R892 Praying for a Miracle

Watching God work through prayer. Praying for a miracle. We continue and actually finish the series today with Dr. Don Wilton. Yesterday, Dr. Don laid the groundwork, so to speak, about the way you and I can be actively praying for a miracle and watching God work. Not like we're rubbing a lamb.

No, no, no, no, no. God's in control. But as we grow in our faith, as we begin to stretch our faith in praying for miraculous things, God does remarkable things and miraculous things in the midst of that. As we open God's Word together, know that we're open to you. We'd love to pray with you and for you right now at 866-899-WORD. That's our phone number. Jot it down.

Store it in your cell. 866-899-9673 or meet us online as well at www.tewonline.org. Now today's message is the conclusion of Praying for a Miracle with Dr. Don Wilton. Let me give you just a very quick summary of events.

All right, you ready? I'm just going to give you a down to earth, modern day version, a summary of events that took place here at this wedding feast at Cana in Galilee. Number one, the wedding had lost its fizz.

They ran out. Has your wedding lost its fizz? Your business? Your finances? Your health? Your disposition? Your attitude? The things that you need to do?

Maybe it involves a son or a daughter just lost its fizz. Number two, Jesus showed up. Any questions?

Jesus was in the center before the miracle took place. So watch this, folks. You're going to have to ask. I'm going to get there.

You're going to have to ask a question. Number one, has the fizz gone out? Number two, is Jesus there? Is he in the scheme of things? Does he figure out in what's happening?

Is he the one that you prepared to go to? Number three, Mom spoke up. I'm just giving you a summary of events. Mom spoke up. I'll tell you, folks, do you know there was a time in my life that I actually thought my mother was the Holy Spirit?

That's not good theology. I'm just telling you like it is. Mom spoke up.

What happens when Mom speaks up? Number four, questions were asked. If you're praying for a miracle, if you've run out, it is quite okay to ask questions. Where do we get this that you cannot ask God questions? Where does that come from? That's not a sign of your lack of faith.

That's not sinfulness. Questions were asked. You go ahead and ask.

You have a conversation with God. Ask Him. Lord, why? How? When? I don't understand.

If you follow the life of the disciples, they asked every question you could imagine. Lord, where can I sit? Can I stand up? I don't like that.

Keep that. Listen, could we do this? Explain it to me again. They even looked into the face of the Lord Jesus and said, I'm sorry, Master, I don't know what in the world you're talking about. Questions were asked. Number five, instructions were given.

You're praying for a miracle, get ready. Instructions were given. Number six, action was taken.

That's the part we struggle with. Action was taken. And number seven, everybody was blessed. You know, if you go and do a character study of the wedding feast at Cana, there were a lot of people there, folk, from the master of the house to the parents of the bride, to the family, friends, relatives, servants.

I mean, likelihood, there were scores of people at this wedding. It was a happening event, folks, and everybody got blessed. Now, I want to share with you very briefly the seven elements of a miracle.

You need to write these down. The seven elements of a miracle. I'm going to give you a biblical guarantee. I believe with all of my heart that the Lord has revealed to me that these seven elements will always be present when God brings a miracle to bear upon your life and upon mine. Seven elements of a miracle. Element number one, presence. Jesus was there.

So you've got to ask yourself a very important question. You see, friends, the greatest miracle of all is the miracle of salvation. In fact, in John's gospel, we're in chapter two.

What happened in chapter three? We find the demonstration of the greatest miracle of all, conversion. Jesus said to Nicodemus, you must be born again. He said, how can these things be? He said, by miracle, not by flesh, but by spirit. You're going to be born of the spirit.

How does that happen? That's the miracle of God. You see, when we talk about presence, when Jesus showed up, he was telling us, my friends, that miracles will not happen outside of himself. Otherwise, you throw yourself into the realm of good luck and the Bible defies good luck. Number two, the word predicament.

That's right there in verse three. The wine was gone. Predicament. Second element, fundamental element of every miracle. Predicament. The wine was gone.

They'd run out. Do you know of anybody in this life who has not found themselves in varying degrees of predicament? We're sinners saved by the grace of God. I don't know of a lot of people who don't find themselves in a predicament. Folks, more and more marriages have just run out. You know it. I find godly Christian business people who say, I just want to serve, but I've just run out.

Parents praying for their sons and daughters. What more can we do? I don't know what else to do, they say. You just run out. Maybe you've lost a loved one and it feels like your heart has been taken out of your chest. You've just run out.

You're desperate. Predicament. That's the second element of every miracle. Number three is purpose. Yeah, Jesus put his finger on purpose, but he wasn't just talking about his purpose. That is the entry point purpose because Jesus is the originator. He's the maker of all miracles. But he translates that into his divine purpose for each one of us, whereby there is a demonstration of God's power. There is glory to the name of God and there is a complete strengthening of the faith of mankind. There is a purpose behind every miracle. God just doesn't do something randomly just for the point of doing it. There is a purpose.

