Ingredients for a miracle

Okay. It is an all agele nation service, so that

means the children stay in there is no Sunday school.

And I'm now going to reveal to you just how

little I know about cooking because today, this month, we're

talking about miracles, and I wanted to talk about what

ingredients do we need for a miracle? So, and this

is open for anybody, whatever age you are. If you

can shout out really hand up and then I'll call

your name out. If you can shout out a miracle

that's in the gospels, you can get a chocolate anybody.

Letty yep, lazare is his resurrection? Well done? Anna, water

into wine? Yes, we're done. Anybody else who's going next?

Come the storm? Jesus comes a storm? Yes, well done?

That came back to life. Yes, anybody else? Woman with

an issue of blood yet? Okay, and there'll be plenty

more chocolates. But yes, okay. The point is there are

lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and

lots of miracles in the Bible, lots and lots and

lots of them. And the first thing I want to

say is this is only one side of the ingredients. Okay,

the most important ingredients. I'm not going to talk about

today because I'm taking them as given. God is God,

He's supernatural, and He's able to do immeasurably more than

we ask her imagine. So God is able to do

the impossible. God is able to do the impossible. I'm

not going to talk about what God does. I want

to talk about our part to play in this. And

so firstly, let's just get to A good school teacher

would say, what's the definition of a miracle? Don't know

how you might define America? But do you want to

bring it up Selma or John whoever's running proclaim? Definition? Okay,

it's an extraordinary and please notice I put and welcome.

It's an extraordinary. Let me leave out and welcome for

the moment. An extraordinary event that is not explicable by

natural or scientific laws, so it can't happen naturally. Now

I can't find and this is why I put these

additional words in the definition. I can't find anywhere in

the Bible where there is an unwelcome miracle. For the

scholars in the room, can anybody think of an unwelcome miracle?

Might have been a surprise, might have not been done

the way you expected, but so an extraordinary and welcome

event that is not explicable by natural things. Luke chapter eighteen,

verse twenty seven says this as we just Jesus replied,

what is impossible with man is possible with God, is

possible with God. So there are many things that cannot happen.

We've had testimonies. I don't need to God already laid

the foundations for me to share this this morning, because

we have already had testimonies with what God has done.

So what's the purpose of a miracle? Why would why

would God come and do a miracle? Do you think

it's just to make us feel better? Do you think

it's just to make us think, Oh, this is brilliant.

What's the purpose of a miracle? Any suggestions erin to

glorify God? Yes, bring it up, then, John, there's the

primary purpose of a miracle is to bring glory to God.

It's all about him, It's all about It's not about us.

And as a consequence of Him getting glorified, there is blessing. Okay,

the blessing is not the primary thing. The primary thing

is God gets glorified, and there is blessing. Just just

I just want to point talk. So someone gets blessed,

someone gets healed. Think about the paralytic who get let

down through the roof by his friends. Okay, so God

was glorified, a miracle happened, the man was healed. Okay,

but think about his friends. Because what did Jesus say

to him? He said, take up your bed and walk

because of his faith. He was healed. No, not because

of his faith, because the because of the faith of

his friends. Now, when you pray for someone and something happens,

a miracle happens, you get a blessing too. But it's

not the primary purpose. Primary purpose, God is glorified. Second purpose.

Whatever the miracle is that whoever it happens to, they

get blessed. But people associated participators get a blessing too.

Please let me really be clear about it. That's not

the primary focus. It's nice, it's good when it happens.

We're excited about it, but we still need to focus

on it's bringing glory to God. And actually, if we

get it the wrong way around and say I prayed

and God answered my prayers and it's all about my prayers,

we're getting the wrong story here, guys. It's not about us.

It's really, really really not about us. It's about Him, Okay,

And if we start taking the glory, essentially may withdraw

a little bit from us because He is the most

important thing. Now, we don't make miracles, we don't do it. It's

not us, it's God. And so I want to encourage

you to choose to participate, to be ready, to be available.

So what are the ingredients of ingredients of a miracle?

Number one is we need faith. We need faith. We're

not even going to if we don't believe that scripture

that said what is impossible to man is possible to it.

