What makes a miracle?

Once in a while I come across a potential client that was not as quickly sold out about my capabilities in design as I want to. They would interview me like they’re asking “Can you really do it?” or “Are you good enough for my standards?” Now it’s much easier to diffuse the air of doubt by showing them what I have designed in the past. But a person doubting your ability is usually an uncomfortable moment to be in. 

One day Jesus went to visit his hometown Nazareth. But instead of receiving warm welcomes, he received cynic looks and doubtful hearts. They lacked so much faith that he “could not do any miracles” except for a few:

He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. - Mark 6:5-6

The question “What makes a miracle?” seem skewed as if there’s a formula to make one. We cannot manipulate God into doing something for us. The question is not “Who makes the miracle?” but “What makes/constitute a miracle?” In this passage we can observe two things that must be present if we want our prayers answered:

(1) An intercessor with an intimate relationship with the Father. Though not mentioned here, in other passages we see that Jesus had an intimate fellowship with God. Spending time alone with God was a regular staple for Jesus. The longer hours Jesus spent in the prayer closet, the more potent His prayers have become. We may fail to recognize that when Jesus tells a lame person to walk, or a blind man to see, Jesus is an intercessor actually praying in faith. Which according to Richard Foster author of Celebration of Discipline, it is a prayer in a form of a command, a prayer so confident it assumes it knows the Father’s will. 

Jesus’ close fellowship with the Father in living prayer, and not by his deity (Though he was God, did not consider His deity as something to be grasped, Phil 2), enabled Jesus to become a channel through which God can work supernaturally. Therefore it’s an encouragement to us men, that with a close and intimate relationship with the Father, seeking the Giver and not the gifts, we will be able to become vessels for the Master’s use. 

Yet in Nazareth, though Jesus is as ready to perform miracles as God is eager to dispense them, Jesus faced a barrier—the recipients’ lack of faith.

(2) An expectant and believing heart. Jesus wasn’t able to do any miracles because the people of Nazareth lacked faith. From the beginning, they have doubted Jesus’ identity and ability, “knowing” Jesus was one of them. How many miracles in our lives we could have missed because we lacked the faith and anticipation of God’s answer to our prayers?

In this passage, we have an anointed intercessor (Jesus) and faithless crowd. And nothing much happened. What can we learn from this? Imagine if we assume the posture of the intercessor, intimately acquainted with our heavenly Father, and the posture of the expectant believer? What great things can God do in a spiritual environment like that?

My prayer is that may we our highest desire is to seek God earnestly to be intimately acquainted with Him. May we also have an expectant and believing heart to pray and intercede in faith and anticipation—prayers turning into answers.