Have you run out? What purpose do you suppose could be there for God to do a miracle in your life? What purpose? What purpose? Could you write down? Could you put that down? If God restores that joy, if he gives back to me that love, if he resurrects this thing that I feel is half dead, if he brings me back, if he answers my prayer, if he turns the ship around, what is the purpose? If you can define that purpose, my friend, you are in line for a miracle. Number four, parameter.

Parameter says right there in verse five, His mother said to the servants, do whatever He tells you. Let me tell you what that is, folks. Parameters are the rules of engagement.

You can go to any athletic team, folks. I'll guarantee you, my friend, even the two teams that play in the Super Bowl, they've been operating according to a framework. There are rules of engagement.

And Mary, the mother of Jesus, put her finger right on there. She said, your parameter, your rule of engagement is absolute unquestioning obedience to what He says. Number five, the word practice. That's the fifth element of every miracle.

Practice. Boy, that's a tough one because it means that not only are we operating according to certain parameters, but we are willing to put those rules of engagement into practice. Folks, let me tell you why many of us do not experience that miracle in our lives is because we go so far and yet no further. We've coined that phrase, you can lead a horse to the water, but you can't make a drink.

Jesus said, I declare that to be null and void. I'm not only telling you to go to the water, but read my lips. Drink. That's practice. You want a miracle, you've got to drink.

You've got to practice. Number six, the word power. That's the sixth element of every miracle.

Boy, what a demonstration of power. The impossible became possible. God did something that only God can do.

So here you are and you're looking at your own life and your own situation, your own circumstance, your finances, your health, your marriage, your children, your whereabouts, where to live, where not to live. And it's just impossible. And a miracle, my friend, is going to be a demonstration of God's power. You cannot explain it any other way. And then number seven, the word possibility.

Love verse 11. You see, friend, possibility is the essential ingredient of the final goal of every miracle performed by God. Endless possibilities. God can do things that will boggle our mind and touch people that we couldn't have dreamt about. Are you praying for a miracle? Don't we all want our mind boggled by the Lord in some fresh way?

Forgive the interruption. Dr. Don insists I remind you we're here and connecting. It's not just a presentation of his message, but we are literally around the clock, available to talk, to connect, whether it's keyboard to keyboard or on our website at www.tewonline.org or our phone number that I hope you've jotted down or stored in your cell as a contact. We are 866-899-WORD.

That's 866-899-9673. As we pray about that miracle that God's ready to prepare for us, again, it's a very strong concept to remind ourselves. It's not like God is our genie. We rub the lamp and he does what we want.

No, no, no. But what we learn as we pray for a miracle and see our faith stretched, to see our faith grow. Boy, we would love to be a part of that in concert with you as we pray together. Again, 866-899-WORD is the phone number 866-899-9673.

Or we can meet online at tewonline.org. Now let's dive back into the conclusion of today's two-part message from yesterday and today with Dr. Don Wilton called Praying for a Miracle. Here are seven steps to your miracle. I want you to write them down. Here are seven steps.

I'm going to give them to you and then I'm going to come back. All right, just write these down. Number one, identify it. Number two, write it down. Number three, form partnerships.

Number one with God and number two with your fellow man. Number four, pray. Number five, follow instructions. Number six, anticipate. And number seven, respond. All right, now watch this.

I want to say just a brief word about each one of these. Here are seven steps to your miracle. Number one, identify it. What is it, folks? Where have you run out? Don't tell me. Identify where you've run out.

Where's the fizz gone? Maybe more than one thing. Identify it. Call it. Don't turn your back on it.

Number two, write it down. Dear friends, listen. I tell you, we've got so many godly people and people praying and all our teams. You know, we talk to each other on the ministry team.

We love one another so much. And one of our catch phrases is if we can't write it down, all it is is an idea. That's a tough one, isn't it?

Yeah, I can walk around and say, you know, I've run out, I've run out, I've run out, I've run out. Just write it down. Write it down. Write it down. If you're not willing to write it down, my friend, you are not praying for your miracle.

There you have it. Because writing it down is going to help you to bring it together. Put it in your dear diary. Get out a piece of paper. Write it into your Bible. Put it in something that you can look at.

Write it down. Number three, form partnerships. Form partnerships. Number one, your primary partnership is with the Lord. Why?

Because miracles are some things that only God can do. Presence, element number one, leave Jesus out. You've got nowhere to go. There's your primary partnership.

But then I would encourage you to form a partnership with somebody else. Now, folks, I want you to listen carefully. I am not saying to you, go and tell everybody else. Be very careful of that, folks. I tell you, I get very, very concerned in the local church that accountability is taken to a level at which we're not supposed to be. This business of, well, I've got to go and tell everybody is nonsense.

