Matthew 21:18-21 tells of Jesus cursing a fig tree because it had no fruit. The disciples were astonished at how quickly the fig tree withered. Jesus replied:

    "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

    Jesus twice used this hyperbole of casting a mountain into the sea. In Matthew 17 He used it as a rebuke for His disciples' lack of faith. In Matthew 21, He used it to encourage them to exercise more faith.

    When we read these and similar verses, we are confronted with the question, "Are miracles required as a validation of faith?"

    I don't want to debate whether or not miracles happen today except to note that either of two extremes is inappropriate. One extreme requires that one who has faith be able to educe miraculous manifestations. This goes far beyond the requirements of Scripture. The other extreme denies that God may still use miracles and healing today. This inappropriately limits God. God is free to do whatever He wants when it is consistent with His Holy nature, using whomever He chooses to accomplish it.

    Are miracles required as a validation of faith? I see nothing in Scripture that leads me to believe that faith is confirmed by the ability to perform a miracle. In fact, in Matthew 7:22-23 Jesus said,

    "Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"

    The section Faith and discerning God's will in Chapter 4 suggests that, as you grow in faith, you will become more dependent upon the Person of God and less dependent upon circumstances as a confirmation of God's leading. The question we are asking in this chapter has a parallel application. If miracles could confirm my faith, I would then be relying on these manifestations to substantiate my faith rather than on God Himself. This is exactly the opposite response God wants from me. He wants me to trust Him, not miracles or my ability to perform them.

    On the other hand, this does not say that God cannot choose to heal or perform some other miracle in response to a believer's faith.

    There is a practical application of faith that you must understand. Another's healing generally results in little direct benefit to the life of the one praying for that healing. On the other hand, when you take personal risks in faith, your faith has an immediate impact on your own life. The most appropriate way to learn faith is by facing high personal risk. Aside from pride associated with the "power" to heal—which is never an appropriate motivation for exercising faith—most miracles or healings require little personal risk. God wants you to grow in areas that concern you. Relying on God to produce faith in your own life is of greater value in living by faith than seeking faith in order to perform miracles.

    I would be skeptical of anyone claiming to be able to perform miracles by faith who was unable—or unwilling—to deal with difficult personal issues in a manner which demonstrated an implicit trust in God.

    In 2 Corinthians 12 Paul described the "thorn in his flesh" which God did not take away. In the same way that you cannot discredit either your own or someone else's faith because it is unable to perform miracles, neither can you discredit yourself or another by pointing to a physical or emotional problem God chooses not to remove.

    Do not evaluate your growth in faith on your ability to perform miracles. Measure your growth in faith by your increasing willingness to let God lead you in the difficult events of daily living and ministry.

    Why are we so preoccupied with health as the place in which we seek God's intervention? I recently scanned one church's Weekly Praise and Prayer Request bulletin. The 10 prayer request entries fell into four categories. The number of requests in each category is given in parentheses ( ). The requests in this particular weekly prayer bulletin read like this:
    (1) praise for recent employment
    (5*) requests in the categories of comfort/protection/or life needs
    (4*) requests for health
    (0) requests for ministry.
However, there were two items in other categories (identified with an asterisk [*]) in which an element of ministry was included. One involved a believer's busy senior year of college in which one of three activities was ministry. One health need was for a believer's neighbor in which—though not mentioned—ministry may have been intended.

    There is nothing wrong with prayer for every need in a believer's life. This is true if there is adequate expression of willingness for God to act in a way which will enhance individual growth and ministry. (I am using the word ministry to mean service to others for Jesus' sake. This service to others will most often take place in a secular setting.) The difficulty is when the primary prayer focus is for the purpose of achieving a more pleasant, a more prosperous, or an easier life.

    However, the most noticeable lack in the requests above, was the desire for personal ministry. We understand that there will be details which cannot be published in a church prayer bulletin. But why are there so few requests for Jesus' help in serving others?

    This chapter is asking whether or not we must see miracles in order to validate our faith. If we confined our answer to "healings" or "miraculous manifestations," most would agree that it is God's sovereign choice in how-and through whom—He manifests His supernatural acts. Such manifestations, therefore, could not be required of all believers as a validation of their faith. On the other hand, our answer would be quite different if we understood that one of God's primary purposes for the church is that all believers "might be equipped in order to accomplish the work of ministry so that the body of Christ might be built until we all attain the unity of the faith." (paraphrased from Ephesians 4:12-13)

    This "work of ministry which will build the body of Christ" is God's work. It requires nothing less than His supernatural intervention. Yet, it is the task to which each of us as believers have been called. Is it not our expectation that God is completing this task through each of us? Do we expect Him to be doing the impossible in any other way than through faith? Why would I not expect to see God supernaturally using my faith in personal ministry?