"Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy."
- 1 Corinthians 14:1
It's God's desire to use us in the miraculous. Being used by Him is the only way that we can see God move in a nation, in a city or in a region. Moves of God don't come through who is in political office and it isn't determined by the state of the economy. It's specifically determined by the hunger of the church. Eventually the church needs to take accountability for herself and realize that the only reason we don't see God move, is because we don't want it enough.
Back to 1 Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians 14:1, what Paul is saying is to desire to be used by Him in the gifts. Another definition of desire is "to be jealous of" in the Greek. So in other words, "be jealous to be used by God." Being used by God is the ultimate mark of a believer and if we posture ourself in a way to be used by God and actually desire it, He will honor that and show up (Psalm 37:4).
I remember on one occasion I was at a gas station in between stores for work. As I was about to get in my car, a man pulls up his car and asks if I could put some gas in his tank. I'm not going to lie, I tried shooing him off because I was exhausted. However, he was bold and kept insisting that I should help him out and I reluctantly agreed. Now, while I was pumping gas I figured that I would take the opportunity to see if he needed healing and I asked him if he had any pain at all in his body. He went on to tell me that he messed up his foot a while ago, I believe it was a sprain, and could hardly walk as a result and he also mentioned having diabetes. I laid hands on him right there in the gas station and he felt partially better after the first prayer, but after the second time we prayed, he said all the pain left his foot! He was crying in the car and asked me, "are you priest?" and I told him, "No. I'm a believer and believers will lay hands on the sick and they will recover."
Isn't that great? Miracles happen when you decide to be the vessel for it. I didn't have an unction to pray for him and I also didn't feel led to pray for him. I just readjusted my heart and did it because as a believer, we are to be a sign and a wonder.
Many times before I go into a service that I'm suppose to speak in, I will spend an extended amount of time praying outside of my normal prayer time. I'm not just praying for anything. I'm praying specifically for God to pour out His Spirit and for mighty healings and miracles to take place and they always do! We have seen countless people healed in the detention centers and prisons here in Nevada. Multiple people healed of cancer, bad backs, scoliosis, earring problems, vision problems and yes... even people healed out of wheelchairs! When the power of God shows up, you better believe it captures every ones attention.
Read Ephesians 19. It's the account of a revival that happened in Ephesus. Ephesus was like a Las Vegas, before Las Vegas existed. It was a hub for sin, perversion and anything wicked you could think of. It was the home to the temple of the Greek god Diana and one of the ways people would "worship" her is by going to the temple and being intimate with a temple prostitute. Now despite all of that sin, God showed up and poured out His Spirit to such an extent that people brought handkerchiefs to Paul and when Paul would touch the handkerchief the anointing would be transferred to it and put on the bodies of sick and demonized people and they would be instantly healed and set free (Acts 19:11). All of this was because Paul desired to be used in the miraculous and positioned himself accordingly.
So why am I telling you all this? Why would I write and encourage you to step out in faith and to start praying for miracles to take place? It's because you're called to do more than just exist. You're called to do more than just work a 9 to 5, clock out, go home, make food, go to bed and repeat that until you die. You're called to pursue the miraculous. To desire it with every cell of your being. I want to encourage you to step out in faith and watch God use you to do great and mighty exploits! He desires it and we should too!
Practical keys:
Get alone with God and cry out to Him to be used for signs and wonders.
Take risk. Look for people who need healing or go up to people and ask, "Do you need prayer for anything physically going on in your body?"
Lay hands on them, if they're comfortable with it, and speak to the condition. Declare healing! (Mark 11:23). Don't beg God to heal them.
When people are healed, always give God the glory.
If you pray for a thousand and no one is healed, just pray for another thousand.
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