If we do not even believe that, and to believe,

we need faith. What's the point in even praying if

we don't believe? And you know what, faith builds faith

When you see God answer prayer, you're more bold with

the prayers that you pray. When you see God do

a miracle in your midstory, here's somebody testify about what

God God has done. You are willing to pray fur

the Matthew twenty one, verse twenty one says this Jesus said, truly,

I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt,

not only can you do what he's done to the

fig tree. But also you can say to this mountain,

go throw yourself in the sea and it will be done.

I don't know whether you feel like you have mountain

moving faith today, but you know, God wants us to

grow our faith, he says in scripture. And I haven't

got this in the scripture Selma. He says, if you

have the faith the size of a mustard seed, which

will grow into a big tree, the faith the side

of a mustard seeds are tiny, tiny, tiny thing. So

firstly we need faith. Secondly, we need to be available.

God is always available twenty four to seven. God is available,

but we need to be available to ask, and so

availability matters. God's interested in your availability. He wants to

engage with you and me, and he wants to engage

with other people to offer to pray. Therefore we step

in faith. We ask and we believe, And as we

ask and believe, God does the bit that he does,

the miracle working stuff. Romans, Chapter fifteen, verses eighteen and

nineteen says this, I will not venture to speak anything

except that Christ is accomplished through me in leading the

gentiles to obey God. By what I have said and done.

This is Paul really saying, not about me, It's about him.

Please don't look at me. I'm just the person who prayed.

It's all about him. It's my availability that matters. I'm

willing to pray, I'm willing to ask God, I'm willing

to do something, and sometimes God will send us. He

will ask you to go and pray. It happened this morning.

Maureen was prompted by the Holy Spirit to go and

pray for Abella. She was obedient. We responded to that.

Part of the role of the MC in church on

Sunday is just to bring a little bit of governance

and guidance, because if you read the early Church, it

was mayhem in the church. There were people running up

and just giving testimonies and doing stuff. And it's just

a way of just bringing in a little bit of order.

So Maureen came and spoke to Julia. Julia handed another mic.

We had some order. We pray for a brother. We're

going to believe that God's going to do immeasurably more

in your life of well than you even believe for

So what happens when we're obedient, when we're available. Reading

on in Romans fifteen, by the power and the signs

and wonders through the power of the Holy Spirit. So

signs and wonders follow with obedience. Our availability matters. We

have to come in faith, and we have to walk

in obedience. Exodus fifteen, verse twenty six. I'm rattling through

the scriptures here, But Exodus fifteen, verse twenty six, did

I put it in there? Yes? I did. He said,

if you listen carefully to the Lord your God and

do what he's right in his eyes, if you pay

attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I

will not bring you on you any of the diseases

I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord

who heals you. Supernatural healing is a miracle. I know

there is natural healing. You know. We go and we

go to doctors and they give us medicine, and we've

got some wisdom about how to do that. But God

does supernaturally what doctors cannot do naturally. I know there

are people in this room who would say, doctors have

said to them, this is a miracle, even though scientifically

they're not allowed to say. That doesn't map in science.

You know, miracles, confound science. I know in my notes

at Bath hospital it says about my spleen that when

I went to see the doctor after my Milaria said,

this cannot be the man who I saw two weeks

ago if his notes are right, because my spleen was

bulging out my stomach and over two weeks it just

God just did dealt with it. God is able to

do immeasurably more than we ask him of SI that's

faith the ingredients so far, faith, availability, and obedience. We

also need to be willing more. In needed to be

willing to step up. She could have just sat there

and said, well, no, I don't want to make too

much fuss. But you didn't, Mauring, did you? You pressed in,

You stepped up. Willingness matters. We need to be willing

to work with God and to be part of his hands.

We need to offer prayer. Mark nine, verses seventeen to

twenty three tells this story. A man in the crowd

answered and said, teacher, I brought my son, who is

possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech.

Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground.

He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid.

And I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit,

but they could not. You unbelieving generation Jesus replied, how

long shall I stay with you? How long shall I

put up with you? Bring the boy to me. So

they brought him, and when spirit saw Jesus, it immediately

threw the boy into convulsion. He fell on the ground,

rolled around, foaming at the mouth, and Jesus asked the

boy's father, how long has he been like this from childhood?