It is absolute nonsense. No, you don't. And there are too many people who go around making prayer requests. Well, I just need you to pray with me about something.

And if you could just hold this, this is absolutely confidential what I'm about to tell you. When I talk about partnerships, folks, I'm talking about a deep spiritual thing. And you know who those people are. You know that husband, that wife, that best friend, that member of your discipleship group, that special person, maybe one or two people that you know when you go and talk to them, that's it.

They have such deep spiritual value. It doesn't matter, folks. They're not going to bring it up at an appropriate hour. They're not going to go and share that information with somebody else.

Even in the name of prayer, which is sometimes just a disguise for gossip. They're not going to go and betray your confidence and hold a reserve for a rainy day. Form partnerships. And you and I are surrounded by people like that, that you can talk to and take it to the bank.

It's been put in a vault with a key and nobody can get in there. God first, somebody else that God's brought into your life, maybe one, two, three people, I don't know. But form that partnership, all right? Number four, pray. But of course, pastor, we ought to pray. Pray.

You want a miracle? You've got to have a conversation with the Lord about it. Here you've identified it. You've written it down. You've formed a partnership.

Can you see what's happening, folks? Now you're praying about it. Number five, follow instructions. Follow instructions.

You cannot identify something, write it down, form partnerships, and God begins to speak to you. You say, well, I'll think about it. You've got to do it. Follow those instructions. If your marriage has run out, you're going to hear instructions like this. You need to start taking your wife on a date.

You're going to hear instructions like this. Admit that you're wrong. Say you're sorry. Ask for forgiveness. Give forgiveness. Change your habits.

Turn this TV set off. Get home on time. Get up with the children. Be there for this. Folks, let me tell you, you will get so many instructions from the heart of God, the issue is this.

Are you willing to follow instructions? Because if all you've done is said, listen, it's run out, man. We just exist. We have no thought of divorce. We've got no thought of separation, but you know the children and the neighbors and we're just going to stay together. And I mean, we have a good time together when we have a good time, but there's no sparkle in our marriage.

The fizz is gone. Are you kidding me? We don't believe in divorce. What we're going to do is we've been married for 20 years.

We've just made up our minds that for the next 30 years, we're just going to kind of live. You do your thing. I'll do my thing and we'll honor God. We'll just stay married. That's how we'll honor God. We'll just stay married. See, a lot of people say, well, we'll stay married and by staying married, we honor God.

Where does it say that? And so, folks, now watch this or in your business or you've got a son that's struggling. You're at the end of the line. You don't know what else to do.

You've run out and God's going to give you some instructions. Go there. Do this. Say that. Expose this. Visit with that.

Go and talk to so and so. I mean, there's just, here it is, folks. Watch this. Watch. Follow instructions.

Can you see that? Follow instructions. Actually follow those instructions.

Do it. If these servants turned to Jesus and said, that's the most ridiculous thing. We're not going to go serve them water, man. We'll lose our job. Mother said, just follow instructions. That's all you need to be concerned about. Number six.

I love number six. Anticipate. Anticipate.

Probably the best example here was the Lord Jesus' mother. She didn't know what he was going to do or how he was going to do. She just believed he would do it. And the word here, anticipate, folks, is a rejuvenation of the heart, an expectancy and an anticipation that God actually is the God of miracles. That God can do the impossible.

He can do it. And you anticipate that. And by the way, anticipation is a process. It's not a feel-good moment in time. It's not just a, oh, whoopsie do.

This is a spiritual discipline. Can you sense that? And then, of course, the final one, as you pray for your miracle, is to respond.

And did you notice that? I'm saying that before the miracle has taken place. I do not believe that God will bring a miracle into my life and in your life if we don't pre-determine how we're going to respond when God does what he does. Lord, my marriage has run out. I want you to know as I identify this, as I write it down and form partnerships and as I'm willing to follow your instructions and as I anticipate, I want you to know, Lord, that when you bring that spark back into my marriage, I want you to know that I'm going to use my marriage to glorify you, to testify about you. Lord, when you set me back straight up, when you help me to stand instead of wanting to sit down, Lord, when you pick me up, Lord, if you were to just bring my son back to me again, if you were to perform a miracle and just remove that drug addiction, he's run out. He's trapped. She's trapped. Can't do anything else. Trapped in alcoholism, trapped in drug addiction, trapped in loneliness, trapped in desperation, trapped in a hurting heart, trapped in a bad marriage, trapped in making bad decisions, trapped in pornography, trapped in you name it.

Lord, it's impossible. I've run out. I don't know what else to do. Everything has become insipid. The strength of my life has been watered down.

