize “yet” because God is in the process even today of making us people of end time faith: “the people who do know their God shall be strong and do exploits” (Daniel 11:32 KJV). But is wanting to be healed enough to get you there? If you were completely healed, then what? If you suddenly had power in your hands to heal, could He trust you with only doing what He tells you to do, and not taking any glory for yourself? I was told once by a man who worked closely with Billy Graham that he keeps a sign on his desk that says, “Touch Not The Glory!” Good word. It belongs only to God. It may be that God is working in our character and our relationship with Him in order to protect us from the wiles of the enemy who would like to make us into his image, one of pride and glory-seeking for ourselves. Isn’t that what satan’s motives are?

Is being healed as far as your thoughts go in wanting the miraculous? Does your desire extend to wanting to bring that same freedom to others? God seems to give the gift of healing to those who care deeply for the pain and suffering of others. It has been my experience that He doesn’t give us anything for ourselves alone. The fastest way to have an anointing dry up is to keep it to and for yourself. The Kingdom of God operates on giving, not getting. “God so loved the world that He GAVE His only begotten Son” (John 3:16). That’s about as “giving” as it gets. God gives to us all the time. If we are to be His agents, and isn’t that what having a spiritual gift is?, then we must be givers, of ourselves and of what He’s given to us.

As I thought about this issue, I was reminded of how men like Moses, Joseph and David were prepared for the work that God had for them to do. They each had some prophetic input from God early on. Moses had such a sense of the injustice the Hebrews suffered under that he killed an Egyptian who was abusing a Hebrew. It may not have seemed like prophetic input, only of making a grave mistake with grave consequences, but God was in it. Joseph had two dreams that others, and even the sun, moon and stars bowed down to him, but then he spent years in prison with it looking like he might never get out. David was anointed by Samuel to be king of Israel as a young man but spent more than a decade running from the man who was king whose intention it was to kill him. Each one of them went through a long and difficult process some have called, “the making of a man of God.” It was a time of character building, and learning to hear Gods’ voice, to weigh issues and make godly choices, a humbling time during which they came to know God in such a way that God could trust them with what He would have them do without it destroying them or without them destroying others. The process taught them the reverential fear of God, and the love of God that only comes through time spent with Him, enjoying Him. If I had said, “worshipping Him” some would have interpreted that as something they are supposed to do. But that wouldn’t be worship. Surely not in Spirit and in truth. I love the way Jonathan Edwards puts it: God is most pleased with us when we are most delighted with Him (my paraphrase). To operate in the miraculous, it seems one must be adoringly in love with God so He can love others through you. P.S. When we feel His love for others, we can experientially know His love for us.

So where does one start, who wishes to “access the help and miraculous”? The help is easier to access than the miraculous. Help is a matter of faith. “…On the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.” 
(Luke 8:15) While you’re with the Lord, give some meditative thought to Him, not your problem, but to God’s goodness as expressed in His word, to His healing heart, His goodness toward us, His willingness to be Yahweh Rophekhah, the Lord who heals us. He wants to heal us more than we want to be healed. Would He have gone through that for us if not? “By His wounds you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24). And consider how He is whole and without ulterior motives. He is far more able to love us purely than we can love Him or each other. You are loved with the pure love of God!

