All followers of Jesus, all across the world and across cultures, practice the common practice of signs and wonders. Each believer, equipped by the Holy Spirit for supernatural works of ministry, is called to practice their gifts to show the world a glimpse of the kingdom of heaven.
Through the work of the apostles, many God-signs were set up among the people, many wonderful things done. They all met regularly and in remarkable harmony on the Temple porch named after Solomon. But even though people admired them a lot, outsiders were wary about joining them. On the other hand, those who put their trust in the Master were added right and left, men and women both. They even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on stretchers and bedrolls, hoping they would be touched by Peter’s shadow when he walked by. They came from the villages surrounding Jerusalem, throngs of them, bringing the sick and bedeviled. And they all were healed… — Acts 5:12-16
Many of us grow in environments where the signs and wonders weren’t emphasized, much less practiced—and yet, when we read the book of Acts, the apostles and the church are moving in God-signs wherever they are. And it’s important to practice it because the church is meant to function as a local embassy or a colony of the kingdom of heaven.
“… the colony of heaven in the kingdom of death.”
— Eugene Peterson
What does this mean?
It means that when you step into an embassy in a foreign host country, even if it’s one drastically different than the host country, the embassy should reflect the culture of the one back home. And so it is with the church—the church should reflect the culture of the kingdom of heaven, its “home country.” Meaning that when people step into the embassy of the kingdom of heaven, they should see supernatural love, kindness, generosity… and yes, miracles!
What we often forget when we read Acts is that the apostles had been intentionally discipled by Jesus for three years. And it’s only in Acts that we see the culmination of that training come into fruition. So we, as the local, church, must learn that signs and wonders are not always instantaneous—that there is an element of learning and practice in understanding how God flows through each of us in our own unique way.
So how do we intentionally practice to facilitate signs and wonders in our midst? We must…
- Pray with others
- Pray with anticipation
- Pray without ceasing
Jesus gives two specific commands to his disciples concerning the signs and wonders: first, he instructs them to “Receive God’s Power” (Luke 24:49) and to “Ask in Faith” (Matthew 21:21-22). How do we practice these disciplines well?
Receive God’s Power
- In every day of your devotionals, ask the Holy Spirit to fall afresh on you and receive expectantly. Even if you don’t feel anything differently, trust in faith that you’ve received a measure of his Presence and ask him to reveal people or topics to pray for.
- As you pray, don’t leave until you sense the release of the Holy Spirit. Rather than timing your times of prayer based on the length of time, instead wait until you feel the Lord releasing you from your time of prayer.
- Ask others in your Ekklesia groups or in the church to lay hands on you and pray for an impartation of their gifts and the Spirit. (Please do this safely!)
Ask in Faith
- Pray through the Lord’s Prayer daily. If there’s a portion of the prayer that speaks to you, linger on it and pray with faith that God will move. (For instance, if you find yourself resonating with “give us today our daily bread,” ask the Lord to fulfill your needs.) No need to beg here; simply ask in faith! God desires to meet us where we ask in faith.
- Keep track of your prayer requests and invite others to pray alongside you. We often lose track of what we’ve prayed for and what has been answered, so one of the best ways to remember is to write it down in a secure place.
For more discussion and behind the scenes of this sermon in the Common Series, listen to our new podcast: The Common Podcast. We upload new episodes every Wednesday! Stay tuned as we continue to learn the Common practices that keep us united as Christ-followers.