He answered, It has often thrown him into fire or

water to kill him. But if you can do anything,

take pity on us and help us. This man was desperate.

If you can, said Jesus. If you can, said the man.

So Jesus, everything is possible for one who believes he

was healed, He was set free. God is able to

do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine. So our

faith matters, our availability matters, our obedience matters, our willingness matters.

And there's also something that's about timing. I don't know

whether you've ever had God say I'm going to do

a miracle, but you're going to have to wait five

and a half years for it. That's a bit mean God.

I mean, I think sometimes he might do that. But

I sense that miracles are for now. There is a

nowness about miracles. Things start. You may not have received

your healing. Sometimes the lepers went and walked out their healing.

As they walked, they were healed. They weren't instantly healed

as they walked. As they went, they were healed, but

the healing began. In my sense, there is a nowness

in those things. Acts Chapter four, verses thirty one and

thirty two says, stretch out your hand to heal and

perform signs and wonders through the name of your Holy

Servant Jesus. After they had prayed, the place where they

were meeting was shaken, and they were all filled with

the Holy Spirit, and spoke the Word of God boldly

laid hands. The spirit moved, and the place was shaken.

I hope the foundations in this bill are good because

I sense in twenty twenty six there's going to be

some shaking going on. I don't just mean shaking of

your life or lives around you. I mean shaking of stuff.

Foundations need to be shaken sometimes they need to be

tested because on goods foundations you can build good things.

So let me wrap this up. As Judia said, it's

all age your nation service. So it was meant to

be quick. There's five things, and I thought, I try

and be a bit of a teacher here. So I

don't know what the word fowan means. It sounds a

bit cornish to me. But those five things to remember.

Remember the word fouan, and then you might remember these

five things that our part to play. God does his bit.

He's a supernatural God is able to do him measurably

more than we ask or imagine. But we need to

come with faith. We need to walk in obedience. We

need to be willing, we need to be available, and

we need to do it now. And so I'm going

to do it now. So anybody got for a miracle today?

A few hands went up, a few people went yes,

are we willing to be obedient? Yeah? And I want

to encourry. I want to model this now. I'm going

to model this now. But then why don't you ask God?

You come? Somebody says to you, all, I'm really not

feeling this. Let me give you an example. Happened November

November last year. I was sitting next to somebody and

they got about the chair and they went, oh, you

know how sometimes you did that when you sat too long.

I said, are you okay? I said, oh, yeah, no,

I've got a problem in my hip. I said, so

if you had it long, Oh yeah, I had it

a long time. I'm waiting for the for for a

doctor's appointment to get a scan. And okay, can I

pray for you? Now? I thought they meant. I think

they thought I was going to go away and pray.

So I said, can I pray for you? Remember these words?

So can I pray? I was willing. I sensed the

father say off a prayer, so I offered prayer. Can

I pray for you? Said? Oh yes, please? I said,

can I pray for you now? Then there was a

bit more of a pause. You know, we were sitting

in a room with some other people around us. Can

I pray for you now? They went, oh okay. Just

laid a gentle hand on them, didn't make any big thing.

I just said, Lord, do you do what you're able

to do? Pray for my friend here. I pray that Lord,

whatever's going on in their hit right now, you'd deal

with it so they don't need to they don't need treatment.

And I prayed a simple prayer and just left it

with God. We got up and we walked around a bit,

we sat down again, finished our conversation, and then they

got up to go and they got up out of

the chair and they went, oh, it doesn't ache quite

as much as it used to. Oh that feels better now.

I'm not saying they've completely healed, but God started the process.

I haven't heard anything further from them. So we're going

to do this. So who needs If you need a

miracle today, would you stand. We're going to start by

praying for ourselves. We're going to make this personal. I'm

not going to ask you what it is. I'm really

not going to ask you what is. I'm going to

leave that with God. God's able to deal with all

the things. But if you need a miracle today, if

you need a miracle today, in a moment, we're going

to pray for people who are known to us who

need a miracle. That'll be a separate prayer. We're praying

for people who are standing. Anybody else if you want

to stand, please do. And for those who aren't standing.

