Meditations from Zion

Signs and wonders don’t just happen haphazardly. They are a huge responsibility: heady stuff to experience a miracle (either on the receiving end or the giving end). Can you imagine being the conduit for one? Or have we grown cavalier about it?

Romans 15:19
[Even as my preaching has been accompanied] with the power of signs and wonders, [and all of it] by the power of the Holy Spirit. [The result is] that starting from Jerusalem and as far round as Illyricum, I have fully preached the Gospel [faithfully executing, accomplishing, carrying out to the full the good news] of Christ (the Messiah) in its entirety. [Amplified]

Fortunately, Paul understood and was intimately acquainted with the source of power. He knew and trusted the Holy Spirit to do what was needed for the sake of another every time. Every sign, every wonder, and every miracle was a focused expression of God. Paul was just the hands and feet to bring that miracle to the right moment in time.

I have often wondered what it would be like to be used in the healing ministry. Initially, it sounds fantastic, to lay hands or pray for someone and then witness that person’s healing or recovery. But a trap is in not respecting the full source of the power. Except for Jesus, a healer is nothing but a vessel that has learned to pour out pristine force. But how does one keep the pour untainted? How do I avoid tampering with the flow, adding my own hopes, desires, and interpretations? How do I keep myself from holding back a small trickle for myself? How do I avoid pride and uber-confidence?

In my earlier years, I would lay hands quickly, ready to give that miracle-working stuff a chance to operate. Looking back, I see it was too much about me and not enough about the other. I am not so quick today. I sense a greater responsibility in praying for another. There must be faithfulness to the moment and connection to the source. I must be transparent and authentic. I must be clear.

Prayer is serious business. Let me not be casual about it again Lord. Every prayer is an opportunity for signs and wonders. Every prayer can be direct contact with the greatest power of the universe.

And with that in mind, I think about Paul when he commands us to “pray without ceasing” [I Thessalonians 5:17]. Accordingly, we must have the ability to be in continual contact with the Source, not just saying a lot of prayers out loud or repeating affirmations, but a genuine unity of spirit, connection, mindfulness, and awareness.

That’s the first miracle . . . and it happens within.