Do miracles happen when you believe?

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

Miracles in Scripture are never the product of human belief but the result of God’s power working according to His will and purposes (1 Kings 18:36; John 20:30–31). God uses people like Moses, Aaron, and Elijah, yet the power behind every miracle always belongs to Him alone (Exodus 7:17; 1 Kings 18:36–38). Faith is not the cause of miracles but the instrument through which people trust in the One who performs them (Hebrews 11:6). When Jesus commended faith, He was pointing to faith in Himself—not confidence in human ability or belief (Luke 8:48; Matthew 13:58). Even in moments where faith seems connected to miracles, the true source remains God, who acts to reveal His character and accomplish His plans, sometimes even apart from expressed faith (Luke 7:11–17). This truth challenges the idea that belief itself has power and redirects our focus to God as the true Miracle Worker. So, we must remember that miracles happen not because we believe strongly enough but because we trust the One who is able to do what we never could.

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

• God often works miracles through His agents, but the miracle does not come from the person's faith, but from God's power. Moses and Aaron were God's spokesmen before Pharoah, announcing the miracles God would perform. These miracles demonstrated who God is (Exodus 7:17).
• Elijah served as God's agent in proving His power over the false god Baal. The power for the miracle came from God, though—-a fact Elijah clearly recognized: "And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, 'O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.' Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench" (1 Kings 18:36–38; emphasis added).
• The Old Testament records God working miracles in pagans, such as curing Naaman's leprosy (2 Kings 5:1-14) and ensuring Balaam blessed Israel rather than cursing them (Numbers 22:38). In these examples, the basis for the miracle didn't lie in the person's belief (Naaman was skeptical) but in God's power and purpose.

FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT

• The New Testament also teaches that miracles are not contingent upon people's belief but on God's will and purpose. For instance, one reasonJesus performed miracles was to validate who He is: "Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:30-31).
• Jesus often links His miracles to the importance of the recipients' faith. After healing the woman with the years-long bleeding problem, Jesus tells her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well" (Luke 8:48). When Nazareth rejects Jesus, Scripture says, "he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief" (Matthew 13:58). However, the faith of the person/people didn't cause the miracle. Faith was merely the instrument; the Object of that faith—Jesus—caused the miracle.
• When Jesus commended people for their faith, it was for their faith in Him, not their faith in themselves. Hebrews 11:6 says, "And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him."
• Miracles happen when God wills them to happen. The power is God's, not human beings'. Jesus performed miracles on people whom the Bible doesn't indicate expressed any faith, such as when He resurrected the son of the widow in Nain (Luke 7:11–17) and healed Malchus' ear (Luke 22:50–51).

IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

People love "getting credit" for good deeds, going the extra mile at work, or even cooking a great meal. Sometimes, trying to get credit goes too far, though, and we take credit that isn't due to us. This is the case with the idea that our belief in and of itself determines whether a miracle occurs.

The confusion may lie with Jesus' comments about the faith of certain people He healed, such as the woman with the bleeding issue (Matthew 9:20-26). But Jesus wasn't indicating that she had the miraculous power to heal herself apart from her belief in Him. This is shown in Matthew's account of her thoughts prior to touching Jesus' robe: "for she said to herself, 'If I only touch his garment, I will be made well'" (Matthew 9:21). Her faith was in Christ not her belief in her own power.

The musical and film The Prince of Egypt portrays the miracle of God bringing the Israelites out of Egypt. While it is intriguing and uses the biblical text, it also wrongly portrays the exodus as a result of people believing, leaving audience to belt out the line that miracles can happen when you believe. Who knows what you can achieve when you believe? If this does not make you cringe, it should.

Yes, it is true, miracles can happen when you believe: in Christ's death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins. The miracle is Him saving us from our sins and bringing us from death to life. Our belief, however, is not the source of the miracle—it is the response to the One who performs it. Faith in ourselves will disappoint every time. Our faith pleases God (Hebrews 11:6), not because it creates miracles but because it trusts the One who does. The miraculous comes from the true Miracle Worker: God, and every miracle ultimately points back to His glory—not ours.

UNDERSTAND

• Miracles are from the power of God, not any power from the recipients of those miracles.
• Jesus commended faith but as the instrument through which He performed some miracles, not the cause of the miracle.
• Faith must have the right object: God.

REFLECT

• How do you guard your heart against believing that your faith itself has power, instead of trusting in God as the source of all power?
• When you pray how can you tell if you are trusting in God to answer?
• How has your understanding of faith changed when you see it as trust in God rather than a tool to produce outcomes?

ENGAGE

• What are some reasons that secular society might find it so difficult to believe in miracles?
• How can we as believers correct cultural ideas that promote “belief” or "manifesting" as the source of miracles without dismissing the importance of faith?
• Why is it important for us to emphasize God’s sovereignty in miracles?