That's fine, would you reach out your hands towards those

who are standing and we're going to pray. We're going

to pray bold prayers. We're going to pray brave prayers.

We're going to pray faithful prayers, and we're going to

ask God to do amazingly and measurably more than we

ask your imagine. So Church, let's start praying right now.

Let's pray for these people. We don't know their need,

but God does. Father, God, I pray right now, Lord God,

that you would do so what only you can do. Father.

You know where blood vessels need to be loosened up. Father,

you know where things need to flow better. Father. You

know where joints have seized and need to be released. Father.

You know where chemistry is not in the right place. Father.

You know where minds need readjusting, in neural networks need realigning.

Lord God, Father, I pray right now you touch every

life of those who are standing, for those who are

standing at home, those who are listing remotely online. Father,

would you touch those who need a miracle right now? Lord,

Would you do what only you can do? Would doctor

God do what doctor God can do? Would you heal

them completely? Not diagnose them, not tell them what the

problem is. Would you heal them? Low God, would you

move by your holy spirit. We pray in Jesus Mighty name. Father,

we pray for miracles for God. We pray, We pray

for those who are looking for Father. I'd sense there

are people are standing who are believing for a job,

some who haven't got a job right now. But other

people are lading believing for a different boss, a different job,

different situation, Father God, I pray, Lord God, that you

would do that. And Father two. I pray for reputational issues,

where people's reputation is under attack. Father, I pray that

you'd put a fresh badge on those whose name lift

the name of Jesus over them, Lord God, Father, would

their reputation be yours and not theirs? With the bad

news turn round to good. We pray in Jesus Mighty name,

in Jesus Mighty name, Poor, actious spirit of God. Move

in Jesus' name. We pray. Amen shall keep on praying.

If you're praying for someone, If you if you feel

you've got a word for somebody, please feel free to

step up and step alongside them. Give them an encouraging word.

Because God is at work, God is moving. I particularly

want to pray for those people who are listening later

and those who are listening at home. This is not

bound in time. God is not constrained by time. Now

can be later in God's world. And so, Father, God,

would you touch lives? Would you move? We pray, O

God in Jesus Mighty name. And so I'm going to

take it one step further and then i can hand

the service back to the worship team. And Julia, if

you would stand now, if you are believing for a

miracle for somebody else, someone close to you, brother, sister, parent, child, husband, wife, aunt, uncle,

someone close to you, next door, neighbors. I'm not talking

about remote, distant people. I'm talking about people who you

could see where God had moved. Think about the friends

who carried their their disabled that their their their sick

friend to be put in front of Jesus. They ripped

open the roof, they were desperate to get in there.

The kind of friends and family you are desperate to

see God do something. And so would you stand again?

If that now you're standing not for yourself, You're standing

for somebody else. You are interceding. You are standing in

the gap. And if you're standing, I'm not only going

to pray right now, but I'm also going to believe

you're going to continue to pray. You're going to be

the intercessor. You're going to stand in the gap. And so,

Father God, we're standing right now for friends, for family.

Father God, you know every single situation you are able

to do immeasurably more than we are asking right now. Father,

we're just asking for friends. We're just asking for a breakthrough.

We're just asking for a touch. Father, I pray that

you complete the job. You finish the work, you tie

up the knots, you'd draw the sentence to a close. Father.

I pray that where people are under accusation, Lord you

would be the judge, and Lord you would bring about

a change in the situation. Father, God, Father, I pray

that truth would out. Father, I pray that your word

would speak out over these lives and situations. Father, I pray,

where doctors are completely confounded, I said, so one or

two people are standing for people who just don't know

what's going on. People are really unwell, but no one

knows what's going on. Father God, would you just do

what you would do, Lord God. Would you change would

you change chemical imbalances? Lord? Would you allow gas and

oxygen to flow through the blood again? Would you improve circulation?

I pray o God, Lord, would you clean out the

filters in the kidneys, and the and the heart and

the liver? Law God and Father, would you let health arise?

As as as Rob prophesied over a bueller, we prophesy

to these bones, to these lungs, to this breath, life, life,

life in Jesus' name. Amen h