Nothing is impossible with God. This is a truth seen all throughout the Bible, but I’ve also witnessed it play out all throughout my own life.
Because nothing is impossible with Him, I was able to see my son healed of cancer.
Because nothing is impossible with Him, I was healed of cancer myself.
Because nothing is impossible with Him, I can speak, even though doctors told me at the age of 29 that my voice was gone and the scar tissue in my throat would be permanent.
Because nothing is impossible with Him, I’ve seen millions of people from all over the world not only come to know God as their own personal savior, but thrive in life and be healed of depression, sickness and every other bondage.
There’s another truth that goes right along with that one, though it isn’t talked about as much. It is this: We have to have the courage to ask for the miracles, signs and wonders of God and then to believe God is working on them before we see them come to pass. This means that our personal experience with signs and wonders doesn’t begin in the moment when we receive the miracle; it begins when we make the decision to take God at His Word and believe that nothing is impossible for Him or through Him.
This belief—the sort of belief that leads to experience—begins with the knowledge of the Word of God. We know that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17). But why? You see, the Word of God tells us that “all things are possible to him who believes” (Mark 9:23). Jesus also promised, “whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you will receive them, and you will have them” (Mark 11:24). He was telling us what Paul wrote to the Hebrews years later: that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). If—or, should I say, when—we find that the enemy or our flesh are tempting us to doubt that God meant for us to experience His miracles today, we need only remind ourselves that the Word of the living God states He “is the same yesterday, and today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8). The Bible shows us throughout history that God is a miracle-working God, and there is no difference today. Reading and rereading these Scriptures until they are absolute truth in our hearts and minds is the beginning of faith that experiences wonders.
Throughout my ministry, whenever I preach or write about miracles, signs and wonders, I preach from the Word of God and the truth that it states, but also share from personal experience with the power of God. Several years ago, I was away from home preaching and had an encounter relevant to this topic that will forever remain memorable to me. I had announced that I would speak on miracles, and the next night, a good group of people had come out in the little grade-school auditorium. While I was speaking, I noticed about three rows back, there were two young men taking notes and using their iPads to take video of what I was doing. Nothing about that situation seemed unusual to me in the moment, as many people often record services rather than taking notes in a notebook.
After the service, I noticed some of the older men talking with these two young men, and one of them asked me to join the conversation. I learned to my amazement they were there to prove I was a fake and to put me on YouTube so they could “expose me for what I really was.” Truthfully, I found it almost hilarious. Instead of getting angry at what they were trying to do to mock me, I asked when this video was going to be on YouTube so I could tell to everyone to watch. What I heard next was astonishing: “We are not going to put it on YouTube because you used too many Scriptures. It would confuse anybody that would be watching.” It struck me as so interesting that they thought the Bible would confuse people. The Bible is the starting line for understanding miracles and experiencing signs and wonders of God; our personal experience comes as a result of that understanding, not the other way around.
In Matthew 8, we read about Jesus’ encounter with a man inflicted with leprosy. As He came down from the mountains where He was praying, crowds gathered around Him, and He began teaching on the kingdom of God. While He was still coming down the mountainside, the leprous man “knelt before him” (Matt. 8:2, NIV). The passage says he then “worshiped Him, saying, ‘Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean'” (Matt. 8:2, MEV). Normally, lepers stayed away from other people because of ceremonial law, but notice how the leper had the courage to put aside the rules of society in order to give worship to Christ with anticipation for a miracle of his own. In his plea, we glean three powerful keys that helped the leper unlock his miracle: courage, worship and anticipation.
Next week, I will dive into what it means to live a life of courage, worship and anticipation. Check out more information about my ministry at mikelfrench.com. You are beautiful. I see Jesus in you. Have an awesome week! {eoa}
Mikel French has challenged spiritual awakening all across America, where many celebrations extended into multiple weeks, and has conducted celebrations in France, Sweden, Russia, Romania, Poland, Ukraine, Moldova, Serbia, Germany, South Africa, Malawi, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Haiti, Japan, Singapore, India and Thailand. He conducted an outreach celebration in Manila, Philippines, reaching 200,000 teenagers with the Book of Hope. Through the generous support of partners, he has presented the message of Jesus Christ to millions of people in the nation of Russia through televised citywide soul-winning celebrations. Mikel considers it an honor to assist in conducting the annual pastor’s conference, where thousands of pastors from Russia’s 11 time zones come for training, teaching and equipping. Mikel and his wife, Marsha, reside in Tulsa, Oklahoma.