10 Simple Steps to Your Very Own Miracle

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If someone from a prehistoric time walked into a modern hospital and saw all the machines and what we could do with the human body, that person would think we were wizards. Medicine is not wizardry, it’s knowledge and training plus experience. In the same way, when we read about miracles in the Bible, there’s a part of each one of us deep down that yearns to experience miracles in our own world. But seeing a miracle is mystifying to most Christians, like wizardry. We don’t understand how it could practically happen. But miracles don’t have to be confusing, so let’s break down a miracle into ten simple steps.

Here’s a miracle performed by Peter and John in Acts 3:1-8. In this passage you’ll see ten specific things that can be replicated by every Christian today.

One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. Acts 3:1-8

So, here are ten simple steps to experiencing your own miracle today. But be warned! You’re going to feel incredibly encouraged and empowered through step nine, but you can’t experience miracles without step ten.

Be present. (Acts 3:1-3)

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Peter and John probably walked through the gate called Beautiful on a daily basis on their way to the temple, perhaps several times a day. It would have been easy for the cries of the crippled to become white noise. As simple as it sounds, Peter was present enough to see this man and not be distracted.

Many of us don’t see the world around us. Like walking around without glasses, the world is fuzzy and out of focus for us. The greatest enemy of being present is distraction, and cell phones are the number one culprit. Whether it’s the latest smart phone app, sports, television or social media, many Christians aren’t present in their world. They’re distracted. If you want to experience a miracle, it starts by being present.

Cultivate margin. (Acts 3:1-3)

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As non-spiritual as this sounds, this becomes a hindrance to far too many miracles. When the crippled man called out to Peter, not only was Peter present enough to hear him, he stopped. He stopped and listened to him. We don’t always do that. What if Peter had to do something? What if he was running late? What if he had responsibilities he needed to attend to?

When we’re too busy, when we have no margin, we tend to see interruptions as an obstacle not an opportunity. For instance, if God wants you to bless someone financially, you need to have the margin to do so. If He asks you to help someone through something, you need emotional margin (which many Christians don’t have because they can’t deal with their own issues. They can’t help people find freedom because they’re not free themselves). For some Christians, their greatest hindrance to miracles in your life is your calendar.

See people as the end, not the means. (Acts 3:4-5)

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This is for the task-oriented people like out there. Many times, we see things opposite from God. We see people as the means, not the end. We pursue something, whether a career, a paycheck, a comfortable life, and we utilize whatever people we need to achieve our goals.

In God’s eyes, people are the goal. God places such a high priority on people that he sent his son Jesus to die for us. One of the reasons Jesus called out the religious leaders as hypocrites was because they leveraged people to pursue power and control. They used people. As simple as it sounds, Peter and John valued the crippled man enough to see him as inherently valuable as a child of God.

Don’t just see a person, see their spirit. (Acts 3:4-5)

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The author of Luke is intentional to record that Peter looked straight at the cripple and wanted the cripple to look straight at him. Peter wasn’t just looking at this man’s exterior, he was looking deep within. He was looking at his spirit and discerning that he had the faith to be healed.

Discernment needs to be practiced more by Christians. It’s why you can walk past one hundred people but one stops you and asks what’s wrong. They sense something in your spirit. They have discernment. If we want to experience a miracle, we need to practice discernment, look past the exterior and see people’s spirits.

Take a step of faith and do what the Spirit leads you to do. (Acts 3:6-7)

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Peter still had to take the step of faith and declare healing on this man. Peter still had to reach down and help him up. That’s a step of faith. What would have happened if Peter declared a healing and nothing happened? What would have happened to his credibility? What would have happened to the momentum of the early church? People would have heard and the enemies would have pounced. This could have gone really, really bad.

The cripple had to have faith but so did Peter. When the Spirit leads you to take a step of faith, it will feel a bit like jumping out of an airplane, a mixture of fear and exhilaration. Which is why step six is so critical. When you take a step of faith, you need to be certain the Holy Spirit is telling you to do it. When you jump out of an airplane, it’s the difference between jumping with or without a parachute. It always goes better with a parachute.

Anticipate the humbling. (Acts 5:41)

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When a miracle happens, it’s almost impossible for it not to go to your head. It’s almost impossible not to become prideful.

What’s the solution? The humbling. When Jacob wrestled with God and won, God touched his hip and gave him a limp for the rest of his life. When Paul was caught up to the third heaven God gave him a thorn in his flesh to keep him from becoming conceited. In Acts 5, the disciples were flogged and then released from their brief imprisonment. If you look at their story in Acts, the disciples didn’t turn their miracle-working power into a conference tour, a book deal and a comfortable life. They suffered for the gospel. That’s the price of admission to a miracle-filled life.