I have always been puzzled by the large number of evangelical churches that declare “the age of miracles is past.”  These churches maintain the position that God no longer intervenes in the lives of men and nations with miracles as he did in both the Old and New Testaments.

This position holds that the miracles of Jesus and the apostles were granted only to validate Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God and the apostles as those who spoke and wrote under inspiration of the Spirit.  Once Jesus had performed enough miracles to validate who he was and once the apostles had done enough to validate who they were and, thus, the inspiration of the New Testament…miracles were no longer needed.  Miracles just faded away as the apostles died off.

There are a number of strong theological responses to that position.  Jack Deere, a former Dallas Theological Seminary professor, does an excellent job of that in his classic book, Surprised by the Power of the Spirit (Zondervan, 1993).  But apart from detailed theology, why would one argue so strongly against miracles in our age or any age?

I suspect that, ultimately, a Christian would argue against the validity of miracles because he or she has “never seen one.” But the same argument would eliminate the reality of angels for most of us.  Evangelical Christians believe they exist and even minister on our behalf but I am not sure most of us have ever seen one. I believe in “black holes” in space although I have never seen one.  I believe in Tahiti, although I have never actually seen Tahiti nor personally known anyone who has.

Now, I suspect that would also be true of most Christians who don’t believe in present-day miracles.  So it must go deeper than that.  Perhaps, it is about fear and doubt concerning my own relationship with God. Perhaps, I might hold that position  because if God still performs miracles, if he still heals, if he still speaks to his people apart from the Bible,  if he still delivers people from bondage in a single power encounter…and I have never experienced him in that way…then, perhaps, I am afraid that there is something wrong with me or my faith.  So, I simply deny the things that might create doubt for me.

Here’s the thing. Deep down we all want God to still act in miraculous ways on our behalf. All of us will face moments when we need a miracle, we need to hear the voice of God, we need to be healed, we need to be delivered.  Deep in our souls, we want a God who will display power on behalf of his children.  And, whether we recognize it or not, all who pray believe in present-day miracles.

By definition, a miracle is a moment when God intrudes into the natural order of things to bring about an outcome that would not occur without his intervention.  Every time we pray for something, are we not asking God to intervene in the natural order of someone’s life or a nations destiny?  So… we all pray for miracles and believe in them.  Some just believe in small or subtle miracles rather than the big, obvious ones.  But a miracle is a miracle.

If God still operates in the miraculous then he operates in the miraculous. We might argue that God acts sovereignly and directly, but he does not give miraculous gifts to people….no healing, no prophecy, no miracles, and certainly no tongues!  But the same people who object to a prophetic gift or word of knowledge would declare that their own preacher or worship leader is “anointed.”  To say that someone is anointed is to say that God has given that individual a supernatural level of ability that goes beyond the natural.  How is that different from a healing gift or a prophetic gift?

The truth is that God’s Spirit has operated miraculously in the church since the days of Jesus.  Angels have ministered while we were unaware.  The Spirit has revealed truth to you when you thought you were that insightful.  God has whispered a word of knowledge to you (someone just popped into your mind) and you called a friend who needed your encouragement. You thought it was coincidence.  People you know have been healed miraculously but the doctors called it remission.

So…we want a God who still moves on our behalf with power.  We pray for miracles every time we ask God for anything. And most of us have experienced the “miraculous gifts” of the Spirit – we just called it something else.  Wouldn’t it be better if we just decided that what God has always done for his people, he still does today?  Wouldn’t it be better to follow the desire God has placed in our hearts  and begin to ask for and expect the extraordinary from our God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to the power that is at work within us (Eph.3:20).  God is not glorified when we ask for the ordinary but the extraordinary.  Ask for miracles because the age of miracles is now!