In order for us to be able to be one with God in perfect fellowship one day, we are in the process of sanctification, of being made wholly holy. Each person has different issues that are at play in our lives. Being able to access the Lord Himself or His miracles is, of course, always a matter of faith, but sometimes the issues color our concept of God and therefore affect our faith in Him. For instance, we may have some hurts that require forgiveness. If we harbor unforgiveness, Yeshua said, “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.” In other words, unforgiveness keeps us from being forgiven by the Father, in which case we are still carrying around the dead weight of guilt and therefore exempt we ourselves from experiencing His joy and His peace, and perhaps His miracle working power. Unhealed hurts usually invite more unhealed hurts, but forgiving those who have hurt and disappointed you and really releasing them to God, including forgiving yourself if necessary, can be like removing plugs that stopped up the flow of God’s Spirit to you. If we keep our eyes on our problems and pains, this will not bring us to the faith in God that is needed for healing. We must seek and see the Lord. Don’t let what ails you be your identity; make Yeshua your identity and your life in Him! And then watch and see what changes in your life. If your faith is in your continually rehearsed illness or emotional pain, that’s where you’ll stay. But “fixing your eyes on Yeshua, the author and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:2) brings us into a personal and intimate relationship with Yeshua – that is a miracle in itself! Out of that relationship, we can access the kind of life-changing miracles that enable us to overcome what hinders us to make us overcomers in Him.

I’ve also found from experience that forgiveness doesn’t mean you still hold on to the idea that you were right and they were wrong but you’ll extend forgiveness to them even though they don’t deserve it. That’s pride and arrogance and is still holding someone in judgment. We must give up the right to be right and surrender it all to our Loving Lord. You may wish to do an inventory to see if there is somewhere you are still wounded and haven’t released it all to God, forgiving all involved in causing you pain, even if it is yourself you must forgive. Sometimes the hardest one to forgive is ourselves because we know ourselves so well. But Yeshua’s offer of forgiveness is unconditional, and so should ours be. The most important thing in our walk with God is loving Him and loving others as we love ourselves. (Deut 6:5). If there’s some place where we’re not free, the Holy Spirit is there to help us forgive and then we must allow Him to heal us so we can trust and have proper faith. “Cease striving and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

God has made it so we have available to us what it takes to be an overcomer. Yeshua promises us that “he who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne” (Rev.3:21). Even Yeshua “learned obedience from the things which He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8), the obedience of faith and trust in His Father no matter what is happening to the contrary. While He did miracles, the word says He did so when “God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power” (Acts 10:38). He was dependent upon His Father and the Spirit, and so must we be. To look for the supernatural or miracles in themselves isn’t really faith. Faith is first and foremost trusting in the goodness of God. When we look for the supernatural on its own, it’s like looking for a magic cure, or something mystical or well, yes, supernatural, but not looking for the Lord Himself or for Him to do it. That wouldn’t be about relationship with Him, as it needs to be. He would not be the goal, the healing or miracles would be. That would be like being married to someone only for what they could do for you and not because you want to share life with that person and love them with all your heart. People who are experiencing the supernatural manifestations are almost always those who are putting God first and wanting to know Him above all.

May I suggest that we each ask Abba to heal the inner-most part of our beings so we can be entirely His, and so His Spirit can work in us and He can bring us into the fullness of His calling on our lives. There’s an open door for all of us to have that kind of access to the Lord in these days in which we live. When we are sold out to Him, not just for what He can do, but just for the Lord Himself, then he can give us more supernatural experiences without them becoming idols or robbing Him of our love and devotion to Him.

Lord, only you can do that work deep inside of us. All we need to do is come to You. Lord, help each one of us to come and learn of You at a deeper level than we have ever known You before. Replace any misconceptions of You with the truth in Your word. Grant, Abba, that Your Spirit would make Your love real to us all, that we would delight in You and be able to enjoy You delighting in us. Grant us faith in who You truly are, that we might adoringly worship You in Spirit and in truth. Teach us how to walk in Your freedom and wholeness, Lord, that your highest will might be accomplished in each of our lives, that You could make us instruments for healing and wholeness in the lives of others. Give us Your heart of compassion for other people, Lord, and bless us with being able to be a blessing to many. Make us a people who are portals for Your presence. May all we do be to bring honor to You, in Yeshua’s name. Amen.
 

Reprint of this article is permitted as long as you use the following; Use by permission by Messianic Vision, www.sidroth.org, 2010.

Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible Copyright ©1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif.  All rights reserved. Used by permission.