There's no longer any taste. I want you to know you bring the taste back into my life. I want you to know that I'm going to respond to you. I'm going to stand up. I'm going to be on the front line. I'm going to become a power. I'm going to be one of those people that others are going to come to me and I'm going to help others.

I'm going to give my money to you. I'm going to give my time. I'm going to honor you in my marriage. It's not just going to be just a little sparky thing that might happen.

I'm not just going to go and open the car door for her so that she'll be happy with me for one day. I want you to know that my life is changing and I'm going to commit myself to a life of responsiveness to you. And you are going to help me in my imperfection as I stand up again and as I look out the window and I see the sun actually shines. And guess what you've got to look forward to?

So you've been married for 20 years, have you? The Bible says that Jesus saved the best until last. I believe, my friends, that when God does a miracle, the best is yet to be.

The best is yet to be. That's why he says, forget those things that are behind you. Lay it down. Stop looking over your shoulder.

Stop dragging all your past through the dirt. Got to understand, folks, some of the greatest miracles, the miracle of conversion, the miracle of forgiveness. There's a miracle. By the way, some of you are looking for miracles that's already happened. You got the miracle, you're just not willing to recognize it. Forgiveness is one of the greatest miracles of all.

Can you imagine that God would forgive us in Christ Jesus of all our sin? It's gone. Stop it. Stop holding onto it. Lay it down. It's gone. Let the anchor go.

You're walking around with an anchor, dragging in the mud behind your ship. And a miracle happened. Yes, you had an abortion, but it's gone. Today is a new day.

Yes, you had a baby out of wedlock. It's gone. You're not sentenced to a life of misery because of the mistakes you made or because of where you were or what happened. One of the greatest miracles is the miracle of forgiveness and the miracle of reconciliation and the miracle of God's grace.

It's a miracle. Today is the first day of the rest of your life and yesterday is dead and gone. It's dead and gone.

It's dead and gone. Be set free and then sit down in the presence of the Lord. Identify that predicament.

Write it down. Form partnerships. Pray.

Follow instructions. Anticipate what God will do and make up your mind how you're going to respond before it even happens. And you, my friend, will experience God's miracle. Would you bow your heads with me? Father, we cannot even begin to understand that you would do this for us, for we are unworthy.

We cannot even comprehend because we have so many anchors dragging in the mud. Lord, we thank you for past miracles, our salvation and our forgiveness and all the things that you've done that we could never have done. But Lord, we want to present to you clearly identified the places where we've run out. Lord, do a miracle. Do a miracle. Give us a miracle. In Jesus name.

Amen. You've been listening to the teachings of Dr. Don Wilton here on the Encouraging Word. And more than that, our prayers that you've been hearing the voice of God, that you've had that stirring of knowing that as we seek God to give us a miracle, that he calls on us to be earnest in our prayer.

You know, the opportunity to seek God out, to ask him for a miracle is to first have a relationship with him, to be one of his children. Have you given your heart to Jesus Christ? Before we get away, would you take a moment and hear perhaps the most important 60 seconds of our pastor, Dr. Wilton.

It's coming up next. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner, and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today, I repent of my sin, and by faith, I receive you into my heart. In Jesus name. My friend, I welcome you today into the family of God.

This is exciting news. I'm convinced that many of us have been changed by today's message. For some of us like me who've been walking with Christ for a while, it's a recommitment to the reality that God is ready to do things beyond my imagination if I would just deepen my faith. Perhaps in these last few moments, you've been praying, and you've been praying along with Dr. Don moments ago and gave your life to Jesus Christ for the first time. If so, welcome to the family of God. Maybe you have rededicated your life to Christ. And I want to say on behalf of all of us in the body, welcome back home. In these next few days and weeks and months to come, we want to walk alongside you prayerfully to encourage you, to help you plug into a local church if you don't have one, but to give you resources that will help you on a daily basis spend time in the encouraging word, the Bible itself. That's where we gain our real power in praying for a miracle. Our phone number is 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673. We'd love to speak with you right now.

Why don't you give us a call or visit us online at www.tewonline.org where you'll discover great resources like this. Losing a spouse can be very devastating and life-altering. How do you move forward? Joyce Rogers, widow of renowned pastor Adrian Rogers, has walked the path of widowhood since 2005 after being married for 54 years. In Grace for the Widow, A Journey Through the Fog of Loss, Joyce recounts her grief in touching detail on how she called on the Lord and His promises from Scripture for strength. This book is filled with encouragement to readers recognizing God's continuing plan for those who have lost their spouse. Grace for the Widow, A Journey Through the Fog of Loss is available for your gift of $16 in support to the encouraging word. Call us at 866-899-WORD and request your copy today.

Limited quantities are available. The Encouraging Word is a viewer and listener supported ministry. Thank you for listening today. It's been a great week and as we launch into the weekend I pray you'll join us online at www.tewonline.org for more of God's Encouraging Word.